volume 24 - no. 3 september 2005 - gkv · the contacts with the gereja-gereja reformasi di...

Volume 24 - No. 3September 2005

Published quarterly by theCommittee on Relations withChurches Abroad ofThe Reformed Churches inthe Netherlands

Published quarterly by the Committee on Relations with churches Abroad ofThe Reformed Churches in The NetherlandsVolume 24 - No. 3September 2005

Editors: Rev. J.M. BatteauRev. R. ter BeekMs. C. ScheepstraMr. P.G.B. de VriesMrs. S. Wierenga-Tucker

Address for Editorial and Administrative(subscriptions, change of address)Matters:Lux MundiPostbus 4998000 AL ZwolleThe NetherlandsTelephone: +31(0)38 427 04 70E-mail: [email protected]

Bank account: no. 1084.32.556Subscription Rate in The Netherlandsper annum:€ 7,50.

Contents

EditorialBy R. ter Beek, p. 65

Joy and more joy! By H.G.L. Peels, p. 66

New Committee for Relations with Churches abroad Gkv (BBK)p. 67

The foundation for Helping Neighbours abroadBy P. Hooghuis, p.68

Reformed theology: between ideal and reality (II)By G. Kwakkel, p.70

A marginalised phenomenonBy R. ter Beek, p. 73

The proclamation of the Gospel to the JewsBy H.J. Siegers, p. 77

America: with or against the world?By A. Kamsteeg, p. 79

Contacts in North AmericaBy R.C. Janssen, p. 82

Hans Rookmaaker and the struggle for a Christian view of art andcultureBy W.L. Meijer, p. 84

ICRC Pretoria 2005p. 86

News Update News from Kampen (GKv), p. 87GKv offers sister-church relationship to GKSA, p. 88

Lux Mundi

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September 2005

In the coming days, the General Synod of the ReformedChurches (liberated) of Amersfoort-Centre, will finish itswork. As far as the international contacts of thesechurches are concerned, this was an important synod.The bonds with the sister churches have beenstrengthened.

The meeting with representatives (May 27-28) was heartwarming. The Free Church (continuing) has been kept in thelist of sister churches. After a long preparatory phase sisterchurch relationships have been established with theReformed Church of South Africa (GKSA), and the Nongu uKristu Ken Sudan nen Tiv, Nigeria (NKST). The PresbyterianFree Church Council of Kalimpong, India (PFCC) hasbecome a sister church as well. The synod has taken steps inthe contacts with the Gereja-Gereja Reformasi di Indonesia,Kalimantan barat (GGRI-Kalbar), the Orthodox PresbyterianChurch and the United Reformed Churches in NorthAmerica. In this and following issues, you will be able to readmore about this.

The Synod of the Reformed Churches (liberated) meets overthe course of many weeks on Fridays and Saturdays. Muchpreparatory work iscompleted byrepresentatives incommittees whichmeet throughout thewhole land. Thesister churches areinvited for but oneparticular week. Inthis week, the hostoffers theopportunity fordiscussion with thedeputies for churchesabroad, or withmembers of thesynod, or betweenthe foreignrepresentativesthemselves. There isalso opportunityoffered to becomeacquainted with acertain aspect ofchurch life in theNetherlands. Therepresentatives arepresent at the synod

on Friday and Saturday.This is not alwayssatisfactory for sisterchurches who feel the need to be present for discussion anddecision making on certain points of the agenda. It is difficultto predict when a subject will be dealt with. There is often aconsiderable length of time between the first plenarydiscussions and the taking of a decision. The possibilities ofstructuring this have proved limited up until now. This timethere was special opportunity to take part in the discussion ofthe report about marriage and divorce. This opportunity wasused but there were more subjects which attracted attention.

The synod greatly appreciated the opportunity to get to knowthe guests from abroad. The deputies work was judgedpositively but one of the questions which BBK deputies canset to work with is: how can we offer sister churches whowant to, the opportunity of contributing to the discussion ofsubjects which are handled at the synod? What are thepossibilities and where do the boundaries lie? The way inwhich we hold meetings brings limitations. But in thepreparatory phase lay more opportunities than have beenused up until now.

In the meantime thepreparations for theInternationalConference ofReformed Churchesin Pretoria, SouthAfrica, in October arewell underway. Wewish the people whoare busy withpreparations, everyblessing. A numberof proposals, andpapers have alreadybeen distributedamongst memberchurches.

We hope to see youall in Pretoria, andmay the Lord use thediscussions there tobless his workthroughout theworld.

by R. ter Beek

Editorial

One of the foreign delegates addresses the synod in Amersfoort - Centre, 2005 May

(photo P.G.B. de Vries).

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For many people, the book Chronicles might just as wellbe cut out of the Bible. The name alone - ‘Chronicles’, isenough to make you think of tedious lists.

And yes, the first nine chapters of Chronicles contain longgenealogies which mean nothing to the average Bible reader.Utterly boring. Above all, if you have already read Kings, thisBible book is repetitious. Is the Greek name for Chroniclesnot Paralipomenon, ‘that which has been left out, theleftovers’? Thus the suggestion that Chronicles is a meresupplement, an appendix, is an obvious one. Added to this isthat a whole generation of Biblical scholars had very littleinterest in Chronicles. They considered that the Chroniclertwisted facts about certain parts of history, that he upheld anarrow-minded nationalistic viewpoint, that he did injusticeto the reality with an over emphatic retaliation idea, that hemore or less gave signs of spiritual exhaustion, and so on...

In the last decades, the wind has begun to blow fromanother direction. Study after study about the book ofChronicles has appeared wherein it becomes evident that thisbook has been handled unfairly in the past. The conceitedjudgements often said more about the exegetes’ own attitudeand values than about the Bible book itself. Especially anegative view of the Old Testament period after theBabylonian exile was sometimes playing tricks on scholars. Inrecent times, Chronicles is being read anew by interpreterswith growing enthusiasm and they are making discoveryupon discovery. Boring? Dull? Forget it!

It is becoming clearer that Chronicles is absolutely notjust a book which briefly repeats Kings and is reallyunnecessary. On the contrary, the Chronicler gives adeliberate re-telling of the history from a totally independentstandpoint, with an own purpose. Take these first ninechapters for example: when we take a closer look, these socalled boring genealogies give a sort of sermon-in-names inwhich the big themes of the history of Chronicles already arerepresented. And note the way in which is spoken of ‘wholeIsrael’. Most noticeable is also the insertion of all sorts ofprophetic speeches, which we miss in Kings, or the extensiveaccount of the ‘good’ kings Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah andJosiah; everyone of them had meant much for the temple.Every Bible reader noticed this in Chronicles of course: theunique concentration on the temple, the worship service, theLevites.

For the one who wants to read and to listen with anopen mind, this Bible book becomes more interesting by theminute, certainly when we compare it with the books ofSamuel and Kings, which were the most important sourcesfor the Chronicler.

In the midst of all individual emphasises andcharacteristics of the Chronicler, we turn the spotlight onto

one. Mention of joy in Chronicles is conspicuous. In contrastto 10 times in the 102 chapters of Samuel and Kings, in the65 chapters of Chronicles the Hebrew root for ‘joy’ is used 25times. Joy, not just as feeling or emotion, but very concretelyas rejoicing, as expression of joy. This joy element constantlyhas the Chronicler’s attention, whether he tells about thetransport of the ark to Jerusalem, or about the building,dedication or reform of the temple, or about the coronationof a king or the size of a spontaneous voluntary contribution.

It is, for example, striking that the Chronicler easilychanges the sources he uses in this sense. Two examples. In 1Chronicles 16 he describes how the ark is brought toJerusalem, wherein David charges the Asaphites to praiseGod. They do this with a song that we know as Psalm 96.Where this psalm really sings about ‘strength and glory’ inGod’s sanctuary (v. 6), Chronicles turns this into ‘strengthand joy’ (v. 27). Also in the quotation from Psalm 132, as thisis reproduced in 2 Chronicles 6, the word ‘joy’ suddenlycrops up (v. 41). And read the compelling history of thecelebration of the Passover under King Hezekiah in 2Chronicles 30. One great crescendo of joy, in the verses 21,23, 25 and 26.

It is difficult to put this all down to chance. It isespecially this focussing on joy that puts us on to the trail ofwhat the Chronicler could have intended. His work, reallyspeaking a sermon in the form of a prophetical historicalwriting, was a word in time. Most exegetes agree that (themost of) Chronicles must have been written at the beginningof the fourth century BC. We imagine: almost one and a halfcenturies after the return from the Babylonian exile. Thetemple is rebuilt, but is nowhere near as glorious as it was.The kingship over Israel has not been re-established, Judah isa small backwater province in the immeasurably great Persianempire. What do you mean - Zion the centre of the world?Where is the fulfilling of God’s prophecies? The books ofMalachi, Ezra and Nehemia, written in the fifth century BCreflect what Judah is experiencing in these days. The historyof God and his people seems to have been blown out like acandle in the wind in spite of the recovery of the walls ofJerusalem.

But then the Holy Spirit inspires the writer(s) of thisbook of Chronicles, which places the whole history in anencouraging light, in order to rally the people. No, it is notall over! God’s promises reach beyond that which can be

by H.G.L. Peels

Joy and more joy!

About the author:

Dr. H.G.L. Peels (*1956) is

Professor of Old Testament

studies at the Theological University of the Christian Reformed Churches

(CGK) in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.

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seen, here and now. The king on the throne of God overIsrael, the temple where praise can be heard, permeated witha mighty joy: everything announces that God does notabandon the work of his hands. Joy - it is as though theChronicler triply underlines what Nehemia said to a peoplein tears, half a century earlier: “Do not grieve, for the joy ofthe Lord is your strength”. (Neh. 8:10) The mustard seed ofGod’s work sown in history was not to no avail. Therefore:praise Him with great joy! In the temple and in hope.

It says a great deal, that the last word of Chronicles is anexhortation: ‘let him go up’ (2 Chron. 36:23). The end hasnot yet come, God’s people is ‘on its way’, but awaiting Him,in joy.

This article is a translation of ‘Vreugde en nog eens vreugde. 1 en 2Kronieken’, in: Koert van Bekkum a.o. (eds.), Gods Woord inmensentaal. Denken over het gezag van de Bijbel, Barneveld: Nederlands Dagblad, 2003, 175-177.

New Committee for Relations with Churches abroad Gkv (BBK)

The General Synod of Amersfoort-Centre 2005 appointed18 men and women as deputies for relations withchurches abroad. This means a great deal less manpowerthan the 24 to which we have been accustomed up untilnow.

The committee is sub-divided into three sections. Eachsection takes care of her own group of contacts.

Appointed to the Europe (except Spain and Portugal) andNorth America section are:Rev. R. ter Beek, Soest;Rev. R.C. Janssen, Hoek;Prof. G. Kwakkel, Kampen;Mr. W. Kuipers, Hattem;Prof. K. Wezeman, Haren;Rev. R. van Wijnen, Ureterp.With the reserves: Mr. A.J. Petter, Dalfsen, and Mr. D. de Vos, Tollebeek.

Appointed to the section for Asia incl. Indonesia, Australiaand New Zealand are:Mr. B. Bolt, Heerde;Mrs. E. Ensing-Maatkamp, Zwolle;Rev. J.P.D. Groen, Wezep;Rev. A.S. van der Lugt, Rotterdam;Mrs. H.S. Nederveen-van Veelen, Berkel en Rodenrijs;Rev. J. Plug, Rotterdam. With the reserves: Mr. J. Bronsema, Amersfoort andMr. H.J. Leskens, Hattem.

