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.
1857
A bifolium with drop title containing twenty-four theses of conjectures about the texts of Lysias. Many of the proposed emendations and conjectures may be found in the works of C.G. Cobet (1813–1889).
Abraham Kuyper studied at the University of Leiden from July 1855 to September 1862. As a second- and third-year student, Kuyper participated in five literary disputations as a defendens. In these public disputations, which took place under the leadership of Cobet, students from every department debated what were for the most part proposed emendations and conjectured improvements to the texts of classical authors. Virtually all the theses were put forward by Cobet himself (see 1980.05 and 1981.02).
The disputations were intended above all to allow students to practice speaking Latin. In the academic year 1856/1857, eight underclassmen took part in these debates as defendens (four students in classical languages, three in theology, and one in jurisprudence). The print run of the leaflets containing the theses, which were delivered several days in advance by the defendens to the other participants, must therefore have been very small.
A bifolium with drop title containing twenty-three theses of conjectures about Livius (nineteen theses) and Demosthenes (four theses). Concerning the disputations and the authorship of these theses, see 1857.01.
In the academic year 1857/1858, eight students again took part as defendens in the debates—four students in theology and four students in classical languages. Three of the students acted as defendens on two occasions while Kuyper acted as a defendens on four occasions. Three of these students had participated in the previous year as well.
1858
A bifolium with drop title containing twenty-seven theses, including conjectures about and interpretations of Tacitus (eight theses), conjectures about Plato (nine theses), and conjectures about Homer (ten theses). Concerning the disputations and the authorship of these theses, see 1857.01.
A bifolium with drop title containing fifteen theses of conjectures about Aristophanes (three theses), Herodotus (three theses), Livius (four theses), Nonius (one thesis), Gellius (two theses), Xenophon (one thesis), and Thucydides (one thesis), as well as five additional theses with a more general historical tenor. The second thesis (In Iudaeorum rebus expondis Tacitus non praestitit se historicum [In his description of Jewish history Tacitus shows himself not to be a historian]) could be a contribution from Kuyper himself (see 1980.05 and 1981.02). Concerning the disputations and the authorship of these theses, see 1857.01.
A bifolium with drop title containing twenty theses, including ten theses of conjectures about Demosthenes (two theses), Aeschines (one thesis), Dinarchus (one thesis), Aristophanes (five theses), and Lysias (one thesis), seven theses on the field of Roman antiquities, one on the text of Tertullian’s De Baptismo (thesis 18), one on the education of theological students (thesis 19), and one on high school education (thesis 20). Concerning the disputations and the authorship of these theses, see 1857.01.
The subject matter of the final three theses suggests that Kuyper himself may have been the author (see 1980.05 and 1981.02). Thesis 18 puts forward an alternative reading of a passage in which Tertullian describes Jacob’s blessing of his grandsons in Genesis 48:14 (see 1980.05). Thesis 19 argues that it “is completely indispensable that theological students, who are after all going to be exegeting the New Testament, be taught about things from Roman antiquity that provide a better understanding of the set-up of a Roman province at the beginning of the common era.” Thesis 20 argues that one “must disagree with the very learned Burger who believes that the reading of the New Testament should be reintroduced into the gymnasia.”
Litt. Hum. Cand.: Kuyper passed his candidacy examination in classical literature, summa cum laude, on April 29, 1858.
1860
Kuyper’s first publication—as far as can be known—was this translation of a German political pamphlet that spoke in favor of Friedrich Wilhelm Otto Graf von Borries (1802–1883), minister of the interior in the Kingdom of Hanover, and against his liberal opposition. The anonymous author pretended that the German edition was not the original.
Concerning the authorship of the Dutch translation, see the letters from F.H. Hesse to Kuyper, dated Emden, November 7, 1860 and Emden, November 22, 1860 (SAG), and also a letter (most likely written on November 24, 1860) sent by Kuyper to the publisher A.W. Sijthoff (UBL, Sijt. A 1860 no. 26).
A supposed French edition (Le Comte de Borries), with which Kuyper was also involved according to the November 22 letter from F.H. Hesse, has not yet been tracked down. The French title (dated 1859) appears, however, on an old, handwritten inventory of Kuyper’s writings from 1858–1912, originating from the library of the Kuyperhuis (see 1921.06).
1862
Kuyper’s doctoral thesis, which he defended at Leiden University on September 20, 1862. This thesis offers a comparative study of the concept of the church according to Calvin (1509–1564) and A. Lasco (1499–1560). The thesis represents a reworking of the first part of his submission to an essay contest organized by the theological faculty of the University of Groningen, which had received the gold medal in 1860 (Commentatio in questionem ab Ordine Theologorum positam in Certamen Litterarium [Treatise on the question of the theological faculty drawn up for a written contest]; see 2005.01). Twenty-six theses are appended (e.g., thesis 14: Iniuria Ecclesiae ministris aditum ad conventus politicos praeclusit lex [The ministers of the church are wrongly prevented from taking part in political assemblies]).
The dissertation, which shows an apparent preference for A. Lasco’s concept of the church, was praised widely for its scholarship. With its publication—and with the subsequent publication of Joannis a Lasco Opera (see 1866.01)—Kuyper breathed new life into the scholarly study of Johannes a Lasco as a theologian. Kuyper had initially intended to write a biography of A. Lasco as his thesis.
According to the contract for 1866.01, the publishers granted Kuyper 400 printed copies of his thesis.
1863
A circular letter embossed with the stamp of the internationally well-known publisher and antiquarian dealer Frederik Muller at Leiden and addressed “A Monsieur le Bibliothécaire ou l’Archiviste à …”
In this circular letter, Kuyper informs the major European libraries and archives that he is preparing an edition of Johannes a Lasco’s works (see 1866.01) as well as a biography of A. Lasco. Kuyper therefore requests that the recipients search their libraries and archives for books or letters to/from A. Lasco that he has not yet been able to locate. He states that he eagerly looks forward to learning the results of their research.
A three-part list is attached to the letter indicating: (1) works by A. Lasco that Kuyper possesses, (2) works by A. Lasco that he has thus far sought in vain, and (3) historical works and early printed books that he has not yet been able to locate.
De Navorscher [The researcher] was published “as a means for the exchange of thoughts and literary life between all who know anything, have anything to ask, or can solve anything.” It was modeled upon Notes and Queries, an English periodical published since 1849. De Navorscher printed Kuyper’s request for printed or unprinted Lasciana hidden away in private collections on behalf of his edition of A. Lasco’s Opera (see 1866.01). Responses were to be communicated via De Navorscher. The only reply he received did not provide any useful information.
The appeal was reprinted many years later in De Standaard, no. 11399, May 17, 1909, along with a remark that it was probably Kuyper’s first publication for the press. For a similar request, see 1863.03. Kuyper also put forward a request for information in an 1881 advertisement in De Heraut (see 1882.01).
A request for information (cf. 1863.02) about manuscripts taken by the seventeenth-century author of Carrascon to the Netherlands and for sixteenth-century editions of two other authors. Kuyper did not receive any reply in De Navorscher.
