David Koyzis
Encyclopedia
David T. Koyzis is a Christian political scientist and author.
He has graduate degrees from the Institute for Christian Studies and the University of Notre Dame
. He has taught at Redeemer University College
since 1987. He is the author of the award-winning Political Visions and Illusions which was Christianity Today's Editor's Bookshelf selection in July 2003.
(1837–1920) and Herman Dooyeweerd
(1894–1977), and this had a life-changing impact on him. His subsequent studies and academic pursuits have been devoted to understanding and working out the implications of the kingdom of God for politics and other areas of life.
He is married to Dr. Nancy Calvert Koyzis, who has taught New Testament studies at Wheaton College
, Tyndale Seminary, King's University College
(London), Redeemer University College
and McMaster University
. She is the author of Paul, Monotheism and the People of God. They have one daughter, named Theresa.
David's interests range widely throughout the humanities and arts. He spent a large part of his childhood at the Art Institute of Chicago
, and has developed a love for music. David Koyzis has published original hymn texts and tunes in several hymnals. He has a special love for the tunes of the Genevan Psalter
, for which he has written sixty English versifications and composed nearly as many musical arrangements.
His favourite composers include Maurice Ravel
, Ralph Vaughan Williams
, Leoš Janáček
, George Gershwin
, Sergei Rachmaninov and the filmscore composer Bernard Herrmann
. He also enjoys various kinds of liturgical and folk music. He has a small collection of rare books and maps, the jewel of which is a King James Bible printed in 1637.
David's ecclesiastical background is rather chequered. He sometimes describes himself as a Byzantine-rite Calvinist. He grew up in an orthodox Presbyterian church and later worshipped in Baptist
, United Methodist, Anglican and Episcopal
churches. He has a longstanding connection to the Christian Reformed Church
, although he and his family are now members of a local Presbyterian congregation. His forebears were Greek Orthodox. He still has a considerable interest in Orthodox Christianity, with further interests in icons and all things Russian and Greek, including his ancestral island of Cyprus
.
He has graduate degrees from the Institute for Christian Studies and the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
. He has taught at Redeemer University College
Redeemer University College
Redeemer University College is an undergraduate Christian Liberal Arts and Science University located in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1982, Redeemer stands in the Reformed Tradition and offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and Bachelor of Science degrees.-History:The college...
since 1987. He is the author of the award-winning Political Visions and Illusions which was Christianity Today's Editor's Bookshelf selection in July 2003.
Biography
Politically, Koyzis describes himself as a fanatical moderate. While a university undergraduate, he came into contact with the thought of Abraham KuyperAbraham Kuyper
Abraham Kuijper generally known as Abraham Kuyper, was a Dutch politician, journalist, statesman and theologian...
(1837–1920) and Herman Dooyeweerd
Herman Dooyeweerd
Herman Dooyeweerd was a Dutch juridical scholar by training, who by vocation was a philosopher and the founder of the philosophy of the cosmonomic idea. He received early support for his work from his brother-in-law D. H. Th. Vollenhoven...
(1894–1977), and this had a life-changing impact on him. His subsequent studies and academic pursuits have been devoted to understanding and working out the implications of the kingdom of God for politics and other areas of life.
He is married to Dr. Nancy Calvert Koyzis, who has taught New Testament studies at Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
, Tyndale Seminary, King's University College
King's University College (University of Western Ontario)
This article refers to the King's College in London, Ontario. For the King's College in London, England, see King's College LondonKing's University College is a Catholic, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the University of Western Ontario.-History:It was founded as the "College of...
(London), Redeemer University College
Redeemer University College
Redeemer University College is an undergraduate Christian Liberal Arts and Science University located in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1982, Redeemer stands in the Reformed Tradition and offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and Bachelor of Science degrees.-History:The college...
and McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
. She is the author of Paul, Monotheism and the People of God. They have one daughter, named Theresa.
David's interests range widely throughout the humanities and arts. He spent a large part of his childhood at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, and has developed a love for music. David Koyzis has published original hymn texts and tunes in several hymnals. He has a special love for the tunes of the Genevan Psalter
Genevan psalter
The Genevan Psalter is a collection of metrical psalms created under the supervision of John Calvin.-Background:Before the Protestant Reformation the singing of the Psalms was generally done by a select group of performers, not by the entire congregation. John Calvin understood that the entire...
, for which he has written sixty English versifications and composed nearly as many musical arrangements.
His favourite composers include Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
, George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Sergei Rachmaninov and the filmscore composer Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
. He also enjoys various kinds of liturgical and folk music. He has a small collection of rare books and maps, the jewel of which is a King James Bible printed in 1637.