Appointed to the section for Africa and the Spanish andPortuguese speaking countries are:Rev. H. ten Brinke, Bodegraven; Rev. Th.J. Havinga, Zuidlaren;Mr. T.J. Karelse, Capelle aan den Ijssel;Rev. J.P. Kruiger, Oud-Zuilen;Rev. P.K. Meijer, Hardenberg;Mrs. E.J. Urban, Zwolle.With the reserves: Rev. T. de Boer, Amersfoort andMrs. D.J. de Jong-Pel, Houten.

These three sections each send a representative to the sectionfor communication and public relations, which has specialresponsibility for the publication of Lux Mundi.

The board consists of Prof. K. Wezeman, chairman; Rev. R. ter Beek, vice-chairman; Rev. R.C. Janssen, secretary,and Mr. T.J. Karelse, treasurer. Together with Mr. B. Bolt theyconstitute the section for policy and ICRC.

The secretariat of the BBK deputies is manned from Mondayto Friday by Mrs G.A. Enter-Hindriks and Mrs. G.G. Bredenhoff.Mail addressPostbus 499, 8000 AL Zwolle, The Netherlandsemail: [email protected]. # (0)38-427 04 70F. # (0)38-427 04 11website: http://www.bbk.gkv.nlVisitors address:GbouwBurg. Vos de Waelstraat 28011 AT ZwolleThe Netherlands

Two members of the newly appointed Committee for Relations with

Churches abroad (GKv), left Rev. A.S. van der Lugt and right Mr. B. Bolt

(photo P.G.B. de Vries)

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The Foundation for Helping Neighbours abroad(hereafter SNB) was officially set up on November 24th

2003. A period of intense contact with a work group inLeusden preceded this. This group had already gainedexperience organising working holidays for young peoplein Bosnia-Herzegovina.

During the initial period of planning and preparation, anattempt to create a work group of our own in Amersfoort wasunsuccessful. There were not enough young people available,nor was there a strong enough financial basis.In the course of the following year, however, young peoplewere invited to sign up for a working holiday in the Dobojarea, Bosnia-Herzegovina.The aim was as youth of the Reformed Church of EastAmersfoort to help fellow people in need. In the meantimethe recruitment area was extended to Amersfoort and theimmediate area so that young people from other places couldtake part, should there not be enough participants.A group of leaders was formed which took charge ofpreparations and on 14th July 2003 we left for the first timefor Rudanka in Bosnia Herzegovina, with 17 young peopleunder the leadership of the provisional board members.This was made possible financially by the sponsored activitiesof the young people.The deacons of the church of East Amersfoort guaranteedthat the amount of money necessary would be available.

Hard workFor two long weeks we worked on two houses which couldhardly even be called houses. Floors consisting of stampedearth were replaced by wooden floors; window frames wereplaced, a leaking roof was repaired, and walls and roofs

which were about to collapse were rebuilt.Also during this period, we fixed up the school in Rudankain which we were staying.Panels were put on the back walls and the walls werepainted.Fluorescent lights were also installed in just about all therooms.After these two busy weeks we returned, tired but satisfied,to the Netherlands.

FinancesOnce back at home, we set about turning our provisionalboard into a foundation. This took place, as previouslymentioned, on November 24th 2003.From that moment onwards, as foundation, we were able tolay claim to a subsidy from the NCDO, an organisationwhich offers financial support to foundations which organisesmall-scale projects in lands such as Bosnia-Herzegovina. In2004 we were able to make grateful use of this subsidy.It is clear that this support has till now been insufficient. Viafun activities and the organisation of sporting events,attempts were made at raising the money needed.Participants pay a fixed amount of 200 euros themselves andneed to raise a further 250 euros in sponsor money. Thechurches are also asked to take up a collection for thispurpose and, via the spreading of a sponsorship folder whichcan be downloaded from the website, people are stimulatedto make a financial contribution.

by P. Hooghuis

The foundation for Helping NeighboursabroadStichting Naastenhulp Buitenland

About the author:Pieter Hooghuis is secretary of the Stichting Naastenhulp Buitenland. His

e-mail: [email protected]

...we fixed up the school in Rudanka in which we were staying...

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On 31st March, we organised a letter writing evening for theyear 2005. Participants were given the opportunity to writeto their families and friends asking for sponsorship.

Plans for 2005July 11th is the planned departure date this year. At that timethe finances will have to be in order. The tools we need inBosnia-Herzegovina also have to be taken with us- hammers,saws, drills, trowels, tile cutters, chisels etc. We buy materialssuch as window frames, boards, screws and nails there, sothat the local trade can profit from us. It is furthermorecheaper for us to buy materials there.Clothes and shoes are also very much in need there. For thisreason we take as much with us as possible and share it withthe inhabitants there, who are very grateful and happy forwhat they receive.

EffectsAlongside the work they do, our young people experiencethe poverty in the houses in which they work. Many familieshave no father, he having been killed in the war. Manyhouses have been ruined in the war. All such sad experienceshave an impact upon our young people.Their experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina is something whichthey think about for a long time afterwards. Often somethingchanges in the way they think and the way they speak aboutwhat they’ve experienced.

ContactThe foundation has a website and places photos and reportsof events during the stay in Bosnia. Families back at home

can watch the developments daily.For the communication with those back at home there issomebody in the Netherlands who can put importantannouncements on the website, if necessary, so that we, inBosnia-Herzegovina, can read them. The website address iswww.naastenhulpbuitenland.nl.

Should anyone wish to help us realise our goals there and tohelp the people make their houses habitable again, a contribution can be made to Bank acc. No. 33.78.02.777 ofthe Stichting Naastenhulp Buitenland. (Rabobank Nijkerk).We welcome all contributions!

...For two long weeks we worked on two houses which could hardly even

be called houses...

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Reformed theology wants to go back to the word of theonly Master. But how much does this actually happen inpractice? Is there not so much already decided? Is thereroom for increase in insight?

Ideal.....Everything which is scriptural is reformed. This expressiondoes justice to the intentions of the 16th century fathers ofreformed theology. In this the character of reformed theologycan be described further. Characteristic of reformed theologyis that it wants to do justice to what God Himself wants toteach us from the Old and New Testament Scriptures, notonly parts of it but from the whole1. God has the first word.For this reason what He says in the Bible must also have thelast word in all theological discussions.

....and realityBut alongside an intention - or, if you like: an ideal - is itsrealisation. From this basic conviction, reformed theology hastaken on a certain historical form. The Bible was followed,not in a timeless way, but in a historical situation. In thishistorical situation certain questions were topical, such asthose of the justification of sinners, of Christ’s presence at theLord’s Supper, of the possibility of swearing an oath, and ofGod’s election.

In that connection, it is often about great, wonderfulthings. What is greater than knowing that you do not have toprove yourself to God? But that He, if you call on Him,accepts you as you are? And that He does not leave you asyou are, but makes a new, eternally living, man out of youthrough the Spirit of Christ, starting from your inner self?What gives more certainty than the sense, that your Father in

heaven had his eye uponyou even before creation,to make you share foreverin Christ’s love through allthe temptations of a life ina world full of sin?2

Reformed theology isfascinating. For it givesyou the opportunity toreflect on a religiousconviction according towhich small people donot have to act as thoughthey are greater than theyare, but are completelyfreed by the greatness ofGod, his mercy, his love.

But as mere people deal with such great things, accidents canalso happen. I think now only about the emphasis onelection. Rightly Bavinck pointed out how central theposition of this doctrine had become in the historical

development of the reformed theology. But much has gonewrong in the course of the centuries. Sometimes electionbecame the dominant perspective: before you could be sureof God’s promise of forgiveness and life, you had to be certainabout your personal election. Indeed, this was not scripturaland thus not reformed, but all the same ‘reformed theology’could be associated with this misrepresentation in the courseof time.

Just as with many terms, the word ‘reformed’ can in duecourse take on a meaning which has drifted far away fromthe original intentions. I value the word ‘reformed’. Theconvictions to which this word refers and the theologyattached to it, are still worth fighting for. Especially becauseof the catholic intention, the decisive role of the HolyScriptures and the respectful recognition of the majesty of

God and Jesus Christ. I would be very glad to see the word‘reformed’ calling forth warm associations for manyChristians again. As teacher and president of this academy, Iwant to work towards that; and my colleagues share thisconviction - I know them well enough for that.

Yet there is but one name through which we must besaved, and that is not the name or the term ‘reformed’. It isthe name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). This unique name, iswhat it was all about for the reformed people of the sixteenthcentury, and for many of their descendants of later times.

Corrections from ScriptureAll being well, as reformed theologians, we want nothingother than to be faithful to the common Christian, catholicfaith. In the light of the Bible, of the whole of the written

by G. Kwakkel

Reformed theology: between ideal and reality (II)

About the author:Dr. Gert Kwakkel (*1959) has

been professor of Old Testament studies at the Theological University of

the Reformed Churches (liberated) in the Netherlands since 1993. He

graduated from the State University in Groningen with a study about the

Psalms of innocence: ‘According to My Righteousness.’ Upright Behaviour

as Grounds for Deliverance in Psalms 7, 17, 18, 26, and 44 (Leiden:

Brill, 2003).

I value the word ‘reformed’

The name of Jesus is what it was all about

Prof. dr. H. Bavinck

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word of God, we want to reflect on thequestions which Christians, theChristian church and theology areconfronted with in our time.

This does not mean that alltheology simply and directly can bederived from the Bible, withoutmaking use of other sources. Thesimple fact alone that we have aHebrew or Greek grammar book nextto our bible, indicates this clearly. Itdoes mean, however, that all ourhuman thoughts are compared withthe word of God in Scripture, and thatthey must be examined forcompatibility with God’s word as thesupreme arbiter in all our disputes. Ishall quote once more from article 7,Belgic Confession: it is unlawful foranyone to teach otherwise than we arenow taught in Holy Scripture. And:“We may not consider any writings ofmen, however holy these men mayhave been, of equal value with thedivine Scriptures; nor ought we toconsider custom, or the greatmultitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons,or councils, decrees or statutes, as of equal value with thetruth of God, since the truth is above all”. Therefore this isalso true of all thoughts which have been developed in thecourse of the history of reformed theology. It is equally trueof the Belgic Confession and our other confessionaldocuments themselves. They are always open, not only toaddition, but also to correction on the basis of the Scripturesthemselves.

The reformed doctrine with regard to the Holy Scriptures,with elements as inspiration, authority and infallibility, is noexception to this. In the twentieth century this doctrine hasplayed a decisive role in the confrontation with othertheologies and in ecclesiastical discussions.3 Nevertheless it istypically reformed to say even of this basis conviction that it isnever definitely closed. Reformed theology can only bereformed theology if she keeps researching the Bible, also withregard to what the Lord teaches us about the character of Hisown word. That was the original intention behind the oldreformed rule ‘Sacra Scriptura sui ipsius interpres’: the HolyScripture is her own interpreter.