1866
These two impressive volumes constitute the beginning of all modern A. Lasco research and still remain unsurpassed. A comprehensive preface (115 pp.) introduces the following three parts of this Polish reformer’s literary corpus: dogmatic and polemical works (volume 1); liturgical and symbolical works (volume 2); and letters (volume 2). To keep the size of the collection within reasonable limits, the type at the end of each volume was set solid.
A biography of A. Lasco was promised in the preface, but Kuyper never published it (see 1945.01). However, H. Dalton dedicated his biography of the reformer—Johannes a Lasco. Beitrag zur Reformationsgeschichte Polens, Deutschlands und Englands (Gotha, 1881)—to Abraham Kuyper, “dem hochverdienten Herausgeber der Gesamtwerke Laskis, in herzlicher Verehrung und Dankbarkeit” [the highly esteemed editor of the complete works of A. Lasco, in cordial reverence and thankfulness].
The editor expressed his appreciation to those who had contributed to the project by sending them printings of the relevant parts of the Opera. In a letter, dated August 14, 1866 (cf. 1957.02), to Prof. Dr. R. Fruin (1823–1899) at Leiden, Kuyper reveals that the publisher provided only fifteen author copies instead of the desired forty. Kuyper signed the contract for the project in 1862 (see 1862.01).
In the nineteenth century, A. Lasco’s works were already rare. In 1873.05 (pp. 36–39), Kuyper related how he finally gained access, as if by a miracle, to a surprisingly rich collection of Lasciana, indispensable sources for his prize-winning Commentatio (see 2005.01). Kuyper also wrote about this event, which he experienced as providential, in 1873.05 and De Heraut, no. 1968, October 10, 1915.
In 1874 the publishers cut the price of the Opera in half. According to Oude en nieuwe boekhandel van Martinus Nijhoff te ’s-Gravenhage. Fondscatalogus 1858–1897 (’s-Gravenhage, 1898), both volumes were still available at ƒ7.50. In 1980 the reprint department of the Zentralantiquariat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik at Leipzig announced plans to reprint the Opera. The reprint was scheduled to be published in 1981/1982, but it never appeared.
1867
On July 25, 1866 the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church decided to put into effect Article 23 of the Revised Regulation of 1852, which gave local congregations the right to assign members of the consistory and to call pastors. Previously, only the consistory de facto had this right. Article 23 was officially put into effect on March 1, 1867 by the Nieuw Synodaal Reglement op de benoeming van ouderlingen en diakenen en de beroeping van predikanten door de manslidmaten [New synodical regulations for the nomination of elders and deacons and for the calling of pastors by male church members]. Kuyper looked upon the new synodical regulations as a product of modern individualism. In his historical analysis, however, Kuyper argued that Article 23 agreed with the principles of the Reformation and that this transitional provision could be used to overturn illegal church rule. He therefore thought that congregations should retain the right to vote.
On the effects of the carrying out of Article 23, see 1869.04.
Review of J.I. Doedes’ (1817–1897; professor at Utrecht, 1859–1888) historical and bibliographical study of the Heidelberg Catechism in the first years after its publication. The review is preceded by a remarkable four-page plea for restoring the sponsorship (“Maecenate”) of scholarly research. The English Parker Society (1840–1855) is held up as a model. The review manifests warm approval of the Heidelberg Catechism and vivid interest in its history.
These regulations arose from the synod’s decision to put Article 23 into effect (see 1867.01). The preface is signed by A. Kuyper (praes. et scriba [chairman and clerk]), who also drafted the regulations. The 187 articles that compose these regulations contain not only local regulations for the election of officers, the nomination of elders and deacons, and the calling of a minister or a candidate for the ministry, but also supplementary managerial rules for the consistory and a set of partially rewritten guidelines for the administration of diaconal funds.
After some amendments were made at the request of the church authorities, the regulations were approved by the provincial church administration of Gelderland on August 31, 1867 and went into effect on September 1, 1867. These regulations were the first of a remarkably long series of regulations and instructions that Kuyper designed for church, school, and political party over the course of many years.
The edition was published at the publisher’s expense.
The article attributes the shortage of pastors both to the apathy of modernists within the church and to the spirit of the times. However, it goes on to say that, as in the past, influential men and congregations obedient to the call of God will turn the tide. After Article 23 was put into effect (see 1867.01), congregations received the right to elect their pastors, making the shortage of orthodox pastors even more pronounced.
Kuyper’s first sermon at Utrecht, based on John 1:14a (“and the Word became flesh and lived among us”) and delivered in the Domkerk on November 10, 1867. In the sermon Kuyper contends that the church as the body of Christ is the organism in which Christ himself lives on. He subsequently emphasizes the importance of the external form of the church because it has the task of awakening humanity to the divine life within it. The church’s external form should be fixed and abiding in its polity, confession, and worship because the divine life can become manifest only in the permanent. At the sermon’s climax, Kuyper states that the Dutch Reformed Church is no longer satisfying this essential requirement. Although he cannot say whether the course of events will lead to the reformation of the Dutch Reformed Church or to the founding of a new church, Kuyper tells the congregation that, in any case, he has been called to build. The sermon was published at the request of a number of members of the congregation as well as forty Utrecht theological students.
Various brief salutations to government officials, professors, students, church officials, dignitaries, colleagues, and members of the congregation are printed after the sermon.
1868
Circular letter sent to leading members of Dutch society to inquire whether their names and influence might be used to support the work of a proposed association dedicated to tracking down and publishing sources from the earliest history of the Dutch Reformed Church. The members of the association would defray the publication costs through their contributions (see 1868.02). Kuyper and seven of his supporters in Utrecht, among whom were four members of the Historical Society of Utrecht, drew up this circular letter (NA 2.19.001 inv. no. 1).
The invoice of Van Peursem, the printer, states: “Printed 48 large 4e letters ‘Sources Church History’ 2 pa[ges] printed 2 times = ƒ5.-” (KA 303).
Draft of the bylaws of the Marnix Society (cf. 1868.11). The society planned to carry out its stated purpose of publishing the oldest documents of the Dutch Reformed tradition (art. 1) as soon as membership had reached 250, although Kuyper, who served as director of the society from its founding until 1874, actually started the publication of the series when there were only about fifty members. Membership in the society cost ƒ10.- annually (art. 2) and all members received a free copy of the works published by the society (art. 4). The eight articles are signed by Kuyper on behalf of the founders of the Marnix Society. The membership of the Marnix Society remained under 100 for almost every year of its existence.
An additional 4,000 copies of this item were printed for an advertising campaign in November and sent, along with 1868.11, to prospective members.
The Marnix Society was actually founded on March 20, 1868, but Kuyper probably used the date April 1 because of its significance in the history of the Netherlands (cf. 1872.02).
Draft of a circular letter (see 1868.11), without the names of the members of the board and the short list of recommenders, which was sent to those who had responded positively to the circular letter mentioned in 1868.01. The following line was added on page four: “Appreciation for the mission of the Marnix Society is gladly shown by ….” A short cover letter was attached (see 1868.04).