David's ecclesiastical background is rather chequered. He sometimes describes himself as a Byzantine-rite Calvinist. He grew up in an orthodox Presbyterian church and later worshipped in Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, United Methodist, Anglican and Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
churches. He has a longstanding connection to the Christian Reformed Church
Christian Reformed Church in North America
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed churches of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founded by Gijsbert Haan and Dutch immigrants who left the Reformed Church in...
, although he and his family are now members of a local Presbyterian congregation. His forebears were Greek Orthodox. He still has a considerable interest in Orthodox Christianity, with further interests in icons and all things Russian and Greek, including his ancestral island of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
.
Books
- Political Visions and Illusions: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2003), received first place in the nonfiction/culture category from The Word Guild Canadian Writing Awards, 2004. Subject of Mars Hill Audio Journal interview, November–December 2004, "on the modern denial of objective meaning and the exaltation of individual will."
- Currently writing the book We Answer to Another: Authority, Human Personhood and the Imago Dei
Chapters & Articles
- Preparing for Leadership Comment, 1 June 2007, republished at Christianity.ca.
- Persuaded, Not Commanded: Neo-Calvinism, Dignitatis Humanae, and Religious Liberty in Kenneth Grasso and Robert Hunt, ed., Catholicism and Religious Freedom: Contemporary Reflections on Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Liberty (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).
- Introductory Essay in Daniël F. M. Strauss, ed., Political Philosophy by Herman Dooyeweerd (Ancaster, Ontario and Lewiston, New York: The Dooyeweerd Centre and the Edwin Mellen Press, 2004), pp. 1–16, The Collected Works of Herman Dooyeweerd, series D, volume 1.
- Christianity and Liberalism: Two Alternative Religious Approaches the New Pantagruel: Hymns in the Whorehouse, summer 2004, vol. 1, no. 3.
- Making a Good Constitution Better: A Response to Janet Ajzenstat Comment (Work Research Foundation), winter 2004, pp. 15–21.
- Differentiated Responsibility and the Challenge of Religious Diversity Journal of Markets & Morality, vol. 5, no. 1 (spring 2002), pp. 199–207.
- Symposium: The Future of Federalism Comment, July–August 2001, pp. 14–15.
- Voter turnout and competitive politics Public Justice Report, vol. 23, no. 3, 2000, p. 3.
- Why Political Divorce Must Be Averted in Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, ed., Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues, 3rd ed. (Toronto: ITP Nelson, 1998), pp. 211 ff.
- Canadian Election Accentuates Divisions Once Again Public Justice Report, July–August 1997, p. 2.
- A Call to Reform the Canadian Electoral System Public Justice Report, July–August 1997, p. 3.
- Hannah Arendt on Polis, Nation-State and Federation in Jonathan Chaplin and Paul Marshall, ed., Political Theory and Christian Vision (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1994).
- Reclaiming the Polis: the Anticosmopolitan Vision and the Quest for Genuine Political Community Dianoia: A Liberal Arts Interdisciplinary Journal, 3 (no. 2) and 4 (no. 1) 1994, pp. 83–100.
- Imaging God and his Kingdom: Eastern Orthodoxy's Iconic Political Ethic Review of Politics 55 (spring 1993), pp. 267–289.
- Yves R. Simon's Contribution to a Structural Political Pluralism in Michael D. Torre, ed., Freedom in the Modern World: Jacques Maritain, Yves R. Simon, Mortimer J. Adler, Notre Dame: American Maritain Association and University of Notre Dame Press, 1989, pp. 131–9.
- Progress as an Object of Faith in the Thought of Friedrich A. Von Hayek Christian Scholar's Review, 12 (no. 2) 1983, pp. 139–55.
Popular & Other Publications
- Monthly column on politics, currently titled Principalities and Powers published in Christian Courier (formerly Calvinist Contact, St. Catharines, Ontario) from 1990 to the present. Other publications are too numerous to list in full and have appeared in Christian Courier, Christian Week (Winnipeg), the Catalyst (of Citizens for Public Justice, Toronto), Public Justice Report (of the Center for Public Justice, Washington, D.C.), Vanguard (Toronto), The Reformed Journal, Reformed Worship, New Oxford Review, The Banner (Christian Reformed Church) and Comment (Work Research Foundation, Mississauga, Ontario).
- Hymn texts and tunes appearing in the Christian Reformed Church's Psalter Hymnal (1987), Songs of Rejoicing: Hymns for Worship, Meditation, and Praise (1989), and the Mennonite Hymnal: A Worship Book (1992). Completed a collection of English texts and harmonizations for fifty of the Genevan Psalms, under the provisional title, Psalms set to be sung to the proper tunes of the Genevan Psalter. Currently in search of publisher.