A light for our pathAt this moment thus, I can do nothing better than open theBible in order to consider with you for a few moments, therole of the Scriptures in reformed theology. This evening weread Psalm 119:97-112. I ask your attention for the mostfamiliar verse in this text, verse 105: ‘Your word is a lamp to

my feet and a light for my path’.The person speaking in Psalm 119

is talking about ‘your word’, the wordof the LORD. First he thinks of God’slaw, his commandments,recommendations and ordinances. Inshort: God’s guidelines for our lives.But these words from God are neverunrelated to His other words. This istrue of the praise of God’s law in Psalm119 as well. In this very psalm God’sword is also a promise of life to hisservants. See verse 107: ‘preserve mylife, O Lord, according to your word’(see also v. 65).

It is a word with which God setsup a relationship with his people. Andwhat sort of relationship is that? Onein which He promises us love and lifeand asks for our hearts, our faithfullove and childlike obedience. It is, inshort, the word of love or covenantfrom our Father in heaven; the wordwhich ultimately receives its powerfrom the work of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 119:105 says of this wordof God, that it is a light for our path and a lamp to our feet.That is not a light which takes away all dark moments fromall dark places where you and I would like to look. The wordof God does not answer all our questions. It does not solveall the problems of the world. It does not make empiricalresearch of the creation and the way in which peoplefunction, unnecessary. It is a light for your path, and a lampto your foot. It gives you light in the place you are standing.It makes clear to you how you can walk safely and where youmust go, in your place in history.4

It is not as though you can decide that all alone. Thefirst-person speaker in Psalm 119 seems in many ways to beon his own, nevertheless he knows himself to be united withothers who also keep God’s words. He even begins by sayingso (vv. 1-2):‘Blessed are they whose ways are blameless,who walk according to the law of the LORD.Blessed are they who keep his statutesand seek him with all their heart.’

If that is not clear enough from Psalm 119, then it iscertainly clear from the New Testament. Only ‘together withall the saints’ are we able ‘to grasp how wide and long andhigh and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this lovethat surpasses knowledge’ (Eph. 3:18-19). The word of God,the Bible, has been given to Christ’s church, so that we - justas the Jews in Berea (Acts 17:11) - can read and examinetogether what our God has to say to us.5

And even together we do not find everything that wemight want to know, but we do receive the help we need in ourcircumstances: there where our foot is and where our path maybe. But just there we really have light. So that we, if necessary,can say with conviction: ‘this is what the Lord wants’.

Even the doctrine of Scripture is never definitely closed

...But here, at this reformed Theological University, a

student is always more than a customer...,

(photo: P.G.B. de Vries)

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If we say so, we do not fix things so unchangeably, as thoughwe do not expect any chance of better insight until the LastDay. We receive light for our time, confess God’s truth andfollow His word. Then we can commit ourselves to what wehave found together, also for the future. But we do not needto do so for all centuries yet to come. These are in God’shand. Also then, His word shall be a light on the path ofChrist’s disciples.

Open to growing insightReformed theology which is not open to growing insight, hasforgotten her basic principle. That is that everything which isScriptural is reformed. Nor has she read Psalm 119 properly.The first-person speaker in this Psalm recognises that he hasstrayed like a lost sheep (v. 176). He says also - it soundsanything but modest:‘I have more insight than my all teachers,for I meditate on your statutes.I have more understanding than the elders,for I obey your precepts.’Now I do not know if the poet of Psalm 119 was a veryspecial man, somebody who had a sort of Solomon-likewisdom. Nor do I know if he says this, because as writer of aPsalm, he was aware of a special guidance from God’s Spirit.But I do know that our Lord Jesus Christ said that everyteacher of the law who has been instructed about thekingdom of heaven, is like the owner of a house who bringsout of his storeroom new treasures as well as old (Matth.13:52).

This supply, the storeroom of God’s word, is open to allof us. Naturally, teachers know more about the Bible andabout theology than students. One has more knowledge ofScripture and a more direct access to the languages in whichthe Bible has been written, than the other. But if reformedtheology at rock bottom wants to be nothing other thanbiblical theology, then the students may fully join in thediscussion.

Someone said in this last year, that as student you are aclient. In other words: the teacher is responsible forsupplying the educational product, the student takes it. Iagree completely. But here, at this reformed TheologicalUniversity, a student is always more than a customer. He issomebody whose input is not only desirable but alsonecessary. If it is about insight into the Scriptures, all thesaints may join in this and we need them all.

In our present culture you often hear things like ‘I seethat differently’ or ‘I feel that differently’. Such feelings arerelevant, also at our Theological University. Here students canhelp teachers to keep their both feet on the ground. Pleasesay so, if you feel something like this rising within you. Butnot as the end of the discussion. See it as the beginning, thebeginning of a discussion in which God’s word itself mustultimately be decisive.

Is it biblical?Reformed theology wants to be faithful to the catholic faith.It wants to talk about the questions which arise with God’sWord as the touchstone. This means that not only theinsights of students are welcome but also that everything canbe integrated that can actually stand the test of the biblicalcriterion, whether it is presented under the heading ofreformed theology or not.

It is very understandable and right that the question isoften raised: ‘is this now still reformed or not?’ You can seethis question as a grateful recognition of what we havereceived in our own confessions and in all the developmentof convictions surrounding these (that is to say: in ourreformed tradition). But it must not be your only question,nor your first. The first and decisive question must be -whether or not something can stand before God’s word. Onlythen is it truly reformed.

Worth itNow I understand that the reality is often different from thepicture which I just drew. That is also true for myself. Irealise very well, that in our tradition we have not alwaystried as hard as possible to gain deeper understanding, andespecially that there has not always been the stimulus to seekalso new insights. Small people are busy with great things.That will always be so.I do hope that I have offered a contribution towards thinkinganew about what for us as reformed theologians ourprinciples, our task and yes, our ideal must be. Everybodymay hold us to this. That is what we want to aim for. Becauseas long as reformed theology is true catholic biblical theology,is studying here an effort worth making. Then we can do ourwork, with enthusiasm.

Notes1 W. Nieboer rightly emphasises in his brochure Dankbaar

Gereformeerd (see www.willem-nieboer.nl) the necessity of doingjustice to the whole of Scripture.

2 Belgic Confession, articles 22-24; Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’sDays 23, 24 and 32; Canons of Dort, I.7; II.8; III/IV.11, 12; V.8.

3 See e.g. the jubilee issue of the GTT, referred to in the beginning ofthis address: W. Stoker & H.C. van der Sar (eds.), Theologie op dedrempel van 2000. Terugblik op 100 jaar Gereformeerd TheologischTijdschrift, Kampen: Kok, 1999.

4 As Belgic Confession, article 7, puts it: ‘We believe that this HolyScripture fully contains the will of God and that all that man mustbelieve in order te be saved, is sufficiently taught therein’.

5 See A.L.Th de Bruijne, ‘Navolging en verbeeldingskracht’, in:C. Trimp (ed.), Woord op Schrift, Kampen: Kok, 2002, 223-232.

This article is the second and last part of the address Prof. Dr. G.Kwakkel, president of the Theological University of the ReformedChurches (lib.) in Kampen, gave on September 6th, 2004, at theoccasion of the opening of the lessons. It was originally published inDutch in the reformed weekly De Reformatie 79 (2003-2004) 851-854; 80 (2004-2005) 7-10.

All the saints may join in

We receive help where our foot is

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One hundred and fifty years of theological education inKampen (2004) and sixty years of Liberation (2004)constituted enough reason for reformed historians to askthemselves the question, what has changed? What hasclearly shifted since the Second World War is theposition of the Reformed Christians in society. This hashad its consequences for the life and the thinking withinthe churches. I read a few highlights on this subject.

Prof. A. Th. Van Deursen once wrote (in his review of DeGereformeerden [‘The Reformed people’] by Agnes Amelink,in Trouw, October 31st, 2001) that Reformed people whoaccept the Bible unconditionally as the inspired word of God,no longer determine the picture of the Reformed world, butthey are still there: ‘Whoever wants to serve God as the Holyand Almighty One will not attach too much value toopinions. He keeps on believing that God’s word comes fromabove, and that he would do better to listen than to discuss’.They still exist, and - he adds- ‘their future is just as sure asthe continued existence of poetry’.

What has changed?. Prof. Gerrit J. Schutte describes howThe Netherlands have changed: ‘The Netherlands becameindustrialised, modernised, urbanised, democratised andemancipated after 1945. It has become a part of Europe. Ourlaw and rules come from Brussels and Strasbourg; the guilderhas landed in a museum; our market is called Europe. TheDutch population has almost doubled in that time and tenpercent of it now originates from countries overseas. Closed,traditional communities no longer exist. The skyline ofcommuter villages and newly built housing estates looks thesame everywhere. So too with the local supermarket and themulti purpose community centre. We eat, drink and relaxinternationally, the TV-news and newspapers treat us daily to

snippets from the entireglobal village. Even thehistory of the fatherlandhas disappeared fromour education (as all thehistory quizzes prove)and from the newsuburbs (no moredistricts named afterstadholders, statesmen,painters, maritimeheroes, reminiscences ofDutch history in SouthAfrica or Indonesia).’

The secularisation of the NetherlandsIn 1947, the Netherlands was a Christian country. Eightypercent of the inhabitants belonged to one of the Christianchurches: the Roman Catholic church (35,5%), theNederlandse Hervormde church (31,1%), the variousReformed churches (8.95%) or the dissenters churches(Lutheran, Baptist, Remonstrant; 3,55%). The Netherlandswas also segregated. Nearly all Catholics, Reformed and thehalf of the Hervormd, voted for confessional political parties,which together held 57 of the 100 seats in the LowerChamber (1948). Of the organised workers, 43% chose for aconfessional labour union; denominational schools attractedthree quarters of all pupils. Three out of four radio stationshad an confessional affiliation. Daily and weekly papers,health care, building corporations, choirs and sport clubs allwere segregated.1 In those post war years of discipline andabstinence, the Netherlands was hard working, sober andconservative.

In 1967, the Netherlands was still a Christian country.The percentage of nonchurchgoing inhabitants, 17.1% in1947, 18.4% in1960, increased significantly in recent yearsto be sure, but in 1971 with 23,6% it still did not includeeven a quarter of the population. This secularisation stillhardly touched the Reformed denominations (nor the moreconservative wings of the Nederlandse Hervormde church):her share in the population even increased, despite a sizeableemigration, thanks to the high birth figures. Thecompartmentalisation along confessional lines was subjectedto pressure, but did not lose much importance. Theconfessional parties lost their majority for the first time whenin 1967 they attained 47,4% of the votes.2 Nonetheless theydominated the cabinets for the time being.

After 1970 the secularisation and the removal oftraditional religious barriers took a free fall, which carried onwith a little less haste also after 1990. The number ofinhabitants not affiliated to a church rose to 41% in 2000and the confessional parties held in 1999 only 37 seats,barely a quarter of the whole. Studying the facts produces apicture with little encouragement of an increasingsecularisation and dechristianisation. Of the 59%‘believers’,in the beginning, 8% was Moslem, Hindu a.o. and only 51%

by R. ter Beek

A marginalised phenomenonOrthodox Reformed in the Netherlands

About the author:Rutger (Ruud) ter Beek (*1952)

is minister of the Word in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands

(liberated), since 2002 in Soest-Baarn. He completed his theological

studies at the Kampen theological faculty in 1982 with a major in Old

Testament. Afterwards he studied Semitic languages and cultures at the

Catholic University in Nijmegen.

Mrs. Agnes Amelink


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Lux Mundi

called themselves Christian (30% Roman Catholic, 14%Nederlands Hervormd, 6.66% Reformed, 0.24% Evangelical,0,19% dissenters).