This short cover letter introduced the program of the Marnix Society. It was sent, together with 1868.03, to prominent members of Dutch society (cf. 1868.01), inviting them to show their support for the society by signing a circular letter (see 1868.11) written on its behalf.
Arguing that the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church was not upholding its confessional standards, the Consistory of Utrecht judged the annual inspection (spring 1867) by the Classical Board of Utrecht to be deprived of its spiritual authority and therefore only answered questions relating to administrative matters. During the subsequent written visitation in 1868, the consistory refused to answer any questions.
This booklet relates, in four chapters and with many relevant references to the history of the church, what had already happened and what was currently transpiring in Utrecht.
Fifty years after its publication, a bookseller in Utrecht was offering remainders of the booklet for ƒ0.50 per copy (cf. De Heraut, no. 2102, May 5, 1918).
This memorandum, preceded by the resolution of the General Consistory of Utrecht (pp. [1]–3), justifies the consistory’s decision, after the written church inspection of 1868, to refuse the subsequently announced personal church inspection of September 30, 1868.
The resolution and the memorandum were directed to the Classical Board of Utrecht, which had decided upon this second visitation at the behest of the Provincial Church Administration. Both records are signed by A. Kuyper (praes.) and J.C. Verhoeff (scriba).
The cover letter to the memorandum, addressed to the classical board, and the resolution of the general consistory are also included in 1868.08.
Clarification and personal thoughts about the memorandum of September 21, 1868 (see 1868.06 and 1868.08, no. XI), which the General Consistory of Utrecht composed to explain its refusal to cooperate with the announced personal church visitation.
Twelve official records, partly composed of correspondence, having to do with the church visitation at Utrecht in 1868. Six of the published records are signed by A. Kuyper in his capacity as chairman. Records 2, 4, 8, and 12 were largely drafted by Kuyper and the collection was edited by R. van Meerlant, M.M. van Asch van Wijck, and A. Kuyper in accordance with a request by the General Consistory of Utrecht.
Kuyper had submitted a written request to the consistory to publish in serial form and at its own expense documents pertaining to the church inspection (HUA/NHKU 92). No subsequent volume of records was published.
A circular letter addressed to the consistories of the Dutch Reformed Churches and written in response to the synodical decision of July 17, 1868 about the formula for baptism. The synod had decided that baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit was desirable—and in the given circumstances necessary—but it did not make the practice mandatory (cf. 1870.28). Moreover, the synod had decided against taking measures to prevent irregularities in baptismal practice.
Although the circular letter was signed by D. Gildemeester and H.C. Bervoets, as praeses and scriba of the General Consistory of Utrecht, it was conceived and edited by Kuyper. Kuyper was the chair of a commission set up to advise the consistory about the writing of a letter to the Reformed consistories about the baptism question. After having indicated how the General Consistory of Utrecht would guard against irregularities in its services of baptism, it solicited consistories across the Netherlands to work together to maintain and protect the interests of the church by asking them to respond to three questions.
The replies and reactions that came in response to this circular letter led to the establishment of the Federation of Consistories at a meeting held on April 28, 1869 (see 1869.10).
The heading of this printing differs from 1868.09 and is printed in larger type. The type matter of the text is identical, but has been rearranged (HUA/NHKU 92).
A corrected, modified, and stylishly printed version of the Marnix Society circular letter (see 1868.03), which was sent out to raise funds and solicit membership. After indicating the desirability of assembling the primary sources of Dutch church history, the circular letter identifies the goal of the Marnix Society: to track down documents from the earliest period of the Reformation in the Netherlands, to collect them, and to publish them in editions intended for scholarly use. The Dutch Reformed Church had lagged behind her sister churches in Germany, England, France, and Switzerland in this respect.
The Marnix Society was an imitation of the English Parker Society (1840–1855) and the French Société de l’histoire du Protestantisme français (1852–1870). The name Marnix-Vereeniging was chosen by Kuyper because the commission that Ph. Marnix van Sint Aldegonde (1540–1598) had received from the Synod of Emden (1571) was comparable to the task that the Marnix Society set for itself. The circular letter was signed by five members of the board: G. Groen van Prinsterer, honorary chairman, B. ter Haar, W.G. Brill, J.J. van Toorenenbergen, A. Kuyper, and A.W. van Beeck Calkoen, secretary. The list of supporters (see 1868.01 and 1868.03) bore the names of twelve prominent Dutchmen, of whom eight were professors.
Three supplementary documents were included with the circular letter: a flyer with the bylaws of the Marnix Society, dated March 20, 1868 (see 1868.02), a subscription form, and a registration form.
In accordance with the statutes of the Marnix Society, its publications were not sold to the public. Members of the society all received a free copy of every published volume.
The stock of the Marnix Society was sold in 1889 to Martinus Nijhoff in The Hague for ƒ1,200. An inventory carried out just prior to the sale reports 3,793 copies in stock—a remarkably high number, considering that each of the sixteen volumes published by the Marnix Society to that point had a print run of 350. The sixteen-volume series was subsequently sold for ƒ20.- per set. According to Oude en nieuwe boekhandel van Martinus Nijhof te ’s-Gravenhage. Fondscatalogus 1853–1897 (’s-Gravenhage, 1898), the set was still available and separate volumes could be ordered.
Concerning the works of the Marnix Society, see 1871.02.
A brief letter of recommendation written to accompany the program of the Marnix Society and other related documents. This item was included with the packets mentioned in 1868.11, which were sent to intermediaries across the country so that they could elicit memberships in the Marnix Society from their friends and acquaintances. The letter presented the advertising materials for this campaign.
1869
Six sermons delivered in 1868 at Utrecht:
- 1. “Nabij God te zijn” [To be near to God] (Ps. 73:28a)
- 2. “Bedestond op den Hervormingsdag” [Supplication on Reformation Day] (Dan. 9:18)
- 3. “Christus, de bron van zedelijke kracht” [Christ, the source of moral strength] (John 15:5)
- 4. “Schuldbesef” [Consciousness of guilt] (Ps. 19:13)
- 5. “De vloek der verstandsrichting” [The curse of the rationalists] (Eph. 3:14–19)
- 6. “Maria bij het kruis” [Mary at the cross] (John 19:26–27a)
According to a publisher’s advertisement, the first copies were already available toward the end of December 1868.
“Schuldbesef” was also published in De Gids, a Christian weekly printed in Grand Rapids, and subsequently issued as an offprint (see 1898.25). For “De vloek der verstandsrichting,” retitled and adapted to contemporary Dutch, see 2007.02.
The article discusses how the separation of church and state affects the status of church properties. The government had decided to allow the church free management of its possessions. The transitional General Supervisory Board, installed by the government in 1866 for a period of three years, had its own ideas and presented—although without any regulatory authority—an alternative draft resolution (October 12, 1868). The article argues that this draft injured the rights that the government intended to give to congregations.
