Elders and Deacons in Kampen and Wemeldinge: Dutch Reformed Approaches to Consistory Elections

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-42
Author(s):  
Kyle J. Dieleman
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Church

The consistory was a crucial institution in early modern Reformed churches. This article examines the nominations and elections of elders and deacons in the Dutch Reformed consistories of Kampen and Wemeldinge, shedding light on who was being nominated and elected and how such processes functioned in these churches. In particular, research into the Kampen consistory records demonstrates the importance given to the office of elder despite little theological backing for such a hieararchy; this was true to a lesser extent in Wemeldinge. In addition, the Kampen civil authorities played a significant role in the life of the consistory, most notably through the service of burgomasters as elders. The presence of burgomasters on the consistory is not present in Wemeldinge, indicating a more separate relationship between the church and state. In both Kampen and Wemeldinge, the elections of elders and deacons were unique and responded to the challenges and priorities of the individual contexts and communities.

scholarly journals Kerk en burgerlike owerheid: Die Nederlandse geloofsbelydenis en drie kerkordes

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Church History ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Ten Commandments ◽  
Church Life ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

Church and state authorithy: The Confessio Belgica and three church orders. In reformed churches the Bible is regarded as the norm of the norms. The confessions of faith of these churches are the second norm and subjected to the Bible. The church order is less powerful than the Bible and the confessions but of a higher status than the normal decisions of church assemblies. Therefore, the influence of the Belgic Confession on three church orders is an important issue in these churches.The author recommends four principles to understand the relation between the church and the state authority in article 36 of the Belgic Confession: both should honour God in their activities; both are guided by the Ten Commandments; both have their own internal law to fulfil the purpose as an institution; and both should respect and co-operate with one another. Although they are not in agreement on every aspect, these principles give the guidance to understand the main issue in all four documents which are investigated. The theme of this article is of a theological and church historical nature and a contribution on a well-discussed topic in reformed churches.Contribution: It should be important for the reformed churches in the Dutch tradition that a dynamic relationship exists between their confessions of faith and their church orders. While the Bible is the first and most important norm for church life, the confessions are the second most important. Church history shows that the relationship between the church and state is of utmost importance for the church, the quality of the confessions and the order of the church.

GLADSTONE AND CHRISTIAN ART, 1832–1854

2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONATHAN CONLIN
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The State ◽  
Christian Art ◽  
French Art ◽  
Renaissance Italy ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Catholic Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Religious Personality

Although his activity as a private collector has been documented, the extent to which William Ewart Gladstone's interest in art was implicated in his thought on church and state has been overlooked. Previously unnoticed memoranda and correspondence of the 1830s and 1840s with the French art historian and Roman Catholic thinker, François Rio, demonstrate a fascination with religious painting of early Renaissance Italy, of the sort which only came to be appreciated in Britain many years later. For Rio, however, introducing Gladstone to ‘Christian art’ was as much about encouraging Gladstone in his hopes of reuniting the Protestant and Catholic churches as it was about reforming his taste. The manuscripts considered here show Gladstone to have viewed art history in terms of a struggle between sanctity and sensuality, visualized in terms both of the individual as well as of nationalities. In so far as the young Conservative politician formulated this history in tandem with his theory of the religious personality of the state, a study of his model of Christian art's development affords a new path into an old debate: did Gladstone betray the principles of his first book, The state in its relations with the church (1838) in his subsequent political evolution into Liberal statesman?

scholarly journals Verkondiging deur musiek: 'n Aspek van kreatiewe geloofskommunikasie

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsabé Kloppers
Keyword(s):  
Focal Point ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
God's Word ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Music Ministry ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

Communicating faith creatively through musicThe question of music ministry has become a focal point in the Dutch Reformed Church. The debate arises primarily from discontent about rigid and uninspired musical practices in the church. These practices are promoted and affirmed by one-sided theological views, according to which the spoken word as God's Word, is over-emphasized, and proclamation through music and other means is denied. In some Reformed churches this one-sidedness led to responses in the form of a music ministry with new one-sided approaches. In this article it is argued that music, singing and other forms of art need to be recognized and promoted as ways of communicating the Gospel on various levels. An encompassing strategy for creative communication of the faith within a more active liturgy needs to be developed. Liturgists need to be well-trained for such an encompassing task.

scholarly journals The challenges facing the Dutch Reformed Churches in the South African liberal democracy

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Motshine A. Sekhaulelo
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
The South ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church

This article investigates the challenges facing the Dutch Reformed Churches in the SouthAfrican liberal democracy. It is premised on the fact that the Dutch Reformed Churches areconfronted with a new context that places the church in a position to continue its work ofbearing witness in the new dispensation. Part of this reflection involved seeking out theBiblical principles and guidelines that Christians would have to take into account in associationwith the new political order.

