Panel: PROTESTANTISM AND (IN)EQUALITIES: THEOLOGICAL RESOURCES FOR JUSTICE AND MERCY



1131.1 - SOCIO-SYSTEMIC SIN AND THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ABRAHAM KUYPER, RENÉ PADILLA, AND TIM KELLER

AUTHORS:
Ibrahim D. (Theological University Utrecht ~ Utrecht ~ Netherlands)
Text:
The essay reconstructs the Evangelical development of socio-systemic sin, showing how evil does not remain confined to interior life but tends to solidify into collective practices, cultural traditions, and institutional structures. In critical dialogue with the liberal Social Gospel and liberation theology, the author argues that a Reformed perspective can acknowledge structural injustice without losing the primacy of personal guilt before God or the centrality of redemption in Christ. Kuyper clarifies the disorder of societal spheres and the role of antithesis and common grace; Padilla defines the "world" as an idolatrous system and grounds misión integral; Keller describes the movement from heart-idolatry to social liturgies, explaining levels and limits of corporate responsibility. Christ's grace produces personal repentance and public reformation without eschatological confusion. The result is a synthesis that denounces idols and oppressions, promotes sanctification and reforming action, distinguishes the penultimate from the ultimate, and invites confession and cooperation for the common good.