But this 51% appeared to be more than it actuallyconstituted. A further study of the facts reveals that theRoman Catholic part of the population has decreasedrelatively little: from 35.5% in 1947 to 30% in 1999. But thereality within the catholic population can be seen better inthe fact that less than 30% actually attends church. Not, thatthis is much better amongst Hervormd people: the Hervormdpart of the population has been more than halved between1947 and 1999 (from 31.1 to 14%) and of what remains butone third attends church. The Reformed all together havedecreased by a quarter in the same period (from 8.95% to6.66% of the population); of these 70% still attend church.There are thus, some 18% of all Netherlanders, a mere threemillion people who still go to church. That is still more thenthe people who populate the football stadiums on Sundays,by the way. But lest this be a reason for too muchcontentedness: as far as the statistics are concerned, whoeverattends church an average of once a month is classed as aregular churchgoer.3 Christians actively participating inchurch life anno 2004 in the Netherlands constitute thus, asmall minority, in the midst of a greater number of peoplewho seldom or never, show their faces inside a church.’

What happened to the theology?What happened to the theology in the meantime? Prof.George Harinck describes how in the first half of thetwentieth century the advice of an Old Testament professorfrom Kampen was much in demand by people in all sorts ofpositions in society. Printed sermons constituted a respectedfoothold for public opinion. Did that remain after 1950? ‘Thetheological courses still hold on to their core business: thetraining of ministers, the development of reformed theology.But is there still demand for this?’ According to Harinck, theposition of theology in the church and the culture of the lasthalf century has changed so radically that you can say of thetheology: ‘its place remembers it no more’.

The figures speak their own language. ‘In the ninetyyears after 1854, the founding year of the school in Kampen,the total number of theology students in the Netherlands hasdoubled. This growth came approximately in agreement withthe growth of the Dutch population between 1850 and 1950.But in the same period the faculty of mathematics andscience had not become twice as big but 72 times bigger, thefaculty of language and literature and philosophy 26 timesbigger and the faculty of medicine 15 times bigger. Thismeans that the number of the theology students in highereducation decreased within a century from approximately22% in the second half of the nineteenth century to less than10% in the first half of the twentieth century. The non-churched in the Netherlands stormed on in the same periodfrom 1.5% in the eighties of the 19th century to 15% in theyears before the Second World War. Noticeable is that thistenfold increase of the secularisation in the half centurybefore the Second World War had no clear effect on the scaleof the theological training. The real blow came after the war,when the higher education grew exponentially and thechurches shrunk. In 2003 a total of 180,000 students wererecorded in university education in our land. The rate oftheology students within that number has decreased to asorry percentage of less than one percent.’

Controlled renewalWhat happened to the Reformed Churches (liberated) in thistime? You hear people say that they are following after theReformed (‘synodical’) Churches. But, according to Schutte,this is not possible: ‘History never repeats itself. The(‘synodical’) Reformed world of the sixties is not theLiberated world of 2004. The slippery slope is not ahistorical term. History witnesses renewal and change. Shesometimes even knows developments which look likerevolutions’.

‘Liberated Reformed have grown up with slogans whichexpress as much of a task as a self-image. You, however, notso! (‘Gij geheel anders’, Eph. 4:20), for example, and Everyinch is Christ’s! (‘Geen duimbreed!’). Also: In the world but notof the world. Reformed Christians however, do not live inmonasteries, and avoiding the world and asceticism havenever charmed them. They have a message for the world.Another slogan from the reformed church Latin is semperreformanda, quia reformatus; reformed people must keep onbeing reformed. They are, to express it in yet another way,

Prof. dr. G. Harinck (photo: P.G.B. de Vries)

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anti-revolutionary, not conservative. Their thoughts anddeeds must connect with the times.’

Which course have the Reformed Churches (liberated) inthe Netherlands followed in this changing world? Inretrospect, Prof. Schutte can point out how the churchesworked on the improvement of the organisation of their ownsegment in society, between 1945 and approximately 1990.The changes in society and the watering down of the(‘synodical’) Reformed Churches seemed not to touch the(liberated) Reformed Churches.4 Alongside this he describes‘the slow turnover after 1967’. From the seventies onwardshe sees an impulse towards ‘controlled renewal in continuity’.

He calls the Proefbundel 1975 (‘Provisional collection’)the ‘most noticeable example of controlled change’, ‘arevision of the Psalms rhymed in 1773 and translations of anumber of seventeenth century liturgical forms, by thegeneral synod offered to the churches, which after ten yearsof testing and inspection led to the introduction of theGereformeerd Kerkboek (1986). When the Liedboek voor deKerken appeared in 1973, in the same year the ‘liberated’Synod had concluded about the rhymed Psalms in it, thatthere were ‘so many and such objections that use of thisrhymed version in the reformed worship service would notbe responsible’.5 (...) Since Proefbundel and GereformeerdKerkboek, the Liberated sung their own rhymed version of thePsalms, which were as far as language was concerned halfway between 1773 and the Liedboek. And 41 hymns: manymore than they were used to, and than the Reformeddenominations on the right wing, and at the same timeconsiderably less that the Liedboek used by the left wing. Anexample of controlled renewal and isolation in one.6

A renewal from below also came about. The debate aboutthe church and the application of the ‘ongoing reformation’principle, main issue in the controversies of the sixties andthe split of 1967, was settled by the decisions of the Synod ofHoogeveen 1969. After a while, however, it appeared that notthe formal authority of the confession and the boundaries ofthe church were keeping the church members busy, but thenature and quality of being a church. Increasing attention forevangelism, congregation building, care of the youth anddevelopment help were characteristic for that.’

Another way of thinkingIn the meantime we have also become caught up in a differentway of thinking. Schutte: ‘the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989brought down the modern era spectacularly and with it allgreat stories, ideologies, systems of thought. The post modernman recognises no enforced norms and rules, he is anindependent individual who recognises no agreements andtraditions except the ones for which he has chosen. As to thehistory, objective truths, transcendent values, confessions offaith: they are little in fashion, also amongst the 51% of thepopulation which still sees itself as Christian.’7

Meanwhile theology had also ‘evaporated’, to useHarinck’s words. The theological faculties kept producingministers and they did so very well indeed. ‘But - accordingto Harinck - in the meantime, in the course of the twentiethcentury a discrepancy with the culture came into being, for

which neither the churches nor the theology have everactually found an answer. Stated simply it means this, thatthe culture up until the nineteenth century knewChristendom as the centre, but that it has been pushed outby modernism with its belief in reason and progress. Thenineteenth century liberalism and the twentieth centurynational socialism were the last two great ideologies in theWestern European culture, which took notice of Christianity.But after the Second World War there was no question of thisany more. Existentialism was typified by S.U. Zuidemashortly after the war as a night without dawn: it offered anillusion free existence without hope of salvation; acharacterisation which is still valid for our society. And afterthat, church and theology became ever more orphanedwithin our culture. Therefore the evaporation of theology atthe university is not an innocent phenomenon, but indicatesfairly accurately that our culture lives without theology,without church and without Christianity.’

‘Now you can say, that the church and theology are notdependant upon the culture in order to operate, but it mustnot be forgotten that the people in the pews live in thiscultural atmosphere. Also the language and the way ofthinking of the church people is by now without theology. (...)Amongst church members it is no longer normal to speakabout the government or marriage as a God given institution,

...an honour to defend reformed theology in the footsteps of Calvin,

Kuyper, Bavinck and Schilder...

(portrait of K. Schilder, photo P.G.B. de Vries)

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Lux Mundi

nor do they speak about society in terms of cultural mandateor common grace. This is not because they resist theology butbecause the theology is no longer relevant for their view ofthese realities, or because they now are able to expressthemselves without help of theologians. Also within thechurch, theology is no longer the framework for thought, nomatter how hard the theologians have resisted this.’

Perspective?Is there any perspective for the exercising of reformedtheology in a cultural climate without God? According toHarinck, there is, although he is cautious: ‘I see a postmodern culture without hope and without illusion, which issick of fragmentation and is searching for an inspiredcoherence. Is her road to emptiness irreversible, inevitable? Isee a society in a maze and a theology which is so fardistanced from the culture that she evokes no irritation, butmaybe rather even interest. The great challenge to theology isnow from her minority position, how to tempt the culture tocome close to her once more. Will there ever be anythingbetween these two? The culture wants to know little abouther still.’

Willem Bouwman asked Professor J. Douma at thejubilee of the Theological University in Kampen what he seesas the greatest challenge and the greatest threat for reformedtheology anno 2004. Prof Douma: ‘the greatest challenge Ithink is not to lay down and surrender but to see it as anhonour to defend reformed theology in the footsteps ofCalvin, Kuyper, Bavinck and Schilder and to demonstrate theriches of it against heresy and drivel, how profound it may

be. We must have more courage apologetically. And for this itis necessary to believe that Kampen has something veryspecial to offer. The greatest threat to Kampen is that thisspecial character of Kampen is no longer noticeable. Amongstchurch people you have birds with different feathers. Thediversity seems to be increasing and if Kampen has to reflectthat diversity, then the reformed character will swiftly turninto broad evangelical.’

There is, for reformed theology but a marginal role in theDutch culture remaining. But may she yet play for manyyears the main part in the ministers training of the ReformedChurches (liberated).

Quotes are taken from Gerrit J. Schutte, ‘In rapport metde tijd. De langzame omwenteling na 1967’, Vuur en vlam,tome III, Amsterdam: Buijten & Schipperheijn, 2004, 310-336; and from the speech of George Harinck at thesymposium ‘De Kamper traditie’, held on December 11th tocelebrate 150 years of theology in Kampen (published[adapted] in the Nederlands Dagblad of December 24th,2004). Gerrit J. Schutte (1940) is special professor of thehistory of the Dutch Protestantism at the Free University ofAmsterdam. The three parts of the series Vuur en vlam wereedited by R. Kuiper and W. Bouwman in 1994, 1998 and2005 and published by Buijten & Schipperheijn, Amsterdam.George Harinck (1958) is special professor of history at thetheological University of the Reformed Churches (liberated) inKampen, and director of the Historical Documentation Centrefor Dutch Protestantism at the Free University of Amsterdamand of the Archive and Documentation Centre of theReformed Churches (liberated) in Kampen. See www.vu/hdc.The interview of W.Bouwman with Prof. J. Douma appearedin the Nederlands Dagblad of 11th December 2004.

Notes1. H. Knippenberg, De religieuze kaart van Nederland (Assen 1992);

G. Dekker, De stille revolutie (Kampen 1992); G.J. Schutte, ‘Kerk enreligie in Nederland: de protestantse kerken en groepen’, in:H. Daalder (ed.), Compendium voor politiek en samenleving (Alphenaan den Rijn 2002), B 950, 1-89; G.J. Schutte, ‘Eine calvinistischeNation?’, in: Friso Wielenga & Ilona Taute (Hrsg.), LänderberichtNiederlande (Bonn 2004) 131-187.

2. H. Daalder e.a., ‘Verkiezingsuitslagen’, in: Idem (red.), Compendiumvoor politiek en samenleving, A 1300 tab. 15.

3. Tab. 2 and Abb.3 in: Schutte, ‘Eine calvinistische Nation?’; cp.J.W. Becker & J.S.J. de Wit, Secularisatie in de jaren negentig (DenHaag 2000); SCP, Kerkelijke gezindte en kerkbezoek aan het einde vande 20ste eeuw (Voorburg 2002).

