Faber, Ben. “The Art of Divine Meditation in George Herbert’s The Temple.” Christianity and Literature 66, no. 1 (2016): 73-89.
This personal essay develops a Neocalvinist rationale for a grammar course proposed for first-year English majors at Redeemer University, connecting linguistic principles with the university’s mission grounded in the Reformed tradition. Drawing upon the philosophical and theological legacies of figures such as Jan Woltjer, Herman Dooyeweerd, and K. J. Popma, the essay seeks to answer the dilemma over grammar’s nature—whether prescriptive or descriptive—by situating the discussion within Neocalvinist epistemology and biblical theology and anthropology. The essay proposes that grammar, as the structural law of language, mirrors the relational dynamics of the triune Godhead and embodies the divine order of creation. The ground rule of the lingual aspect, then, is not economy (as in Dooyeweerd) but relationality. Grammar is not only a foundational tool for literary analysis and writing but is a mode of faithful participation in creation’s order and of loving communication with our neighbor.