A review of the effects of Article 23 (see 1867.01), which opposed the orthodox party’s strategy of restoring the church. Kuyper contended that Article 23 could only be considered a transitional measure because it replaced the sovereignty of Christ with popular sovereignty.
Reply to a reader who had written a letter to the editor asking the members of the Union for Christian National Primary Education (founded in 1860) why they opposed public primary schooling when public schools were teaching the great commandment. I. Esser (1818–1885) suggested reprinting this article as a tract so that it might be sent out “by the thousands” (De Heraut, no. 16, April 16, 1869).
Originally an address to a meeting on Christian schooling (Amsterdam, January 25, 1869) that was reworked for publication, this pamphlet puts forward an urgent warning against the Society for Public Welfare (founded in 1784) because of its declining Christian belief and its modernism. The society’s characteristic doctrine of achieving tolerance by neutralizing confessional differences is opposed in this pamphlet by the principle that respect for the convictions of others arises from the firmness of personal conviction.
This letter shares the results of the efforts to reach agreement with like-minded consistories with respect to the question of baptism (see 1868.09). According to the letter, 143 consistories had reported that they shared the Utrecht consistory’s perspective on the baptismal question. The letter then prints a list of sixteen localities in which the consistories had only consented with the standpoint regarding baptism and a list of localities in which the consistories also wished for broader collaboration and consultation. The letter, sent to the sixteen consistories which did not want to enter into closer discussions with Utrecht, concluded with a cordial final sentence expressing regret about that fact.
This letter is directed to the 122 consistories that had voiced their desire to work in closer consultation with one another (cf. 1869.09). The first part of the letter reproduces the list of localities printed in 1869.09. The second part contains, among other things, an invitation and agenda for a meeting in Utrecht on April 28, 1869. Among the agenda items were setting up the Federation of Consistories and establishing its statutes.
The two-page “Concept-Statuten voor den Kerkeraden-Bond” [Draft bylaws for the Federation of Consistories] (Utrecht, Kemink en Zoon) were also enclosed. These bylaws, though undated and not signed, neverthless bear the characteristic signs of Kuyper’s authorship. The Federation of Consistories was founded on April 28, 1869.
Sermon delivered on Good Friday, March 26 in the Jacobikerk at Utrecht, the day after the burial of the Rev. D. Gildemeester (1825–1869), who had been originally scheduled to preach at this service. The sermon is not based on a biblical text. The theme is “the tomb.” The homily was published for the benefit of church social welfare work on behalf of the orphans of the Reformed Church at Utrecht.
An editorial program of principles and goals for a proposed Christian national daily (cf. 1985.03).
While the annual meeting of the Union for Christian National Primary Education was being opened in Utrecht on May 19, 1869, another meeting made the decision in the same city on the same day to circulate a plan for a Christian newspaper among potential readers and financial supporters. The main issues raised in the five pages of this text are, in a nutshell, those which later received broad examination in “Ons program” (see 1879.04).
This item belonged with other pieces to a mailing that was sent to carefully selected recipients to elicit financial support for the new paper. The mailing consisted of: (1) an accompanying letter signed by J.J. Teding van Berkhout, Ja. van Eik, and W. van Oosterwijk Bruyn and dated Amsterdam, May 21, 1869; (2) a confidential, unsigned circular letter “Aan het Nederlandsche volk” [To the Dutch people] with the superscription “Christelijk nationaal dagblad ‘Nederland en Oranje’” [Christian national daily “The Netherlands and the House of Orange”] dated Utrecht, May 19, 1869; and (3) a subscription form toward the estimated ƒ5,000.- of producing a sample run.
According to De Heraut (no. 32, August 11, 1871), 16,000 flyers titled “Vrienden van Nederland en Oranje!” [Friends of the Netherlands and the House of Orange!] were distributed among the participants in the mission festival held at the estate of Houdringen near De Bilt. The flyer advertised a one-year trial subscription for a soon-to-be-published Christian Historical daily (with a Sunday edition). Although this particular initiative for a national Christian newspaper did not get off the ground, three years later these principles and plans came to fruition with the founding of De Standaard (see 1872.02).
In his study “New London on the Rijn as fata morgana: Utrecht 1867–1870,” which was published in his valedictory collection (see 2006.02), J. Vree shows (on pp. 277–280) that Kuyper was the author of this editorial program. The three aforementioned Amsterdam entrepreneurs who backed the new paper softened forceful passages here and there in the text and recast some of the concepts Kuyper used in contemporary Dutch—for example, Kuyper’s favorite term “autonomy” was consistently changed to “independence,” likely thus effacing his fingerprints from the document.
The first contribution is the fifth sketch in the Geschiedenis der Christelijke Kerk in Nederland, in tafereelen. Tweede en laatste deel [The history of the Christian church in the Netherlands, in sketches: Second and final volume], which was published collectively in two volumes and separately in forty-one parts. The sketch describes in popular fashion the beginnings of the Dutch Reformed Church in refugee congregations abroad (cf. 1871.05), narrating its rise and organization, free from government interference, in the Netherlands up to the Synod of Dordrecht (1618/1819).
Although both volumes contain illustrations (for the engravers see 1870.17) and Kuyper had sent an illustration to the publisher, his first sketch was published without illustrations. This sketch, written in Beesd, was published as a part in, or more likely before, 1867.
The second contribution (pp. [87]–113), the sixth sketch in volume two of the Geschiedenis der Christelijke Kerk in Nederland, deals with the formation of the liturgy and the composition of the prayer book of the sixteenth-century Reformed Church in the Netherlands. It starts with the refugee congregation at London, giving a vivid sketch of early Reformed religious life. Kuyper stated in a letter to the editor (see 1887.22) that he had already written this sketch in 1864. However, Kuyper’s memory of dates sometimes proved inaccurate (cf. 1879.11).
Volume two (containing thirteen parts) was published in May 1869. However, in September 1864 the publisher had announced in the twenty-eighth and final installment of the first volume that the second volume would be completed in 1865. It is rather difficult to date the publication in parts of the individual sketches in these volumes. No separate parts have been traced but very likely both sketches were composed during Kuyper’s ministry in Beesd (1863–1867).
Lecture delivered for the Amsterdam department of the Young Men’s Association for the Advancement of Christian Life. This was the final lecture in this association’s series of winter lectures for 1868/1869. The founder and chairman of the association was W. van Oosterwijk Bruyn (1829–1903). According to Kuyper, the curse of modern life consists in its striving for uniformity. True unity is discovered only in Christ. The church and the state have to be freed from false uniformity. By thinking in a confederative way, the church could accept variety in its communities. It is argued, among other things, that the state should allow the colonies to adopt their own methods of administration and that proponents of Christian schools should attack the dominance of state schooling.