4. Schutte refers to G. Dekker & J. Peters, Gereformeerden inmeervoud. Een onderzoek naar levensbeschouwing en waarden van deverschillende stromingen (Kampen 1989) and to Marthy P. Veerman,Mondig - Bondig - Zondig. Drie stromingen binnen de gereformeerdewereld in Nederland (Amsterdam 1995), 42-46.

5. Acts General Synod Hattem 1972/1973, Art. 56, quoted in HandboekGeref. Kerken 1974, 238.

6. In the mean time a selection from the Liedboek (1998) has beenmade available for use in the churches and a collection NegentigGezangen (ninety hymns) (2003).

7. G.H.L. Zeegers, G. Dekker & J.W.M. Peters, God in Nederland(Amsterdam 1967); G. Dekker & J. Peters, Gereformeerden inmeervoud. Een onderzoek naar levensbeschouwing en waarden van deverschillende stromingen (Kampen 1989); A.G. Knevel (ed.), Deboodschap en de kloof (Hilversum 1997); Geloof in levensstijl (Utrecht1998); Becker en de Wit, Secularisatie in de jaren negentig.

The symposium 'De Kamper traditie', was held on December 11th to

celebrate 150 years of theology in Kampen in the Theological University

building of the Reformed Churches (syn.l).

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The Reformed Churches (liberated) are not involved inmajor scale “missionary work among the Jews”. Othermembers of the ICRC (limiting ourselves to theNetherlands) are not only more involved but have beenso for a longer time. I think of our sister churches in theNetherlands, the Christian Reformed Churches, whohave Deputies for Church and Israel and have publisheda magazine called ‘Peace over Israel’ (Vrede over Israel)for fifty years. A survey of their work and visionappeared in Lux Mundi (Vol 22, nos. 3&4, Sept/Dec2003).

In 2001, Rev. John Ross of Christian Witness to Israel (CWI)spoke to the ICRC in Philadelphia about “The Christianwitness to the Jewish people”. The Reformed churches inScotland have a longer history of involvement in this area.Our churches have had much less involvement, particularlyif we look at the recent past. In the more distant past, theissue did receive the attention of our church predecessors.

Looking backLet us take a look back into Dutch church history. In 1834the Separation (Afscheiding) began as a reformation of theHervormde Church. Those who separated, now Reformed(Gereformeerde) Churches once more, paid much attentionto mission work among the Jews. This came out of theirrespect for this people and also out of the expectation thatcertain promises, given to Israel, must yet be fulfilled. Manyin these churches thought that a mass conversion of Israelwould take place and that this would be a sign of the swiftreturn of the Lord. Prominent figures of the Separation suchas Rev. De Cock and Rev. Scholte, shared this expectation. In1875 a committee was established for a Mission to Israel.There was a desire to preach the gospel to the Jews and tocall them to membership in the church in this way. We mustremember that in view were Jews living in the Netherlands.At that time there was no Israel as we know it, because thestate of Israel was only formed in 1948. Thus, when theSynod spoke of Israel, they meant the descendants of the oldpeople of Israel living in the Netherlands. The SeparatedChurches chose clearly for the Mission to Israel: the Jews havea special position, and if Jews repent, they remain Jewish.Belonging to that special people continues even if youbecome a Christian.

A. KuyperAt the same time, dr.Abraham Kuyper gained muchinfluence. He led the Dissent (Doleantie) in 1886, yetanother reformation of the Hervormde Church. More newReformed Churches came into being in the Netherlands.

Kuyper strongly criticised what he saw as chiliastictendencies among those who Separated. He stated that hewho chooses for Christ as a Jew, breaks with the earthlyIsrael. For him, believing in Christ meant taking distancefrom the Jewish way of life. The Jew must then also deny hisJewish identity. Kuyper considered that it was completelywrong for a Jew to bring anything of his Jewish way of life orculture into the church. The Jewish people no longer have aspecial position. God’s favour for the Jews has beentransferred to the church. The biblical name of honour -Israel - now refers to the church. The church is Israel. ForKuyper this meant not so much that the Jews should bebrought to repentance but that the Jewish faith must beopposed.

Plan of ActionThe churches of the Separation (Afscheiding, 1834) and theDissent (Doleantie, 1886) united in 1892 as the ReformedChurches (Gereformeerde Kerken) in the Netherlands. Butwithin these churches, two mutually exclusive viewsregarding the Jews existed. At the so called ‘missionarysynod’ of Middelburg 1896, it was decided to evangeliseamong the Jews. As a matter of principle, the mission workwas not for the ‘people of Israel’, but for the ‘Jews’. The nameIsrael was to be avoided. This was about mission workamong Dutch Jews, great concentrations of whom then livedin the big cities, especially Amsterdam. At that time therewere about 100,000 Jews in the Netherlands. However, verylittle activity took place during those years. I think that thispartly came about as a result of the new standpoint that Israelwas no longer a special people, and that the Jewish way ofthinking had to be opposed (this was Kuyper’s influence, butnot in line with those previously Separated, who had alwaysshown the Jews a warm heart). Alongside this, the slow paceof synod decisions after 1896 played a part. It took until1916 before the first missionary (Rev. J. van Nes) wasappointed for work among the Jews. His work territory wasThe Hague. Later, more missionaries were appointed (towork in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp). A magazinewas published for this work, Missionary Magazine for Missionamong the Jews of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, andwas read widely in church circles. In 1936, no less than38,000 copies were printed.

by H.J. Siegers

The proclamation of the Gospel to the Jews...... and the Reformed Churches (liberated)

About the author:Rev. H.J. Siegers (*1946) is the

minister of the Reformed Church (lib.) of Ommen-West and chairman of

the Bat Tsion Committee, which undertakes the work of proclaiming the

gospel to the Jews on behalf of the Reformed Churches (lib.).

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Lux Mundi

Little attention leftIn 1944 the Liberation took place as a reformation of theReformed Churches. At the same time the Second World Warraged with its terrible persecution of the Jews. In 1948, the state of Israel was established. But after the Liberation,mission work among the Jews by these churches hardly gotoff the ground. The first synods after the Liberation asked thequestion about the way this work should be done, butnothing happened! I am of the opinion that Kuyper’sinfluence played a role in this failure. The basis of the‘replacement idea’ is that Israel as a special people is over anddone with. They are a normal people, just like any other. Thenames and titles of Israel which can be found in the Biblenow refer to the church.The (liberated)theologian Dr. C. vander Waal stuck his neckout by saying that theyear 70 A.D.(destruction of thetemple) meant the endof Israel as God’speople. These thoughtsgot a good reception,and had the effect oflimiting mission workamong the Jewishpeople. Fortunately,church members keptpaying attention to thiswork, and subsequentlyin 1986 (40 years afterthe Liberation!), the“Foundation for the promotion of the proclamation of theGospel to the Jewish people” was set up (Stevaj). Thisfoundation took time to think about the church’s task withrespect to the Jewish people. But there was no church orchurch gathering involved.

This foundation came into contact with Messianic Jewsin Israel, and then asked the churches if one of them wouldbe able to maintain this contact on behalf of the ReformedChurches (liberated). The church in Ommen volunteered todo this in 1995. At the General Synod of 1996, Ommen wasappointed as the contact church for this work. The church ofOmmen-West took over the task of proclaiming the gospel tothe Jewish people.

PerspectiveThis church of Ommen operates from the perspective thatGod has not forgotten His ancient people. The covenant thatGod made with them remains, from His side, in effect. It isimpossible that God’s Word (also concerning His covenant)should have ceased, says Paul (Rom. 9:6), and it isimpossible that God should have rejected His people (Rom.11:2).

But what then is the position of the Jews? All believerstogether form the family of the one Father, who was willingto give His Son for their salvation (Eph. 2:19).This family

consists of Jews who believe in Christ, as the oldest children,together with believers from other nations who were addedlater. The believing part of Israel forms, together with theChristian church, the whole of God’s people. We want tooperate on the basis of the Scriptures, not on the grounds ofa ‘replacement model’. Neither do we want a doctrine of ‘twopaths of salvation’, by which it is claimed that you can besaved either through being a Jew or through faith in Christ.As if the Word of God is proclaimed just as much in thesynagogue as in the church! There is only one way, the samefor Jews as well as non-Jews, and that is Christ.

We want to operate from this perspective of growth. Theolive tree (Paul’s image in Rom. 11) spreads out. God desires

all Israel to be saved(Rom. 11:26) That doesnot mean that everysingle Jew will be saved,but it does refer to allthose of the Jewishpeople to whom Godgives faith. We must nothave high poweredexpectations of thefuture as though allIsrael will come to faithin the future. But wemust preach the gospelto all Jewish people. Asbelievers of non-Jewishorigins, we can learnmuch from our Jewishbrothers and sisterswho are the privileged

ones in the church. He who turns to Christ does not need todeny his Jewish identity, but rather his old nature, says Paul,that is: sin. We all have to put away the old nature whetherwe are Jew or Greek, in order to put on the new one.

SummaryThere is therefore now no national committee responsible forthis work, rather one of the churches remains responsible.This church is supported financially by the local classis and,nationally, Stevaj collects money for this work. This churchhas not sent out any missionary, but is trying to work via theMessianic in Israel. We want to support ministers andchurches in Israel so that they can proclaim the gospel totheir fellow countrymen. Fortunately we have contacts withvarious people and churches. We maintain contact viapersonal visits, financial help and through prayer. We alsoprovide information about this work to all our Reformedchurches (liberated), because our church members mustrealise anew that we have a task to carry out regarding theJewish people. We see a return of the enthusiasm that thereonce was. The Reformed churches finally have the Jewishpeople in their sights again. We also want to carry on thiswork in co-operation with other churches. In this way we tryto give shape to God’s charge to keep on proclaiming thegospel of Christ to the Jewish people in our day.

Maale Adummim, where the Bat Tsion church began.

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There are not many textbooks about the nature ofinternational political relations which have been writtenfrom a Biblical standpoint. In Dutch we know Eendringend appèl. Het evangelie als richtsnoer voor destatensamenleving (1979; ‘An urgent plea. The Gospel asguide for the international community’) by Johannes R.Stellinga (1907-1989); from the United States we canrecall International Politics and the demand for globaljustice (1981) by James W. Skillen.

It is sad that there are so few books on this. Also for theunderstanding of international relationships a goodcontemplation of man is necessary, as is a good view on thetask of governments, sense of righteousness and view of thefuture, including the new earth. The Bible points thedirection in this. Enough to explain our interest for the newlypublished With or against the world?, sub-titled: America’s roleamong the nations, once more from James Skillen.

Skillen is president of the reformational Centre for PublicJustice in Annapolis, near Washington. The organisationdistinguishes itself positively from the issue-orientedapproach, in which all the emphasis is laid upon isolatedissues such as abortion, homo marriage, possession ofweapons. This approach is characteristic for ‘Christian rightwing’. But Skillen’s centre is noticeably positive comparedwith the aloofness from ‘worldly politics’, which can befound amongst Christians who are expecting a millenniumand a sudden ingathering of believers. Skillen stands out inas much that he was partially influenced by Abraham Kuyperwho had developed a Biblical vision for all aspects of society.

Declaration of warIn his newest book Skillen concentrates on the currentforeign affairs of the United States. Buy a few issues of theleading magazine Foreign Affairs and it becomes clear thatmany books are currently appearing on this subject. But asstated, Skillen’s study is of extra interest for us because it testsBush’s policy against what the author sees as biblical valuesfor nations and states in international life. In so doing,Skillen opposes the ruling opinions amongst secular politicalscientists that Christian faith is only important for someone’sprivate ethics.

