Draft letter to the consistories of the Dutch Reformed Church. The letter (KA 179) invites the consistories to send delegates to a consultation about the baptism question. This action was prompted by the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church’s new pronouncement about the baptismal formula. At the Synod of 1870, it had rejected by majority vote its provisional determination of 1869, according to which baptism had to be administered with the customary formula from Matthew 28:17 (cf. 1868.09). The invitation states that the meeting will take place in Amsterdam and that the specifics regarding time, date, and place will be made known in the press. Those seeking additional information are directed to A.W. Bronsveld.

Bronsveld (1839–1924) likely wrote the draft for the “Letter to the Members of Congregations Belonging to the Dutch Reformed Church” (Harderwijk: M.C. Bronsveld), which was published about a week later in response to the same synodical decision.

A group of fourteen prominent representatives of various interest groups in the Dutch Reformed Church stood behind both the invitation to the consistories and the letter to congregational members. Kuyper aligned himself with this group. While it was announced that the consultation would take place on October 31, 1870, a subsequent newspaper advertisement postponed the event. Finally, the idea of the consultation was given up completely due to disunity among its initiators. It is interesting to note that the publication of 1870.33 apparently also fell through.