Opening speech for the eighth General Meeting of the Union for Christian National Primary Education, delivered in the Domkerk at Utrecht on May 18, 1869. This address lays out a new course for the union. Kuyper appealed to the national conscience about the shortcomings of the state schools, arguing, among other things, that they could not fulfill popular expectations about religiosity, the self-governance of citizens, respect for the freedom of conscience, and the demands of national life. Kuyper argued that since people of every mindset should be free to build up Dutch society, Reformed Christians should reclaim the social influence that belongs to them legally.
The eighth general meeting was held on May 19–20, 1869, under the chairmanship of G. Groen van Prinsterer.
Personal statement on the church inspection at Utrecht in 1869 with the text of the written declaration that Kuyper delivered to the inspectors during their visit. In this article Kuyper corrects a mistaken interpretation of his decision to acquiesce to the Utrecht Consistory’s response to the personal church inspection of 1869. Kuyper says that he made the decision because he was anticipating changes in the regulations for carrying out church inspections.
Kuyper began his impressive fifty-year journalistic career with this issue of the weekly De Heraut. Eene Nederlandsche Stem voor Israëls Koning, het Hoofd der Gemeente (cf. 1871.01). Beginning with the July 9, 1869 issue, De Heraut started publishing in a larger format (56cm.). This change was made possible by the revocation of the newspaper stamp, a fiscal levy on newspapers based on physical proportions, on July 1, 1869.
The inaugural issue of De Heraut [The herald] was published on October 15, 1850. C.A.F. Schwartz (1817–1870), the founder of the paper, moved to Amsterdam in 1849 to begin work as a missionary to the Jews. The paper became a weekly in 1852 and, under the influence of Isaac da Costa (1798–1860), was given the subtitle “A Dutch Voice for Israel’s King, the Head of the Congregation.” In 1864 Schwartz left for England, a move that put the paper in jeopardy. After Schwartz’s death on August 25, 1870, the supporters of De Heraut vowed to keep the weekly paper alive. Kuyper was appointed editor ad interim starting with the October 7, 1870 issue. He no longer dated, signed, or initialled his articles and contributions after he became editor. Cf. 1871.01, 1872.02, 1874.02, and 1877.05.
Circular letter with inquiry form (no. 3), sent by the Executive Commission of the Central Committee concerning Church Properties, which was authorized by the Assembly of Deputies for the Federation of Consistories (see 1869.10) in Utrecht on July 7, 1869. After October 1, 1869, congregations could acquire the right to free and autonomous management of their properties (cf. 1869.02). The circular makes an urgent appeal to congregations to make use of this right. In 1870.27 Kuyper states that he composed this circular letter.
No. 3 (HUA/NHKU 92) was an added form (bifolium, 22cm.) with twelve questions about the local state of affairs with regard to the free management of church properties. The answers provided on this form would make an important contribution toward the establishment on October 1 of a common board for the promotion of free management.
Article dealing with press reactions to the circular letter concerning church property (see 1869.17).
The national budget of 1870 set aside ƒ7,000 for the management of ecclesiastical possessions, despite the fact that the state would be totally freed from any financial responsibility for the church properties on January 1 of that year (cf. 1869.02). The article condemns this measure as an irresponsible attempt by the minister of finance (cf. 1869.21) to favor his party in the church by preserving the centralized unity of the church. See also 1870.13.
P.P. van Bosse (1809–1879), the liberal minister of finance and minister pro tempore of the Department of Reformed Worship (the department had been abolished in 1868), had obtained official recognition from the cabinet for the General Council of Oversight, which Kuyper complained was a private council within the church. While the State Council for Administration had been abolished in principle (cf. 1869.02), a private council was now being acknowledged as an official council and being given the power of the former state council (see also 1870.13). According to Kuyper, such a maneuver was unprincipled. Kuyper also made reference in that connection to his article in the Kerkelijk Weekblad (see 1869.20).
In this open letter, printed on the front page of De Hoop des Vaderlands. Weekblad voor Christelijk-Nationaal Onderwijs [The hope of the fatherland: Weekly paper for Christian-National primary education], numerous suggestions and proposals are put forward about how to elevate the importance and activity of the local auxiliary associations of the Union for Christian National Primary Education (CNS).
Founded in 1860, the CNS was in danger of narrowing its goals to the establishment of Christian schools and losing the focus of its original purpose to advance and propagate the Christian National school. After making Christian schooling possible, many of the governing boards of the local auxiliary associations no longer had a clear vision of what they should be doing. The Central Committee of the CNS published this open letter to assist local auxiliary associations in interpreting their mission and developing more detailed organizational structures.
The correspondence (ACNS, no. 86) makes clear that Kuyper wrote the draft. Groen van Prinsterer had commissioned him to draft the letter at the general meeting of the union (cf. 1869.15). The draft was originally intended as the text of a circular letter which would be sent to the boards of the auxiliary associations of the union. After making a few changes of minor significance, the Central Committee decided to publish this letter instead under the name of its commissioners (J. de Neufville, chairman, and N.M. Feringa, secretary) in De Hoop des Vaderlands. Kuyper very likely drafted and composed many items where his name did not appear or where it simply appeared in the midst of other signatories.
An article about the dependencies still influencing the course of the Anti-Revolutionaries. According to Kuyper, however, the independence of the Anti-Revolutionary school of thought, with its five representatives in the Second Chamber, would soon be made much more manifest.
Commentary on the assertion by I.A. Lamping (1831–1905) that the proponents of Christian schooling were not supporting their conviction financially. In his response, Kuyper cites a newspaper article in which opponents of Christian schools acknowledge that proponents of special schooling have made great monetary sacrifices on behalf of their cause.
A brief, emended commentary about the costs of Christian education.
Commentary on a conflict during the inaugural meeting of the School League held in Utrecht on October 27, 1869. At the meeting Kuyper said, among other things, that the prevailing concept of the state in the Netherlands was satanisch [satanic]. This remark then elicited other forceful comments (cf. 1870.11).
A report (I), explanation (II), and response to a press commentary (III) about the inaugural meeting of the School League, held in Utrecht on October 27, 1869, at a time when more than 100,000 children in the Netherlands (population in 1869: 3,580,000) received no primary education. The meeting was intended to organize communally against this circumstance, which according to prevailing opinion was an enormous failure of the Dutch school system. The Utrecht Auxiliary Association of the Union for Christian National Primary Education had previously considered the situation internally (cf. 1869.33). These deliberations led Kuyper to submit the following amendment to the School League’s mission statement: “Total freedom of school choice shall precede the introduction of mandatory schooling.” Christian parents would otherwise be required to send their children to a public school if there was no Christian school in the surrounding area. Without a guarantee of genuinely free school choice, conscientious objectors could be jailed for their non-compliance. The amendment was rejected. Since participation in the School League was now akin to promoting the abolition of the freedom of conscience, Kuyper and his supporters walked out of the meeting (cf. 1869.33).
Article on changing the electoral law, which hindered minorities from taking part in the governance of the nation (cf. 1894.04).
Kuyper’s reviews of political newspapers, published under the headings “Staatkundige dagbladen” (no. 45), “Staatkundige pers” (nos. 48–49, 53), and “Staatkundige dagbladpers” (no. 52).