Skillen writes that the task of governments, appointed asservants of God, in biblical terms is actually modest. Withinthe sphere of their jurisdiction they are supposed to furtherpublic justice in particular. In this way they serve publicpeace and space is offered to the individual citizen and togroups such as family and school in order to express theirown responsibility. And as far as foreign affairs areconcerned, governments should be striving to achieve a just

international order in co-operation with other states. Becauseeach state is sovereign - although not in an absolute way -today military and economic superior Americans are notallowed to lay the law down to others.

ConcernBut especially on this point, Skillen shows concern. He notesthat the dramatic attacks of September 11th 2001 “changedeverything” for the Bush administration. As a consequence ofthis, the president found it necessary to make a dramaticchange in America’s foreign politics. Skillen considers thataccording to international law it is possible to say that theattacks were more of a criminal act than an act of war.Nonetheless, Bush declared war on international terrorism

by A. Kamsteeg

America: with or against the world?James Skillen tries Bush’s policy against Biblical norms

About the author:Until recently Aad Kamsteeg,

political scientist, was foreign commentator for the Christian newspaper

Nederlands Dagblad and editor in chief of the Christian monthly CV.

Koers.

James W. Skillen

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and on the states of the‘axis of evil’, with all itspolitical consequences.

One of thoseconsequences is that,while each state foritself is obliged todefend itself againstterrorism, the UnitedStates - for the sake ofnational safety - canenter the sovereignty ofother states. In extremecircumstances, thePresident even allowshimself the right tosend military forces tothe territory of otherstates for the sake of

definitely American interests. To its ultimate conclusion thismeans that there is but one state whose sovereignty is trulyholy: the United States.

City on a hill?Skillen knows where this self proclaimed exceptionalposition comes from. He indicates that the United States are,on the one hand, extremely secularised. The Constitutiondoes not accredit the highest authority to God, but to thepeople. On the other hand, he sees how the nation as awhole is viewed as sacred. For (partly thanks to the influenceof the Puritans who came from Europe in the 18th century)the Americans believe that in God’s providence, they are achosen nation. They of all nations have been called to be anexample to the whole world, a city on a hill.

Of course the question is then in what they have to be anexample. Here Skillen points to the ‘civil religion’, whichbinds the American nation together. Skillen is very criticalhere. He points out, that - while there is no single biblicalground for seeing America as a ‘new Israel’ - above all, thecontent of the civil religion has nothing to do with valueswhich belong to the kingdom of God. On the contrary, God’sname is bound up with a typical American, ‘modern ideologyof freedom-idealism’, stressing liberalism, economic growth,nationalism and democracy.

And with this a missionary motivated America sets offinto the world, especially with the aim of protecting her ownsovereignty, according to Skillen. Because, if September 11thshowed anything, according to many Americans, it is howmuch the world needs the United States as shining example.Is that not true? Everywhere where freedom and democracyare absent, international terrorism finds extra opportunity.Dictatorial regimes make the world a dangerous place. In factthe whole world would be safest if every state was likeAmerica. When that should be the case, all our safety wouldrest in a worldwide freedom.

Skillen considers on the basis also of a reformational wayof thinking about the ‘just war’ that the United States are notcalled to establish a worldwide military empire. In striving

for this, America will unavoidably violate the rights of otherstates. In the hunt for national security just not all things arepermissible. Of course, national interests must be takenseriously, but those of others just as well.

Just governanceThere is yet one other condition of the just war which thepaternalistic, unilateral pursuit of politics cannot fulfil: thereis no chance of success. Skillen emphasises that no singlestate in its own strength can create a just and stableinternational order, not even the United States. For thisreason, in the past, the Americans have participated in thesetting up of organisations such as the United Nations (UN),North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), World Bank andthe International Court of Justice. Via these organisationsexpression can be given to the responsibility of every state forbuilding up an in all respects peaceful world. That is whyBush should give priority to the strengthening ofinternational organisations. This would be true evidence ofnormative statesmanship.

In this connection, Skillen also points to the increasinginterweaving of states. Terror, environmental decay,criminality, undesirable migration and sicknesses can only becombatted effectively through co-operation. Also for thisreason should the expanding of transnational rules by meansof, for example, the UN be taken seriously. Of course theauthor is aware of the shortcomings of internationalinstitutions: how often there is lack of consensus in theSecurity Council! According to him the core problem is that -other than is the case in the NATO or European Union - theonly condition for admittance to the UN is formalrecognition as a state. There is no moral standard. In this wayit is logical that it becomes very difficult to realiseinternational justice.

What reaction can be given? Skillen blames the politicalrealism: this inclines towards undervaluing the meaning ofnormative fundamentals about justice and injustice, ethicsand deterioration of morals. In its turn the political idealism istold that it does not take sufficient account of the power ofegoism, nor of the necessity of an authority using militarypower to maintain peace.

Skillen is not a supporter of worldwide centralism, thatis to say: a world state dominated by the UN. But he isequally apprehensive of the assumed anarchy should there beno normative authority functioning above the individualstates. But for him the most important question is not howboth dangers can be avoided. The key question is howgovernments and international organisations can do justice tothe rights of individual citizens and nongovernmentalorganizations and private institutions, and how natural helpsources and essential provisions can be equally shared to thegood of all. Should the United States concentrate on that...

What in the meantime?It is clear that the main thrust of Skillen’s criticism is directedat the unilateral approach of the Bush Administration for thegood of America which will only be safe if freedom anddemocracy have conquered the whole world. In the

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meantime, according to us, it may not go unsaid that theWhite House - wise through experience - appealsincreasingly to others. Above all, in Afghanistan andespecially Iraq for example, it turns out easier to win a warby own strength than ‘to win’ internal peace there afterwards.By the way, as far as North Korea was concerned, Bushemphasised the need of a multilateral approach from thestart. This was also the case against Iran.

This does not take away our wholehearted support ofSkillen’s call to give priority to the reform and moralstrengthening of all sorts of international organisations, theUN first and foremost. But reading his book I continuallywonder, what must happen in the meantime. Skillen rightlynotes that international justice is often malfunctioningbecause - among other things - it is in practice subordinate tothe willingness of states to keep to it. If within the UNSecurity Council there is no unanimity, this internationalinstitution cannot impose sanctions to exact obedience fromthe states involved.Aware of the high ambition level of Skillen’s suggestions it islikely that the world will have to do with such a poorlyfunctioning UN for some time. This means thatinternationally, there often will no government ‘to do yougood’. We have already seen e.g. in Rwanda (1994) what thiscan mean. And we also doubt if Russia, China and Franceever would have agreed in the Security Council to anefficacious punishment of the Taleeban in Afghanistan andSaddam Hussein in Iraq.

Two evilsWe live in an imperfect world. One of the most important

causes of this is, that there is no supranational governmentwhich guarantees justice at the price of sanctions. Theconsequence of this is that many times a choice must bemade between two evils. As far as we are concerned, one-sided American interference is sometimes preferable togeneral passivity.

Of course we agree with Skillen that the United States donot constitute a people specially chosen by God, and mustnot arrogate to be the most shining example to the world. Atthe same time we frankly confess that we are grateful thatAmerica under God’s providence has taken up a special placein the history of the twentieth century and probably also ofthe twenty-first. Imagine if Hitler’s Germany, fascist Japan, theSoviet Union or communist China had become world power.

Certainly, the civil religion often has more to do withtypically American convictions than with the Bible, but whatis the unifying ideology in Western Europe or morespecifically in the Netherlands? Here there is no single reasonto view ourselves above the Americans. And what is thereaction if especially thanks to the Americans, more freedomand democracy are realised in certain areas? For the timebeing, we see a wide majority of thankful people.

Review of James W. Skillen, With or against the world. America’s roleamong the nations, Oxford/New York/Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield,2005, IBSN 0-7425-3521-5; US$ 24.95. Information about TheCenter for Public Justice at www.cpjustice.org or via the mailingaddress: P.O. Box 48368, Washington, DC 20002-0368.

This review appeared earlier in Dutch in the Nederlands Dagblad of29th June 2005 (p. 10) under the heading “VS hebben anderen nodigvoor rechtvaardige orde” (‘US need others for just order’).

...how often there is lack of consensus in the Security Council...

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There are four church federations with which theGereformeerde Kerken vrijgemaakt (GKv) in Nederland,the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands (liberated),have very close ties. Why so many, one may ask? Is itworkable and feasible? Who are these churchfederations? This article presents a brief overview of thecontacts maintained in North America by the committeefor Relations with Churches Abroad ( BBK) on behalf ofthe GK(v).

Canadian (and American) Reformed Churches - CanRCAfter World War II many Dutch people migrated to NorthAmerica. Among them were Reformed people who hadliberated themselves from undue binding to the doctrinaldecisions of the general synod of 1939-43. In North Americathese ‘liberated’ Reformed joined either the ChristianReformed Churches in North America (CRCNA) or theProtestant Reformed Churches (PRC). However, the CRCNArefused to recognise the GK(v) as continuation of the GKN.Hence many ‘liberated’ Reformed left or no longer joinedthem. Moreover, with the adoption of the Declaration ofPrinciples by the PRC in 1951 - for the ‘liberated’ Reformedthe second time in ten years that they faced undue doctrinalbinding - the PRC was no longer a feasible option either.Hence the migrants decided to institute a new federation: theCanRC.

The ties with the GK(v) have thus existed since the birthof this church federation and have always been very close.Since those days the CanRC have grown to be a churchfederation with some 52 congregations (4 in the UnitedStates), and approximately 16,000 members. The churchfederation has its own theological institution in Hamilton,Ontario. Its confessional standards are identical to those ofthe GK(v): the three ecumenical creeds and the Three Formsof Unity.

Reformed Church in the United States - RCUSIn 1725 the RCUS was formed by German immigrants. In1934 the larger part of it united with the Evangelical Synodof North America to form the Evangelical and ReformedChurch. One classis - the Eureka classis - refused to join themerger. It felt that joining the merger would mean denyingReformed convictions with respect to Scripture. In 1986 theEureka classis dissolved, four new classes were formed aswell as the synod of the RCUS.

During the 1980s the RCUS was engaged in missionwork in the Congo (then still Zaire). Because the GK(v) werealso engaged in mission work, there came more contactbetween the two. As a result, the RCUS and GK(v) combinedtheir mission efforts in the region. For such close co-operation a sister church relationship was deemed feasible

and entered into in 1987.The RCUS is a church federation of some 47

congregations and a little over 4,000 members. Itsconfessional standards are identical to those of the GKN(v).

Orthodox Presbyterian Church - OPCDuring the course of the nineteenth and early twentiethcentury liberalism had become rife in the PresbyterianChurch in the United States of America. This led in 1936 to achurch split and the formation of the Presbyterian Church inAmerica (PCA). In 1937 the PCA split itself. The continuingPCA was forced to change its name in 1939 and became theOPC.