P J Hoedemaker: ‘Wat ék bedoel, is die behoud van die kerk’

1990 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. C. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
South African ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church

P J Hoedemaker. ‘What I aim at, is the conservation of the church’ The birthday of the wellknown Dutch Reformed theologian P J Hoedemaker 150 years ago, was celebrated in the Netherlands during 1989. In his struggle against the formidable dr Abraham Kuyper, it became more and more evident that Hoedemaker was himself a very perspicacious, independent theologian. His dramatic struggle for the unity and the wholeness of the church against every schismatic action is really unique in the history of the church. The theological concepts of Hoedemaker strongly influenced the thoughts of Dutch theologians like Th L Haitjema and A A van Ruler, and consequently also a large number of South African theologians in the Dutch Reformed Churches.

4. Early modern sainthood

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Yarrow
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church ◽  
Intellectual Creativity

‘Early modern sainthood’ describes the impact of the 16th-century Reformation on the image of the Christian saint. The Reformation, triggered by Augustinian friar Martin Luther, was a struggle for the highest stakes between fierce adversaries over the relationship between church and state, the authority and mission of the Church, the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, and the conscience of every soul in Christendom. It spurred immense intellectual creativity, fuelled iconoclasm and bitter polemic, and brought protracted war and martyrdom. It ultimately divided Europe into the Catholic states of southern Europe and those states of northern Europe whose princes embraced various kinds of Protestantism.

Monasticism in Early Modern France

2020 ◽  
pp. 451-461
Author(s):  
Daniel-Odon Hurel
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
Early Modern France ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Religious Wars ◽  
Modern France ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Second Wave ◽  
The Church

Early modern France, that is, France of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, experienced two waves of reform directly related to the birth of the modern state, the reform of the Church, and the experience of long and bloody religious wars. The ideals of the first were steeped in the late medieval devotio moderna, characterized by the rise in importance of the individual and the individual’s inner life, as well as by the necessity of integrating that individualism into a community’s spirituality and its spiritual life. The second wave of reforms drew its energies from the first and took from them its energies and models: amalgamation and centralization, oversight of revenues and accounts, a rededication to the Benedictine Rule, and the rediscovery of medieval monastic structures.

scholarly journals Tugwaardige sondes in drie gereformeerde kerkordes

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Church Discipline ◽  
Christian Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Spiritual Nature ◽  
Christian Reformed Church ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church

Sin which should be disciplined according to three church orders. The orders of three reformed churches, namely those of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Churches in South Africa have consensus about the need for an officially punishable sin to be of a public and offensive nature. The reason is that a sin must be openly against the Word of God and the confessions of the church. The approach of the church as an institution of faith carrying the love and righteousness of God, should be to maintain the spiritual nature of church discipline and to aim for the spiritual purpose of its discipline. Church discipline should be aimed at convincing the sinner and assuring church members of its desire to keep the demands of the Word and justice in tact.

scholarly journals Five hundred years on: Some traces of the Reformation in the Church Orders of two South African Reformed Churches – Seen as temporary expressions of the Church Order of the Reformed Synod of Dordrecht in 1619

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet Strauss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
African Churches ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

This article examines the influence of the Reformation of the 16th century on the Church Orders of two South African Reformed Churches, namely the Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in South Africa. The five so-called solas, namely sola gratia [by grace alone], sola scriptura [by Scripture alone], sola fidei [by faith alone], solus christus [Christ alone] and soli Deo gloria [glory to God alone], are widely accepted as key expressions of the convictions of the Reformation. Although not necessarily in the same terms, the content of the solas are also found in the thought of Calvin. These matters influenced the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) in its acceptance of the Three Formulas of Unity as reformed confessions of faith and its affirmation of the Dordt Church Order. The said South African churches accept the Three Formulas of Unity as confessions of faith and view their church orders as a modern version of the Dordt Church Order – adapted to the demands of the time. This article mainly examines the consequences of sola scriptura and sola fidei on the church orders of the two churches. In terms of these two solas, both have traces of the Reformation after 500 years.

scholarly journals Die “kerklike gesag” van kerkvergaderings soos in die kerkorde van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Dutch Reformed ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Ecclesiastical Authority ◽  
Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
The Church ◽  
Dutch Reformed Church

The ecclesiastical authority of the assemblies in church as in the church order of the Dutch Reformed Church The point in discussion in this article is Article 20.1 of the church order of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). In accept- ing the first version of this church order, the first general synod of the DRC in 1962 used the church order of 1959 of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN) as an example. The exact wording of Article 20.1 happened to be part of the latter.   Article 20.1 gives an indication of the authority of assemblies because this is nowhere else attended to in the church order of the DRC. It explains that the authority of church governing bodies like assemblies comes from Christ. He as the actual Head of the church lends authority to these assemblies, without abdicating his position as the Head of his church. He remains the Source and Owner of ecclesiastical authority.  This means that ecclesiastical authority is founded and based on the Word of God by which it sumultaneously is limited. In exercising it’s authority, an assembly is also bound to do it in accordance with the character of the church. To speak of authority in the church is not in conflict with the character of the church as a community of believers connected by love.

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