Dutch theology and history

Stephen L Smith said:
I thought the Conclusions of Utrecht adopted in 1905 by the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands addressed this? That said I have not looked at this issue for a while but Herman Bavinck's 'Saved by grace' has a helpful discussion on these matters.
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They did. However, the Liberation of 1944 meant that the churches now considered themselves free from all synodical interpretations of the Confessions. The issue then became: are we then bound to every jot and tittle of the TFU? Those who became the NGK said "no." For them, the confessions just became a sort of rough guide to what the churches believe.
 
Guido's Brother said:
There were several. L.E. Oosterhoff was teaching that every one baptized receives not only the covenant promises, but also the substance of what is promised. So every baptized child already possesses the forgiveness of sins and justification, for example. He also taught that Christ died to make salvation possible for everyone. B. Telder taught the doctrine of soul-sleep. G. Visee and J.O. Mulder taught a form of antinomianism.
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Is this more accurate then?

Sam Jer said:
In the GKN, 110 years after the Afscheiding, in 1944, the Vrijmaking accoured — the GKN started enforcing Kuyperian views relating to the covenant and presumptive regeneration quite strictly, causing those opposed to those doctrines to form the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt).

In 1967, after a discipline case in the vrijgemaakt, the Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerken (NGK) was formed, wanting to allow greater variance from the confessions.
The two merged in 2023 into the aformentioned Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerken, after they were both already ordaining women.

Prior to the union, the vrijgemaakt liberalized positions on divorce and the sabbath, having already introduced women's ordination a few years prior, and therefore another split was caused in 2003, creating the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (hersteld) (DGK).
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Sam Jer said:
Prior to the union, the vrijgemaakt liberalized positions on divorce and the sabbath, having already introduced women's ordination a few years prior, and therefore another split was caused in 2003, creating the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (hersteld) (DGK).
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The primary factors leading to the 2003 split were rooted in the liberalized stance on the Sabbath and the introduction of new hymns. Some of these hymns did not adhere to reformed principles and were arminian in nature. While positions on divorce were not a central issue, they might have been locally a contributing factor. The question of women's ordination had not yet emerged at that time, but a prior synod had granted women the right to vote in church – this arrangement from 1993 (according to my knowledge) was rejected by the DGK.

Simultaneously a conservative minister of the GKV faced sidelining in his congregation of Kampen-Noord. This lead to a subsequent minor schism a few years later. Because of internal conflicts within the DGK this group saw immediatly further growth and formed the Gereformeerde Kerken Nederland (GKN).

These two groups will most likely merge within the next few years.

Not all who left the GKV because of its changes joined them, though. There are also people who ended up in churches like the CGK, HHK and PKN.
 
From memory, the Dutch church denominational church history from the Secession(Afscheiding) to just after the 2nd World War:

1. the Secession churches from 1834 formed the Afgescheiden Kerken, and later, after the king allowed them their existence (they had to ask for permission) became known as the 'Christelijk Gereformeerde Kerken' (CGK). Also, many churches left the state church under the leadership of Ds. Ledeboer, over the issue of, among other things, the singing of the new hymnal imposed by the king.
2. There were those churches which did not think it right to have to ask permission, and did not join the CGK. Many of those early in the 20th century united under the leadership of Ds. Kersten to form the 'Gereformeerde Gemeenten in Nederland' (GGN) Many of the churches that did not became united under the GGN later united as the 'Oud Gereformeerde Gemeenten in Nederland' (OGGN)
3. Late in the 19th century Dr. Kuyper led many churches out of the state church (Hervormde Kerk) in a movement called the Doleantie. Many churches from the CGK also joined this new denomination known as the 'Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland' (GKN)
4. During the 2nd World War Dr. Schilder led a secession from the GKN, which became known as the 'Gereformeerde Kerken (vrijgemaakt).
5. In 1953 Dr. Steenblok led a secession of many GGN churches. Since then, the 'Dr. Steenblok' churches were known as the GGN, and the others were simply know as 'Gereformeerde Gemeenten' (GG)
 
Guido's Brother said:
However, the Liberation of 1944 meant that the churches now considered themselves free from all synodical interpretations of the Confessions. The issue then became: are we then bound to every jot and tittle of the TFU? Those who became the NGK said "no." For them, the confessions just became a sort of rough guide to what the churches believe.
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This sounds a bit like the Declaratory Act which did much harm to Presbyterianism both in Scotland and also here in New Zealand.

One of the esteemed pastors in the Reformed Churches of New Zealand, John Haverland, wrote a book on preaching the gospel in Postmodern NZ society. He argues that Scottish Presbyterianism had a strong influence in NZ in the 19th century but the Declaratory Act (adopted by various churches in the Presbyterian Church of NZ between 1895 and 1901) allowed ministers to hold to a more 'relaxed view' of the Westminster Standards. This did great harm to the Presbyterian Church of NZ and eventually led to the Lloyd Geering heresy trials of the 1960's.

On of the reasons why the Reformed Churches of NZ was formed in the 1950's was that the theological and spiritual decline of the Presbyterian Church of NZ meant that the churches could not be a spiritual home for Dutch immigrants (although language barrier was another problem).

Similarly in Scotland, Iain Murray in his insightful book on the 'Diary of Kenneth MacRae' notes that a similar problem occurred in the Scottish Presbyterian churches in the late 19th century. Unfortunately the 'Diary of Kenneth MacRae' is now out of print but I think it is a helpful work for ministers in the Western world grappling with theological and spiritual decline in Western nations. Kenneth MacRae faced this problem in 20th century Scotland yet his faithfulness in serving the Lord as a pastor is an inspiration.

I am personally thankful for the RCNZ 'Form of Subscription' which binds office bearers to the Belgic and Westminster Confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort.

May we learn the lessons of history about the dangers of 'relaxing' the confessional standards.
 
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