Contact with the GK(v) has come about in several ways.First of all, the CanRC and OPC were already in touch witheach other during the 1970s. Secondly, the OPC wasinvolved in ecumenical work with the GK(v) - the churchfrom which the GKN(v) had come - in the ReformedEcumenical Synod (RES). The moment came that the OPCcould no longer justify membership in the RES, left andapplied for membership of the International Conference ofReformed Churches (ICRC), of which the GK(v) are afounding member. Thirdly, the OPC have a mission work in

by R.C. Janssen

Contacts in North America

About the author:

Rev. R.C. (Karlo) Janssen

(*1972) grew up in Australia

and is a graduate of the Theological College of the CanRC. At present he

is serving as minister in the GK(v) in Hoek and working on a Ph.D. on

confessional subscription. He has served as assistant secretary for the

ICRC between 1997 and 2002 and has recently been appointed the new

general secretary of deputies BBK.

CRC delegates at the synod of the GKv in Amersfoort


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Surinam, where theGK(v) for a time had asmall congregation. Inan era of globalization itmade sense for theGK(v) and OPC toexplore further co-operation in activitiesand thus it wasconsidered worthwhileto enter into a sisterchurch relation. In2001 the GK(v)acknowledged the OPCas sister church, theOPC has yet toreciprocate.The OPC is a federationof over 300 churcheswith some 30 000members. Itsconfessional standards are the Westminster Standards.

United Reformed Churches in North America - URCNADuring the mid nineteenth century Dutch migrants,disenchanted with the course taken by the Reformed Churchin America, constituted what would eventually become theCRCNA. During the 1990s many were disenchanted by thecourse being taken by the CRCNA on various issues and leftthe federation. In 1996 most of these congregations united toform the URCNA.

The contacts between the GK(v) and URCNA have arisenin various ways. There are first of all the family ties. Further,the URCNA actively engaged in establishing contact withchurches in its proximity, leading to a close relationship withthe CanRC. In fact, the URCNA and CanRC are workingtowards a merger. This is followed with much interest by theGK(v). Finally, because the URCNA is a sizeable body andhistorically taken from the same branch as the GK(v) andCanRC, the GK(v) considered it worthwhile to establish asister church relationship with the URCNA. This was offeredin 2005. The URCNA has yet to reciprocate.

The URCNA is a federation of almost 90 congregations,two-thirds in the United States and one third in Canada, witha membership of approximately 20,000. Its confessionalstandards are identical to those of the GKN(v).

Other churchesOf course, there are many other churches in North Americathat identify themselves as orthodox Reformed. One maythink of ICRC members: the Associate Reformed PresbyterianChurch, the Reformed Presbyterian Church in NorthAmerica, and the Free Reformed Churches in North America(FRCNA). Mentioned should also be the Orthodox ChristianReformed Churches and the Presbyterian Church in America.At this point in time the GK(v) does not consider itworthwhile maintaining a sister church relationship withthem. However, the intention does exist to explore the

possibility of arelationship with thePCA since the GK(v)does at times co-operatewith them in missionactivities.

The reason forlimiting the number ofcontacts is that also theGK(v) has limitedsources and manpower.A relationship must beconsidered worthwhile,workable and fruitful ifit is entered into.Moreover, the GK(v)does not want tooverride its youngersister, the CanRC, in theformation ofrelationships. In the

past the GK(v) has entered into relationships with churchesin the backyard of existing sister churches without consultingthem. An example is the relationship with the RCUS. Thiswas improper to say the least and understandably frustratedthe already existing contacts.

Since the late 1980s the GK(v) have consulted closelywith sister churches on entering into further relationships.Hence it was not until 2002, a year after the CanRC and theOPC had entered into a sister church relationship, that theGKN(v) did so with the OPC. And it is in the wake of theCanRC that the GKN(v) has entered into a sister churchrelationship with the URCNA.

The Christian Reformed ChurchesOne party not mentioned yet is the CGK. The GK(v) andCGK have recognised each other as true and faithfulchurches. The CGK also have contacts in North America,among others the CRCNA, the OPC and the FRCNA. TheCGK and GK(v) consult closely with each other on therelationships and contacts in foreign lands. Thus insights andexperience are pooled to the benefit of existing contacts. Andjust as the GK(v) is ready to assist churches in foreign regionsin co-operating more closely together and working onorganisational unity, so the GK(v) is more than happy toaccept assistance in furthering the ties between the CGK andGK(v) in the Netherlands.

Why so important?The foregoing is a story of mergers and management, ofnetworking and globalization. However, it is more. It is thehistory of God’s work on earth. Of the ties that cross theAtlantic Ocean to bond churches together that are united inthe Name of the Triune God. For also these relations stand inthe service of God’s mighty work on earth, to proclaim thegospel to the nations, win every people for Christ, and somagnify the glory of God’s Name.

Photo of the synod 2004 of the RCUS (with thanks to the website www.rcus.org)

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Willem L. Meijer

Autumn 2003. Publisher Pieter Kwant presents thecomplete works of Hans Rookmaaker during a studyconference in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Six thickvolumes together comprising some 2800 pages. Sixtranslators made modern day English of what one busyDutchman took thirty years to write. Amazing. The list ofcontents alone takes up twelve pages at least. Too muchfor a book review, but enough to sketch a portrait.

Hans Rookmaaker (1922-1977) was the first reformedprofessor of the history of art in the Netherlands, and a manwith an enormous Christian aura. Strangely enough, nothingin his youth pointed to art. Yes, he loves dancing and has adecided passion for music, but in the years prior to theSecond World War, he pursued a mariners training in DenHelder and studied technology in Delft. Of Christianinvolvement then, there is equally little to mention. As far asbelief is concerned, he learns nothing from his parents. Theygo to church now and again, but it means so little that theyforget to have him baptised. It is in the war that their son’slife changes.

He is swiftly captured for illegal work and madeprisoner. He ends up in Germany where he spends severalyears in various camps. It is there that he seriously begins toread the Bible and comes to faith in Christ. At about the sametime his interest for art begins to awaken and he starts tolook into aesthetics. In this way, he emerges from the war assomebody else: a man who came to personal faith, andespecially: a Christian with a mission!

He studies the history of art and obtains his doctorate in1959 at the (municipal) University of Amsterdam. Afterworking as research assistant at Leiden University, hebecomes professor at the Free University at Amsterdam. Heholds this post until his early death.

Five characteristicsI have not read anything like all of the new publication, butmuch was already familiar to me in another form. For me,five things stand out in Rookmaaker’s works:1. As art historian he covered a wide spectrum - including

music - equipped with a great ability in his field. In theworld of art, his thesis is still an important source (aboutGauguin’s ideas).

2. This last point indicates that he works towards makingways of thinking accessible. For example, he recognisesearly on in much modern art, a new shape of the oldGnosticism.

3. Further he connects ongoing Bible study with a search for

God’s hand in history. This inspires him to judge thehistory of art from the Middle Ages until the ‘roaringSixties’ in the light of the Gospel.

4. This light, for him, is not bound to one church fellowship.He, himself, not grown up in a specific tradition, movesjust as easily in evangelical circles in England and theUnited States of America, as in reformed circles in TheNetherlands.

5. His aim is to open art up as a God given colourfulterritory. He calls for Christians not to leave culture tounbelievers. And he calls for unbelievers to give their lives,including their art, to Christ. Christian liberty has acentral place in his message.

by W.L. Meijer

Hans Rookmaaker and the struggle for aChristian view of art and culture

About the author:Willem L. Meijer was trained in

various disciplines at the art academy Minerva in Groningen. He wrote

books and articles on the subject of art and culture, is (ex-)teacher of the

history of art and culture at the Gereformeerde Hogeschool in Zwolle and

writes for various magazines. He contributed to the new Christelijke

Encyclopedie (Kampen: Kok, 2005).

De complete works of Rookmaker

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Cultural exchangeThere is certainly more to say, but first I would like toestablish that this is an approach, which generally deservesmuch appreciation. The works of Rookmaaker offer leads fora biblical confrontation with art movements throughouthistory. At the same time he unlocks a more or less unlimitedarea by grouping the material around central themes. Nowthe result of all this work has been published in English,great chances for cultural exchange all over the world havebeen created. Whoever finds the price too high for personaluse, can suggest that educational institutes and cultural orecclesiastical organisations buy at least one set of TheComplete Works for the library.

A critical reviewAs I have said, I have great respect for the main thrust, alsofor the publisher of this project. At the same time, it willcreate no surprise that I also have criticisms here and there.For me, as far as this is concerned, there is even a specialpassage. Because just about everything Rookmaaker everwrote, can be found in The Complete Works, I also re-spottedthe review he once wrote of my first book - Kunst en Revolutie(1976; ‘Art and Revolution’) - now in English.

Rookmaaker states with pleasure, that my approachevidences many similarities with his book Modern Art and theDeath of a Culture. But alongside this type of positivecomment, I was once again bothered by a distorted andpainful comparison, which has done me a great disservice.

At that time, the situation was not right for response.Rookmaaker died suddenly in March 1977. His review of mybook Kunst en Revolutie was posthumously published in theApril issue of the philosophical magazine Beweging alongsidean ‘In memoriam’. I think this is a better time to respond.

‘Degeneration’It is true that readers often forget reviews, but I kept noticingthat many did remember one thing: that Rookmaakercompared my book with Max Nordau and Seerp Anema.Because Anema only followed Nordau, I am confining myselfto Nordau. He was a nineteenth century doctor of medicine,whose ideas still are shocking to the world of art criticism. Inthe years just prior to 1900, he defended the idea thatmodern man was sick. He called this sickness ‘degeneration’and he deduced this degeneration from, indeed,deformations in art. According to him, the makers of theartistic ‘decadence’ were not artists but patients.

‘Healthy common feeling’History added a disastrous chapter to this story. Forty yearslater, the Nazis used his concept of degeneration to outlawmodern art, to confiscate it and (in many cases) to destroy it.They also used confiscated art to compose an exhibition,which they displayed throughout the third Reich under thetitle Entartete Kunst (‘degenerated art’) to defame this type ofart. In this way, all people who possessed a ‘healthy commonfeeling’ (gesundes Volksempfinden) could see with their owneyes how sick the moderns truly were.

This explains what the name Nordau stands for. He

stands for people who do not view modern art as worthserious criticism, and who put the makers of it down tobeing in need of medical or psychiatric help.

The death of a cultureNow the main question. How did Rookmaaker come to placemy book against this background? After all these years it isstill a puzzle to me. I had not even heard of Nordau at thattime and no single artist is called sick in my book. In myargument, I refer to C.G. Jung, the famous psychiatrist anddoctor of humanities. He calls it noteworthy that manymoderns show the same sort of disintegration as his patients.I summarise this observation in the sentence: ‘The healthy (!)person chooses the imagery of the sick.’ Thinking about thisunusual choice (!), I conclude that we must speak of a new‘outlook on life’ (209).

This last point is precisely what the moderns have alwaysbrought forward themselves. In rejection of the values of thewestern culture they focused upon unlimited nature. Theythought to find this in the expression of children, primitivetribes and mentally ill persons. Nature was, as symbol ofcomplete liberty, the target. Culture had served its turn.

This shift brought Rookmaaker to connect ‘Modern art’with ‘the Death of a Culture’. I wrote almost word for wordthe same, that is, that this shift erases the boundary ‘betweenwhat life builds up and what it breaks down’. What is the

Picasso - girl with a mandolin

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difference? It seems that Rookmaaker stood too close to me atthat time to be able to share such a kindred insight.

Is modern art sick?In the meantime, because of this sort of personal judgement,the actual problem remained untouched. The problem that Itouched upon in my book (also a serious problem for Jungand many others) keeps forcing itself upon us. It is all aboutthe question of whether or not there is a connection betweenmodern art and sickness, and if that is the case, what thisconnection is. Fortunately the taboo which always bannedthis question, has lately been broken. Since the rise of post-modernism, art experts dare to ask ever more challengingquestions.

