Abraham Kuyper of the Netherlands and Louis Berkhof and R. C. Sproul. Following Kuyper, Berkhof sees three categories of common grace: Universal Common Grace, a grace that extends to all creatures; General Common Grace, a grace that applies to mankind in general and to every member of the human race; Covenant Common Grace, a grace that is common to all those who live in the sphere of the covenant, whether they belong to the elect or not. Theological issues Within Calvinism One of the earliest writers on common grace was the Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper. The specifics of the Reformed doctrine of common grace have been somewhat controversial and at times bitterly contested by some Calvinists. Especially in the Dutch tradition, it has been the cause of divisions. For example, in a 1924 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), the CRC adopted what became known as the "Three Points of Common Grace." Certain ministers within the CRC refused to subscribe to those "Three Points," and they (with the majority of their consistories) were either suspended or deposed from office. Thus began the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. These ministers, and others after them, wrote responses to the decision that was taken and ever since, the Protestant Reformed Churches have maintained that these "Three Points" were contrary to Scripture and the Reformed Confessions. The position of Herman Hoeksema and all leaders of the Protestant Reformed Churches is unique to the denomination, and is based on a high view of the word "grace" as a Biblical concept of favor applied only to the elect. According to Hoeksema (and any PRC writer) God's undeserving gifts of sunshine, rain, etc. are "providence" and while providence serves grace for believers, because it adds to their spiritual growth, it is not sent in love to unbelievers and only adds condemnation to those who never believe, in the same way rain is beneficial to a living tree but causes a dead one to rot. Connected to the first point of common grace, which asserts that God's "common grace" is demonstrated in a "general offer" of the gospel, Hoeksema asserted that such a view is pure Arminianism. While God commands all men to repent and believe and this command must be preached to all, Hoeksema insisted this command, like all other commands to godliness in the Bible, is not a "well-meant offer" since it is impossible