Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church, like many Protestant Christian churches, can trace its origins to the Reformation in Europe in the sixteenth century. It was among the many churches that were organized along the lines of the Presbyterian Church. It was officially founded when twenty-three Dutchmen interested in reform met in Emden in 1571. The Dutch Reformed Church no longer exists as an independent entity, having merged with the Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 2004. Prior to the merger, the Dutch Reformed Church had approximately two million members worshiping in about 1,350 churches.

Origins

The Dutch already had a tradition of reformation of faith in place when the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin arrived. The German-Dutch monk, theologian, and writer Thomas à Kempis and the Dutch Roman Catholic deacon and preacher Gerhard Groote (alternately known as Gerard Groote or Geert Groote) had earlier introduced ideas outside the traditional realms of religious theory. Lutheranism was added to the swirl of new theological ideas in the country, but so too were the beliefs of the Anabaptists—a more radical arm of the Reform movement that held tightly to the Christian faith as outlined in the New Testament of the Bible.

The Dutch government too contributed to the development of the Reformed Church. A complicated multilayer structure of local government beneath a provincial-level government and capped off by a dukedom led not by Dutch leaders but by foreign noblemen pressed down on the native population. This led to unrest beginning in 1555 during the reign of Philip II, King of Spain and Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Philip, a Catholic, not only taxed his subjects heavily but persecuted the Protestants. There were loud and frequent objections to the presence of Spanish troops in the country, and under the pressure of these protests, Philip left the Netherlands in 1559, designating his half-sister Margaret of Parma as the region's governess. Her advisor, Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, attempted to reinstate an episcopal system of bishops—a move that only led to further unrest.

The marriage of Margaret's son in Brussels in 1566 had the unintended consequence of bringing together many of the Dutch nobles who opposed the Protestant persecution when they gathered to attend the wedding. After a series of meetings and plans, they encouraged their Calvinist ministers to openly preach throughout the countryside in favor of greater religious freedoms. At some services, more than twenty thousand would be present, with armed men forming a ring around the women and children in case fighting became necessary. Emboldened by their growing numbers, the Calvinists destroyed many Roman Catholic icons and crucifixes, vestments, statues, stained glass windows, and other items they saw as a violation of the true faith. The groups that carried this out often had the rag-tag appearance of beggars, leading to the rebel movement being given the nickname of the "Beggars" (known as Geuzen in Dutch, or Les Gueux in French).

Alarmed, in 1567 Philip sent Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and an army to oppose the group he saw as heretics. The actions of Alba, known as the Iron Duke, further inflamed the Dutch reformers. In the midst of this, a group of twenty-three of their leaders met in Emden and formally established the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571. It would take six more years before the Netherlands declared itself a free country in 1577, and it would not be until the 1590s before religious reform fully took root. When it did, many Catholics were removed from public offices, while Reformers established their own schools and other institutions. While the Dutch Reformed Church was never an official state religion, by law all members of the government had to be an active member of the Church, which resulted in a close relationship between the government and the Church.

The Dutch Reformed Church was instrumental in bringing Reformed concepts to the United States when Dutch Protestants established New Amsterdam, later known as New York, during America's Colonial period

Beliefs

The Dutch Reformed Church largely followed the traditional creeds of Christianity, including a belief in the importance of faith, God's grace, and reliance on the message of the Bible for salvation. They also emphasized the need for ongoing reform, as well as the universality of the priesthood. In other words, all baptized believers were equal in both rights and responsibilities within the church, and it was believed that clergy were qualified to lead, not because they were better or holier, but because they had studied theology.

The Church also accepted several other statements of faith, including the Heidelberg Catechism, which was an outline of beliefs intended for teaching the faithful. Additionally, the Belgic Confession was composed in the Netherlands in 1561 by Reformed preacher Guido de Bres as a doctrinal statement of faith specific to the Reformed churches. It was written to show that the reformers intended only to practice their deeply held religious beliefs, not rebel against the government at a time when church and state were entwined, and an offense to one was an offense to both. The Canons of Dort, the final components of the Three Forms of Unity of the Reformed Church, were drafted by the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands and eight other countries in 1618-1619. They clarify five points of doctrine that had been in dispute at the time related to salvation, the role of grace in salvation, and the possibility of falling from salvation.

Organization

The Dutch Reformed Church followed a Presbyterian polity of leadership by elected elders from each congregation. The individual congregations were organized in synods, which met regularly to establish doctrine and deal with other issues of overall significance to the Church.

In 2004, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Kingdom of the Netherlands merged to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

Bibliography

Bratt, James. "Dutch Reformed vs. Evangelical, I: 'Salvation.'" Reformed Journal, 2 Feb. 2024, blog.reformedjournal.com/2024/02/02/dutch-reformed-vs-evangelical-i-salvation/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

Knox, Skip. "The Revolt of the Netherlands." European History. Boise State University, europeanhistory.boisestate.edu/reformation/netherlands/revolt.shtml. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.

"Netherlands." World Council of Churches. World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/europe/netherlands. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

"Protestantism in the Low Countries." Virtual Museum of Protestantism. Virtual Museum of Protestantism, www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/protestantism-in-the-low-countries/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

The Reformed Church in America. Reformed Church in America, 2024, www.rca.org/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.