Kuyper’s reviews of Christian newspapers, published under the headings “Christelijke weekbladen” (no. 45) and “Christelijke pers” (nos. 47, 49–53). The purpose of this section was to advance the unity of the Protestant Christian press.
Series of four articles on the separation of church and state and the liberation of the church. In his Nederlandsche Gedachten (no. 13, November 27, 1869 and no. 14, December 4, 1869), Groen van Prinsterer called these articles an “excellent explanatory memorandum,” arguing that they were so “masterly” that in his view they deserved to be published separately as a pamphlet.
A short comment on the statement, printed in De Heraut, no. 46, November 12, 1869, by the Rev. Th.H. Nahuys (1836–1915) about the commotion at the meeting of the School League (see 1869.27) and why he did not leave the meeting in protest as Kuyper and others had. In an editorial note after the commentary, Kuyper asks why Nahuys did not attend the meeting of the Auxiliary Association of the Union for Christian National Primary Education, which had been held on October 26, 1869 at Utrecht. The piece concludes with a brief request to the “papers that oppose us” not to leave anything out when reprinting Nahuys’ declaration. The request reflects concern that Nahuys’ decision not to walk out of the meeting had been wrongly construed.
On Oldtown en zijne inwoners, by Harriet Beecher-Stowe, translated into Dutch by P.J. Roode, pastor at Harencarspel (Rotterdam: H. Nijgh, 1869). In this review of Roode’s translation of Oldtown Folks (1869), Kuyper judges that Stowe’s book is not useful for Dutch readers because its description of social and religious life in the American colonies during the War of Independence is too uncritical. Only personal familiarity with Oldtown and its affairs could make up for the book’s lack of conviction and character.
As an example of how necessary the liberation of the church remained, Kuyper wrote this article about what happened at Zevenhoven in the process of calling a minister. The commentary remarks on the capriciousness of the administrators of the Dutch Reformed Church, who had blocked the pastorless congregation of Zevenhoven from calling an orthodox preacher to its pulpit four times by refusing to authorize any of its calls.
On July 9, 1871, Kuyper confirmed the Rev. Th.J. Locher (1831–1882), who had been assistant pastor with H.F. Kohlbrugge (1803–1875) in Elberfeld and later also pastor in Switzerland, as pastor of the Dutch Reformed Congregation at Zevenhoven (cf. 1872.16).
Article on a pamphlet by Junius (pseudonym, very likely for L. van Woudrichem van Vliet, according to note 380 in Kuyper in de kiem—see 2006.02) containing a draft revision of the Education Act. In the article Kuyper remarks that he appreciates getting a contribution from the liberal side, but expresses the opinion that the national desire for freedom and justice has to be awakened before the new law can be amended.
In the wake of recent debates about church affairs in the Second Chamber of the States General, P.P. van Bosse, minister pro tempore of the Department of Reformed Worship (see 1869.21), had been deemed insufficiently acquainted with the history, organization, and situation of the Dutch Reformed Church. In this article Kuyper asserts that Van Bosse’s tenure in office is harming the interests of the church.
An article concerning the ban on discussing the doctrine of immortality in state schools. The minister of internal affairs, C. Fock (1828–1910), had declared that he considered it inappropriate to discuss the doctrine of immortality in public schools.
Kuyper writes about the calling of the state in this article. He disagrees both with the way the state has dealt with the thorny problems of public morality in previous centuries and with the way the modern state addresses such problems. In his view, the state should not function as any kind of moralist, but should rather foster institutions whose officials, proceedings, and measures are tempered by moral character.
1870
The School League was intended as a denominationally independent organization that aimed to counteract school absenteeism. These nine articles are reports relating to its meeting on October 27, 1869 at Utrecht. The first three articles had been published in De Heraut (see 1869.27). With the exception of a few lines on pp. 49–50 (see 1869.33), the remaining six are by authors other than Kuyper.
The meeting of the School League at Utrecht on October 27, 1869 (see 1869.27) had raised the matter of school absenteeism and compulsory school attendance. This article claims that the moral conviction of the Dutch people mandates a school-attendance law that neither forces the compliance of conscientious objectors nor imperils the indigent.
Kuyper’s reviews of Christian newspapers. Subsequent reviews in De Heraut were written by A. Brummelkamp jr. (1839–1919).
Kuyper’s reviews of political newspapers. Subsequent reviews in De Heraut were written by A. Brummelkamp jr.
A policy proposal for like-minded deputies in the classis, which suggests how their actions may be strengthened and made more effective. Kuyper provides suggestions in this article about what to do before, during, and after the meeting of the classis (cf. 1870.18).
A series of three articles on the draft higher education bill of C. Fock (1828–1910), minister of internal affairs, which tacitly put forward a theological faculty oriented toward modern theology. Among other things, the articles claim generally that the church must be freed from the state and specifically that the church requires a “free university” (cf. 1875.12).
Two articles recommending J.J. Teding van Berkhout (1814–1880) as candidate for the Second Chamber of the States General in the electoral district of Amsterdam.
Reply to a letter to the editor written by D. Chantepie de la Saussaye (1818–1874), who stated that he had not used the word misdadig [criminal] publicly (cf. 1870.11). Kuyper writes that Chantepie de la Saussaye is right; someone else had used the incriminating word. In a letter dated Rotterdam, November 13, 1869, however, Chantepie declared that he agreed with the characterization expressed by the word “criminal” at the inaugural meeting of the School League (see 1869.27).
Article on the nursery schools bill of C. Fock, minister of internal affairs. This draft was regarded as a threat to freedom, independent schooling, and the freedom of religion. Recognizing that some legislation is necessary, the article offers a framework for a new draft.
A series of nine articles (for the first article, see 1870.14) on a serious, fundamental dispute between members of the Union for Christian National Primary Education and a faction that resigned from membership. The dispute erupted over the adjectives misdadig [criminal], which Dr. D. Chantepie de la Saussaye was said to have used in public (see 1870.09) and daemonisch [demonic], which Dr. N. Beets (1814–1903) uttered at the inaugural meeting of the School League (cf. 1869.26). Both adjectives had been used to describe the position held by Kuyper, who had advised to comply with the governmental proposal by scrapping the word “Christian” in Article 23 of the Educational Law. According to Kuyper (in the meeting of the School League on October 27, 1969), the reigning concept of the state was satanisch [satanic] in any case (cf. 1869.27). See also 1992.01, appendix 3, pages 725–726.
The second article was misprinted (no. 13, April 1, 1870) and republished preceding the third article. The numbering of the articles is disordered. Article V was not numbered and this was corrected by jumping from article VI to article VIII. The final article was numbered X instead of IX.
This sheet is a call for a public meeting signed by the student E. Barger (1846–1917), secretary of Philistoria. The document includes nine theses by Kuyper on the Christian Historical movement. The theses have to do with what he considered the fundamental starting points in political theory: the Christian principle and the revolutionary principle of 1789. A copy of this notification of the meeting has been preserved.
