Abraham Kuyper

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A revised and updated version of
Abraham Kuyper: An Annotated Bibliography 1857-2010 by Tjitze Kuipers (2011)

You can buy a printed edition of this book on the site of the publisher.

1918

1918.03
[Cable.—Letter.]
In: Acta der Generale Synode van de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland. Gehouden te Rotterdam van 20 Augustus–6 September 1917.
Kampen, J.H. Kok [1918], pp. 51–52, 125.
Published: January 1918.
Cable dated: Weiszer Hirsch, September 1 [1917].
Letter dated: October 1, 1916.
ET: To you, Mr. Chairman, and to the Synod, my sincere gratitude for the heart-quickening dispatch I received. May the blessing of our Lord rest on your meeting and may it be deeply felt by us all how very regretful it is that in these fearful times of war the—international—character of our federation of churches is still so far removed from the aim that was set by our fathers three hundred years ago.

Ihnen, Herr Vorsitzender und der Synode, mein tiefgefuehlter Dank fuer die mein Herz erquickende Depesche die ich empfangen mocht. Ruhe auf ihre Zusammenkunft der Segen unsres Herrn und sei tief von uns allen gefuehlt wie schmerzlich es zu bedauern ist, dasz in diesen bangen Kriegszeiten das—Internationale—Character unsres Kirchenverbandes noch so weit von dem durch unsere Vaeter vor drei Jahrhunderten gestellten Ziel entfernt ist. Dr. A. Kuyper.

Kuyper sent these words of gratitude (pp. 51–52) in reply to a telegram from the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. During a brief commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the unification of the Christian Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Churches (see 1892.16), the synod sent a message of appreciation to Kuyper for the part he had played in promoting unification. (The anniversary date, June 16, had already passed by the time of the synodical commemoration.)

The Acta also includes Kuyper’s written response (p. 125) to the report about the expansion of missions in the Buitenbezittingen (see 1914.14). He argued that the report did not correctly reflect what he had said during the meeting of the deputies for mission, indicating, moreover, that the deputies did not share his views. However, he did acknowledge his respect for their opinions about the Javanese mission. Kuyper resigned himself to the situation, leaving the policy to the synod and the king of the church.