33 C T J 53.1 (2018): 33–63 The Question of Central Dogma in Herman Bavinck Bruce R. Pass The question of what constitutes the center of Herman Bavinck’s theology is an aspect of Bavinck scholarship that has remained sur- prisingly opaque. In his doctoral dissertation, Ronald Gleason ofers a survey of the range of possible alternatives, noting the covenant of grace, 1 salvation historical themes, 2 the motif of grace restoring nature, 3 as well as his own proposal of the unio mystica. 4 Each of these 1 Anthony A. Hoekema, “Herman Bavinck’s Doctrine of the Covenant” (ThD thesis, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1953). In spite of prolonged attempts, I have been unable to source this particular thesis and rely on Gleason at this point. 2 Syd Hielema, “Herman Bavinck’s Eschatological Understanding of Redemption” (ThD thesis, Wyclife College, Toronto School of Theology, 1998), 246, 286–88. 3 Eugene Heideman, The Relationship of Revelation and Reason in E. Brunner and H. Bavinck (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1959), 196; Jan Veenhof, Revelatie en inspiratie: De Openbarings- en Schriftbeschouwing van Herman Bavinck in verge- lijking met die van de ethische theologie (Amsterdam: Buijten and Schipperheijn, 1968), 355; John Bolt, The Imitation of Christ Theme in the Cultural-Ethical Ideal of Herman Bavinck (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2013), 155. 4 Ronald Gleason, “The Centrality of the Unio Mystica in the Theology of Herman Bavinck” (PhD diss., Westminster Theological Seminary, 2001), 4–46. Of the several doctoral theses addressing Herman Bavinck’s theol- ogy that have been published since 2001, only Brian Mattson’s Restored to Our Destiny: Eschatology and the Image of God in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed