Deep Calls Unto Deep
Images of God’s Bounty and Man’s Response
Translated by Steve J. Van der Welle
Preface by Sierd Woudstra
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
As a pastor and Secretary General of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands, Arjan Plaisier has a good observation point to observe the growing secularism of the Western world, including the widespread disenchantment with the church. Whatever the reason for this malaise, the individual without true religion is really standing on the edge of a spiritual abyss; such a life is one without purpose beyond the day-by-day episodes that constitute an amoral jaunt through the world. Thus, the church is the one institution everyone needs to take seriously. It is the institution that most effectively challenges the idols of our day, provides meaningful community, and urgently addresses the ultimate issues of life. God is the generous and ultimate source of truth, goodness, and beauty. God, in turn, pleads for a response from his creatures. Deep Calls Unto Deep is a book which, laced with creative metaphors, provides much practical wisdom for aligning our present lives with the larger purposes of God's great narrative. The decision to join this high drama, as Plaisier says, can lie as close as our front door.
Arjan Plaisier is Secretary General of the protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN). He spent six years in Indonesia before returning for parish work and his present assignment. His dissertation contrasts the views of man in Nietzsche and Pascal.
Steve J. Van der Weele is a retired professor of English at Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI). He has written many articles and reviews and is also the author of the books Literature and Religion as Amiable Companions: A Harvest of Essays and Reflections (2010) and Deep Wisdom from Shakespeare's Dramas, a translation of Arjan Plasier's Is Shakespeare ook onder de Profeten? Theologische meditaties bij zeven stukken van Shakespeare.
“A noted biologist reduces the meaning of life to ‘a second segment of the left antenna of an aphid sitting on a flower petal in a garden in Teaneck, New Jersey, for a few hours this afternoon.’ Arjan Plaisier writes from a different planet. He explains The Great Narrative, the story which began in eternity and will continue until its God-determined terminus, giving meaning to life in Christian terms. Absent that ‘silken thread of faith,’ one falls into a universe without God, without a sense of meaning, without truth, goodness, or beauty. Though the Christian road may not be the most popular today, it aligns with reality, is open to all, ‘and a wagon rut is enough to embark on this road. . . . Deep calls unto Deep, in Steve Van der Weele’s bright and beautiful translation, is an admirable companion for the journey.”
—Mark Fackler, Professor of Communications, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
“This book about God and faith, about truth, goodness, and beauty, is addressed to the secularized society of Western Europe, ‘where Christian faith is being driven to the margins of private existence.’ The translation of Deep calls unto Deep should be welcomed. Plaisier’s graceful and imaginative presentation of the Christian confession could be a model for us who face a similar task in our environment.”
—Andrew Kuyvenhoven, pastor, author, editor of a Christian weekly magazine
“In an age of disaffection for the church and faith, Arjan Plaisier delivers a high-spirited declaration of God’s pulsating presence among us. When eyes and ears open to that presence, faith is the life-altering response. Through provocative metaphors for the Bible, faith, and church, the author leads to compelling insights into the grand narrative of the Bible that speaks to the human condition. Though he does not skirt the hard questions, the author affirms in bold strokes—aptly and often elegantly translated—that the need for truth, goodness, and beauty is met in the Lord of all creation.”
—Henry Baron, Professor of English emeritus, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
“Plaisier’s book, capably Englished by Steve Van der Weele, is creative theology at its finest—a warm, gracious-spirited attempt to catch the eye of believer and unbeliever alike, and to invite them to expand their horizons far beyond what much present-day thinking and living allows or challenges them to do. The book worked its magic on me: it increased my awe, wonder, and delight at God’s gift of being human. And it gave me hope. I found it cool, refreshing relief against the hot, stifling—and shrivelling—winds of secularism that beat on us each day.”
—Dale Cooper, Chaplain emeritus, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
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