This led to all sorts of valuable research, and in thisconnection I would like to draw attention to the well-knownart historian Donald Kuspit*. He distinguishes three periodssince the Romantic Movement and shows how the problemhas shifted. The relationship between art and sickness is,according to him, different in every phase, but also ever moreharrowing.

His study asks much of the reader, but is certainly worththe read. He observes the situation in art from inside out anddescribes this from a general point of view. By connectingdevelopments in art with psychology, psychiatry and religion,he actually writes the history of the modern individual self.

* Donald Kuspit, 3 lectures at the University of Southern California(April 4th, 6th and 10th, 2000). Up until now, only published on theweb. Search via author’s name, or titles of The Getty Lectures: 1. ‘TheRomantic subject’ (http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/kuspit4-6-01.asp); 2.‘Nonobjectivity as a crisis of subjectivity’(http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/Kuspit4-13-01.asp); 3.‘The semiotic Anti-Subject’(http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/kuspit/kuspit4-20-01.asp).

Reviewed: The complete works of H.R. Rookmaaker (6 Vols), edited byMarleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker; Carlisle UK: Piquant, 2002/3;hardcover; 3000 pages; ISBN 1-903689-04-X (set); price £ 190; sinceAugust 2005 also available in PDF-format on CD (minimum systemrequirements Windows 98 SE or Mac OS X); ISBN 1-903689-38-4;price £ 30. For more information: www.piquant.net.This review was first published in Dutch in Gereformeerd Kerkblad(serving the Reformed Churches [liberated] of Overijssel, Gelderlandetc) 58 (2005) Nos. 9 & 10 (29th April & 12th May 2005) and wasaltered and expanded by the author for this publication.

ICRC Pretoria 2005The International Conference of Reformed Churches travels the world. After Scotland, Canada, TheNetherlands, South Korea and the United States of America, the next International Conference of ReformedChurches will gather in South Africa. It is scheduled to be held from Wednesday, October 12 to Wednesday,October 19, 2005. This Conference will be hosted by the Free Reformed Churches of South Africa. The venuewill be in Rietfontein, Pretoria, South Africa.

The theme for the Conference will be: “The Lordship of Christ” set forth under the following presentations:

1. “In the life of the Believer” - presented by Dr. A. J. de Visser (Canada, previously South Africa);

2. “In the Church” - presented by Dr. J. W. Maris (The Netherlands);

3. “Proclaimed in the world”- presented by Rev. Y. G. Dethan (Indonesia) and Rev. D. A. Robertson (Scotland).

The presentations will be followed by workshops, coordinated by the speakers, dealing with the practicalimplications, including case studies.

Hosting Church Contact Information:The Free Reformed Churches of South Africa, Attn: ICRC 2005 — Mrs. L. Ros,P.O. Box 31141, 0134 Totiusdal, South AfricaTel. +27 (0)12 332 0127. Fax: +27 (0)12 331 3796.Email: [email protected]

For the ICRC see: http://www.icrconline.comCorresponding Secretary: Rev. C. Van Spronsen,8586 Harbour Heights Road, Vernon, BC V1H 1J8 Canada.Tel. 250-503-1527Email: [email protected]

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On March 12, the General Synod of the Reformed Churches (Liberated) in the Netherlands (GKv) started its triennialmeeting. Synod took some importants decisions with respect to the Theological Seminary of the churches.

First of all, it decided that Prof. J.A. Meijer, who will celebrate his 65th birthday on August 31, will be a professor emeritus fromSeptember 1st. The Lord willing, Meyer will give his farewell lecture at September 16. Mrs. Juditha Oosterhuis, née Den Otter, wasappointed as his successor. As such she will give lectures in New Testament Greek and Patristic Greek and Latin and she will alsodo research in these areas. Mrs. Oosterhuis will not limit her activities to the seminary in Kampen, for at the same time she was alsoappointed as a lecturer of Greek and Latin at the Theological Seminary of the Christian Reformed Churches (CGK) in Apeldoorn.

Secondly, synod took a decision in a discussion that had continued for several years, that is: whether to apply for state aid ornot. Synod decided that the seminary mustapply for state aid; however, the maximumamount of money to be obtained from theDutch government was fixed at 50% of theseminary’s budget. All this agreed with theproposals made by the seminary’s board. Themaximum of 50% was chosen, because boththe board and synod were convinced that inthe future the relationship between thechurches and the seminary should not be lessstrong than it has been so far, which alsoimplies a substantial financial contributionfrom the churches.

In former days, most students who wereenrolled at the seminary had graduated fromgrammar schools, in which they were trainedin classical Greek and Latin already.Nowadays most new students are lacking thisknowledge. They must first do a preparatoryyear, in which they also meet students whowant to study in Apeldoorn, as thepreparatory year is a joint affair of bothseminaries. This year Mrs. Martha Sebens,who is responsible for the preparatory year,had to teach about 30 students, which ismore than ever before. It took more than a

week to hold all the oral examinations at the end of June, but the results were very stimulating. Among the candidates there werealso some who had done their training in part time; they were the first to finish the preparatory year in this way.Three years ago the seminary started introducing the Bachelor Master system, in accordance with the decisions taken by theEuropean ministers of education in Bologna, Italy, in 1999. Hence the first group of students for the Bachelor degree will graduatethis year. At the end of their third year they had to write a small thesis. They presented and defended their theses at the beginningof July. They still have to pass some examinations, but then they will be the first to obtain a Bachelor from the seminary.

Finally, mention should be made of a book published by Dr. Kees de Ruijter. He has worked quite a long time on it, so we areall happy that he could finish it now. The title of the book (in Dutch: Meewerken met God) is taken from 1 Corinthians 3:9,where the apostle says that the church is God’s building project in which he makes use of the work of men. In his book, DeRuijter presents a new theoretical concept for his discipline, viz. Practical Theology. In his concept he tries to integrate the viewsof his predecessor, Dr. C. Trimp, but he enlarges them in that he makes use of the results of social sciences in a more structuralway. Thus he wants to approach the work done by men in the church from as many angles as possible, while still maintaining thatthe work is ultimately done by God in the Holy Spirit.

N E W S U P D AT E

Theologische Universiteit Kampen (GKv)by G. Kwakkel

Prof. dr. J.A. Meijer gave his farewell speech on September 19th in de "Bazuinkerk" in Kampen.

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Lux Mundi

The General Synod of the Reformed Churches (liberated) (GKv) of Amersfoort-2005 decided to offer a sister-churchrelationship to the Reformed Church in South Africa (GKSA).

From recognition to a sister-church relationshipThis means the rounding off of a long period during which the two churches have sought contact with each other. As far back as1981 at the Synod of Arnhem, the GKv recognised that the GKSA were true churches of Christ. This recognition was confirmedby the General Synod of Leeuwaarden in 1990.

A recommendation of deputies BBK to the General Synod of Zuidhorn (2002) to begin a sister-church relationship was notaccepted. This was due to the objections to a possible sister-church relationship brought to synod by the representatives of the FreeReformed Churches (VGKSA), with whom the GKv already have a sister-church relationship. These objections had to do with:* Scripture criticism tendencies which allegedly existed within the GKSA;* the relationships which the GKSA maintain with other South African Churches;* the introduction of a new hymnbook, which was said to be far from Reformed, and* the introduction of new rhymed Psalms which were said to be unacceptable

BBK deputies considered these objections and judged them to be too lightweight. The Synod has followed its deputies in this.It decided to offer a sister-church relationship to the GKSA and asked the BBK deputies to:* Continue the discussion with the GKSA on questions about hermeneutics;* pay attention to the contacts the GKSA have with the Nederlands Gereformeerde Churches in the Netherlands (NGK);* to participate, if desired by these churches, in discussions between the VGKSA and the GKSA;* work on having the GKSA accepted as a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC)

The Free Reformed Churches in South Africa have expressed their understanding for the desire of the GKv to have a sister-church relation with the GKSA, although they themselves are not ready to proceed to such a relationship. This has partly to dowith the fact that a sister-church relationship with the GKSA would mean a more intensive form of co-existence with the VGKSAthan for the GKv, because these two churches are in the same land.

The Reformed Churches in South AfricaIn the last century emigrants from the Netherlands brought with them their inheritance from the Secession of 1834 (the‘Afscheiding’) to South Africa as well. Under the leadership of Rev. Dirk Postma, they established the ‘Reformed Churches in SouthAfrica’ in 1859. The GKSA are also known as the ‘Dopperkerken’.The GKSA consist of people from different groups of the population. The churches of the various groups of people come togetherin three ‘Nasionale Sinodes’: the Afrikaans speakers, the Sinode Middellande, and the Sinode Soutpansberg. Representatives fromthese three national synods meet together in one General Synod. The Afrikaans speaking section consists of 93,896 members(according to the Almanak 2004), spread across 295 congregations. There are 242 active ministers. The Sinode Middellandeconsists of 105 churches with 18 active ministers, and the synod Soutpansberg has 8 churches and five active ministers.

The GKSA have their own theological faculty for the training of ministers in Potschefstroom.

Recognition and mutual helpIn their report to the General Synod of Amersfoort the deputies wrote: “Whoever visits the GKSA recognises a lot:love for the Lord and his Word; efforts to preach that Word and to defend it against liberalism; efforts to hold on tothe youth of the church; the confrontation with charismatic influences.

Many subjects which were discussed at the Nasionale Sinode 2003 are also familiar to Reformed (liberated)Holland: Sabbath and Sunday; alternative formulas for the Lord’s Supper; new rhymed Psalms; the freedom of localchurches in the choice of hymns and songs; a new translation of the confessions in modern Afrikaans; the questionof whether or not an elder reading a sermon may give the blessing (without the wording being changed); etc.....

We are convinced that we as church communities, GKv and GKSA, can mean much to one another. Inexchanging experiences about mutual questions (for example - Sabbath and Sunday; liturgy), in theologicaleducation and theological research (‘Potschefstroom’ and ‘Kampen’). In collaboration and reciprocal advice as far asmission and ecumenical relationships with young churches are concerned (the IRTT1, at various times and invarious ways, has already taken part in this collaboration and advice-sharing). A sister-church relationship wouldstimulate things more.

The Nasionale Sinode of theGKSA, which meets in January 2006, will make a decision with regard to the GKvoffer of a sister-church relationship.

1 Intercultural Reformed Theological Training, a part of ‘De Verre Naasten’, the GKv Institute for Mission, Ecumenical support and training.

GKv offers sister-church relationship to GKSAby H. ten Brinke

The address of the Committee on Relations with Churches Abroad of theReformed Churches in the Netherlands is:

Postbus 4998000 AL Zwollethe NetherlandsPhone: 31-38-4270470Fax: 31-38-4270411E-mail: [email protected]

Colour brings out in full relief– by means of slanting beams –the map of all the world.Increasingly far-reaching is the Light!Over the quarters It will claiman ever larger territory;each corner of the earthmust yield to it ultimately.

The hands of the clock in God’s handmark the Light’s feats of conquest on earthuntil in the fulness of timeevery one of the four winds of heavenshall be filled with the glory of the Lamb.

Lux Mundi: Light shining upon this world.

This cover was made according to the designof J.P. Gootjes from Zwolle.

volume 24 - no. 3 september 2005 - gkv · the contacts with the gereja-gereja reformasi di...

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