1915.04

[Six asterisms.]

In: “Opruiing?” Open brief aan Dr. A. Kuyper, hoofdredacteur van “De Standaard,” naar aanleiding van de critiek op mijn brochure: “Gij, Calvinisten,” door H. Koffyberg v.d.m.

Amsterdam, W. ten Have v.h. Höveker’s Boekhandel 1915, pp. 6, 10, 13–14, 16–17, 18–19, 21–22.

Six of the seven asterisms written in response to Gij, Calvinisten …. Open brief aan de Antirevolutionaire Partij over de oorlogs-beschouwing van “De Standaard” by the Rev. H. Koffyberg (Amsterdam, [beginning of March] 1915). Koffyberg (1874–1925) took issue with De Standaard’s reporting on the Great War, raising questions about Anti-Revolutionary and scriptural principles regarding war and peace. He specifically questioned why De Standaard had been so sparing in its evaluation of the German war effort and yet so critical of the role that England played in the hostilities.

In his brochure “Opruiing?” [Sedition?], Koffyberg responded to the criticism put forward in Kuyper’s asterisms. He reprinted six of them from De Standaard 43 (1914/1915), no. 13169, March 17, 1915–no. 13178, March 27, 1915, commenting on each in turn. Kuyper had ended his series of editorials with the suggestion that Koffyberg was not interested in polemics, but in politics. In his view Gij, Calvinisten was “an officer’s call to his men to condemn the commander unanimously.” Kuyper had used the word opruiing to describe this attitude, complaining that Koffyberg’s brochure was not directed against the editors of De Standaard, but against him personally and against his leadership of the Anti-Revolutionary Party. See also 1915.14.

Almost immediately after the publication of Koffyberg’s reply, Kuyper started a new series of asterisms in De Standaard (see 1915.12), directed this time against Th. Heemskerk, former prime minister and then member of the Council of State.