Philistoria was a debating society at Utrecht for theology and law students involved in the Christian Historical movement (cf. 1992.01, p. 4, note 2). Kuyper was involved in the founding of Philistoria, patronized this student society, and was honorary chairman. The first meeting of the society was held on October 31, 1869.
Comment about the proposed government subsidy of ƒ7,000 for the General Supervisory Board (see 1869.02 and 1869.21). According to Kuyper, the financing of this board is not a matter for the state but for the church (cf. 1869.20).
Reply to the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant (NRC), a prominent liberal daily, on a purported difference of opinion between Groen van Prinsterer and Kuyper. The NRC (no. 78, March 19, 1870) had commented on the first article from 1870.11, which dealt with the serious dispute among the members of the Union for Christian National Primary Education (CNS). The NRC indicated that Kuyper had contradicted Groen van Prinsterer with his article. Indeed, Groen had told the CNS in June 1869 that “independence has been regained, unanimity is now observed.” With a hardly concealed tone of triumph, the NRC concluded by asking, “How can the liberals be asked to present a proposal to overcome the grievances and objections of CNS?”
A favorable review of J. Wolbers, De Protestantsche Militaire Vereeniging: “Vreest God, eert den Koning” te Utrecht. Rede ter opening van het locaal dezer Vereeniging (Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon, 1870). [The Protestant Military Union: “Fear God, Honor the King” at Utrecht. A speech on the occasion of the inauguration of the union hall.] After discussing the speech by J. Wolbers at the opening of a Christian military fellowship home (on February 17, 1870 at Van Wijckskade 88, Utrecht), Kuyper issues an urgent plea that such fellowship homes be founded in other garrison towns.
Draft bylaws for the Association for the Free Management of Church Properties of the Reformed Congregations followed by a short explanation describing how the association came into existence (pp. 4–7). The draft bylaws were composed by B.J.L. baron de Geer van Jutphaas, chairmain of the Executive Commission of the Central Committee concerning Church Properties (see 1869.17). An original draft in Kuyper’s handwriting (KA 180) shows that Kuyper wrote the short explanation. The document, which was sent to all the church trustees who had attended the March 29 meeting described below, is signed by the members of the executive commission, Kuyper included, as well as by the secretary (HUA/NHKU 92). See also 1870.21.
On March 29, 1870, the executive commission convened a meeting with representatives of those church trustees who had voted for free management of church properties. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the draft bylaws that the General Supervisory Board had sent to all the trustees of the Dutch Reformed Church. After having judged these draft bylaws to conflict with the principle of congregational autonomy, the delegates at this meeting founded the Association for the Free Management of Church Properties of the Reformed Congregations. The bylaws were adopted during a meeting of delegates in Utrecht on November 25, 1870. The association was dissolved in June 1889.
The intention behind the Bijbel-album was to publish, in twenty installments and in cooperation with more than fifteen theologians, a history of divine revelation illustrated by forty steel engravings. This first part contains the introduction and two engravings. A prospectus, likely authored by Kuyper, is printed inside the cover.
In the introduction Kuyper asserted the authority of the Scriptures as the Word of God in such an unquestioning way that five contributors withdrew their commitment. Indeed, no subsequent installments of the Bijbel-album were published. Kuyper resigned as editor after consulting with the publisher and the edition was discontinued. Kuyper’s justification for his decision may be read in the preface to 1870.32.
The two steel engravings—Moses looking at the promised land and the capture of Babylon by Cyrus—were drawn by Cassel and engraved by J.F.C. Reckleben and by D.J. Sluyter respectively. The publisher H.C. A Campagne had already used prints of both engravings in a deluxe edition of the Bible intended “for all social classes” and printed in installments from 1863 to 1866. The same engravers also produced the illustrations for both volumes mentioned in connection with 1869.13.
Kuyper sought co-authors for the Bijbel-album in a circular letter dated November 11, 1869. Although no copy of the letter has been discovered, D. Chantepie de la Saussaye makes reference to it in a letter to Kuyper dated December 18, 1869 (KA 118).
Kuyper was the lone author of a similar—but much more prestigious—work, which he successfully saw to publication forty years later (see 1912.13).
Final words of advice, admonition, and instruction to equip delegates for the forthcoming meetings of the classes (cf. 1870.06).
A plea for much more openness, information, and publicity within the church for the benefit of the members of the congregations (cf. 1872.04), accompanied by a critical report on the meeting of the classis in the Domkerk at Utrecht on June 29, 1870.
A brief notice about the goings-on in Benschop, where the district court at Utrecht had judged in favor of the free management of church properties. In this article Kuyper again emphasizes that every congregation can obtain the right to manage its church properties freely.
An admonition to free church properties from the state (cf. 1869.02). This article points out that 500 out of 1,400 congregations already enjoy free (i.e., independent) management of their properties. The draft text of the regulations for the Association for Free Management of Church Properties of the Reformed Congregations, founded at Utrecht on March 29, 1870 (cf. 1870.16), is attached to the article.
A review of J. Westrik’s Konstantinopel, Smyrna, het Suez-kanaal, Jeruzalem (Amsterdam, 1870). Written in a popular and uncomplicated style for the working classes, these reflections on a journey made by a pastor and a merchant are warmly recommended as a specimen of a genre all too often neglected by contemporary authors.
I. Contains a letter from the board of the Central Committee concerning Church Properties (cf. 1869.17) to the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church sitting in session in The Hague. The letter protests the official decision of the synod to delegate its responsibility to the General Supervisory Board, which had been installed by the government.
II. A brief commentary on several long quotations from the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, which surprisingly supported the case for the free management of church properties.
Parting words at Utrecht, based on the text of Revelation 3:11f. In the sermon Kuyper emphasizes that false and true conservatism must be sharply distinguished. False conservatism is devoted to the shell, the external, while true conservatism is devoted to the pearl, the principle, which is life with the risen Christ. The sermon also analyzes false conservatism in the contemporary church.
First sermon preached at Amsterdam, based on the text of Ephesians 3:17f. The terms “rooted” and “grounded” are applied in reference to the essence and form of the church, which can be viewed both as an organism and as an institution. The moderns deny the organic essence of the church, while the irenic do not do sufficient justice to the institutional form of the church. Both aspects belong indispensably together in a church free from state supervision and centralized church administration. Reformed theology demands that churches be self-governing and self-administrating. The preacher also asks the community to give attention to the pressing social questions of the day.
According to the preface, the parting words at Utrecht (see 1870.24) and this first sermon at Amsterdam were deliberately published simultaneously because of their interrelationship. Both deal with topics affecting the contemporary situation of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands and thus complement one another.
The customary words of acknowledgement are also included.
Two articles on the periodical Protestantsche Bijdragen. According to the first article, this periodical (which was published from 1870 to 1874) was keeping silent about G. Groen van Prinsterer’s disagreement with D. Chantepie de la Saussaye and N. Beets. Both articles comment on a piece written by O.W. Star Numan (1840–1899) that had appeared in Protestantsche Bijdragen under the title “De reorganisatie van het Bestuur der Hervormde Kerk” [The reorganization of the administration of the Reformed Church].
This letter reveals Kuyper’s authorship of the circular sent by the executive commission of the Central Committee concerning Church Properties (see 1869.17). Rev. B. Bolleman van der Veen (1818–1892) had objected to this circular and his objection had been published in De Kerkelijke Courant (October 9, 1869—cf. 1937.01, app. 3, p. 373). Kuyper’s letter deals with this objection and with a misunderstanding that had arisen between the two men.
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.
I. “De nieuwe stemming” [The new mood]. This item concerns the defeat of the General Supervisory Board (cf. 1869.02) and the growing influence of the movement for the free management of church properties.
II. “Ds. Bolleman van der Veen ten derden male” [For the third time, Rev. Bolleman van der Veen]. (Cf. 1869.20 and 1870.27.) This item concerns the Open Brief aan den heer A. Kuyper, Theol. Doct. en Predikant te Utrecht van B. Bolleman van der Veen (Leeuwarden, 1870). Kuyper uses this open letter to point out again the significance of the argument over the congregational right to autonomy.
The editor in chief of De Heraut, C. Schwartz (see 1869.16), died two weeks prior to the publication of these two items, which for a long time were to be the final contributions to De Heraut that Kuyper signed and dated. Kuyper was appointed editor ad interim and his articles in De Heraut (with the exception of 1871.06) will accordingly no longer be separately listed in this bibliography.
Six sermons delivered at Amsterdam in 1870, published in six parts with continuous pagination. According to the publisher’s advertisement on the back cover, a new issue would be published every week and it was not possible to purchase individual issues separately.
The sermons were published as follows:
- 1. “De troost der eeuwige verkiezing” [The comfort of eternal election] (Isa. 41:9, 10), published September 1870 (see also 1871.09)
- 2. “Rust der ziel bij de onrust der tijden” [Rest for the soul amidst the unrest of the times] (Ps. 46), published September 1870
- 3. “Het kruis van Christus het levensideaal” [The cross of Christ, the ideal of life] (Gal. 6:14–16), published October 1870
- 4. “De Heere is onze rotssteen” [The Lord is our rock] (Deut. 32:3a, 4a), published November 1870
- 5. “Godsdienst en zedelijkheid” [Religion and morality] (Ezek. 36:25a, 26–27, 31–32), published November 1870
- 6. “Het onbewust adventsgebed” [The unknowing advent prayer] (Mal. 3:1), published December 1870
The introduction of 1870.17 is reprinted with rearranged composition. The preface relates what happened to the planned edition of the Bijbel-album (see 1870.17).
The specifications of this edition are derived from an extensive list of Kuyper’s works in the Studentenalmanak voor het jaar 1902 van het Studentencorps aan de Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam onder de zinspreuk N.D.D.D. (Amsterdam, p. 76), as well as from the title of a series of articles in De Heraut.
Rullmann (RKB 30, pp. 105–106) refers to a series of four articles, titled De Doopskwestie [The Baptism Question], which were supposed to have been reprinted in this brochure from De Heraut 21 (1870), no. 40, October 7, 1870–no. 43, October 28, 1870. But did Rullmann actually have this edition at hand? In the following issues, Kuyper published yet another series of articles about baptism (De Heraut 21 (1870), no. 44, November 4, 1870–no. 46, November 18, 1870). The title of this second series is more elaborate and (apart from the punctuation) conforms entirely with the title of the brochure listed in the almanac.
The title also appears as De Doopskwestie on a handwritten inventory with repeatedly short titles (cf. 1860.01).
This item seems to have been printed but never sold or distributed (cf. 1879.12).
1871
In December 1870 De Heraut was purchased from the Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij [Dutch Steam Press] at Amsterdam by the Heraut Association, which Kuyper and several of his supporters had established expressly for that purpose. The association named Kuyper editor in chief. The first number of 1871 appeared with a new nameplate. The previous subtitle “A Dutch Voice for Israel’s King, the Head of the Congregation” (see 1869.16) was altered and brought into greater conformity with the new objectives of the weekly: “For a Free Church and a Free School in the Free Netherlands.” To the left and right of the title a twofold motto appeared: Israëls Koning, het Hoofd der Gemeente [Israel’s King, the head of the congregation] and Oranje, kerk en vaderland [The House of Orange, church, and fatherland].
The weekly became a daily June 6–12, 1871 in connection with the June 13 elections for the Second Chamber. De Heraut 23 (1872), no. 12, March 22, 1872 was provisionally the final issue. In October 1871 De Heraut had 768 subscribers (KA 185.18).
First volume of the works of the Marnix Society (see 1868.11), containing part 3 of the Registeren ofte Consistoriebouck der Nederduytsche Ghemeynte te Londen [Acts or the consistory book of the Dutch congregation in London]. The Dutch refugee church in London was of great importance in the sixteenth century for the development of Reformed Protestantism in the Netherlands (see 1871.05). It is noteworthy that while part 3 of the protocols runs from November 10, 1569 to September 2, 1571, this edition ends on May 17, 1571. Part 3 was not published in its entirety for budgetary reasons. The financial position of the society was weak due to its low membership. An abbreviated volume was less expensive to publish and could be sent before the end of the year to subscribers who had made their annual contribution. The publication was delayed, however, because four pages (pp. 49–50, 77–78) had to be replaced, reset, reprinted, and glued back in at the last moment. The volume was finally ready on January 10, 1871 and afterwards also separately available at ƒ2.50.
This first volume of the first series of the Werken der Marnix-Vereeniging is the only volume that Kuyper edited. It was transcribed by a copyist in Utrecht and includes an index of personal names. A new and more complete edition of the Kerkeraads-protocollen was edited by A.J. Jelsma and O. Boersma and published under the title Acta van het Consistorie van de Nederlandse gemeente te Londen. 1569–1585 in Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën. Kleine serie 76 (’s-Gravenhage, 1993).
After having spent a month consulting archives and libraries in England (cf. 1922. 03), Kuyper returned at the beginning of August 1867 with a portfolio of original documents for publication by the Marnix Society.
For a history of the Marnix Society see J. Vree’s detailed account entitled “The Marnix-Vereeniging: Abraham Kuyper’s First National Organisation (1868–1889),” which was published in the Dutch Review of Church History, volume 84 (Leiden: 2004, pp. 388–475). J.C. Rullmann has also written about the society (see 1932.02).
The works of the Marnix Society appeared in three series containing sixteen volumes. The print run was 350 for each volume. The copies are bound in a plain grey natural paper cover.
- 1. Kerkeraadsprotocollen der Hollandsche gemeente te Londen, 1569–1571 [The protocols of the consistory of the Dutch congregation in London, 1569–1571]. Published by A. Kuyper, Utrecht: 1870.
- 2. Stukken betreffende de diaconie der vreemdelingen te Emden, 1560–1576 [Items relating to the deaconate for foreigners at Emden, 1560–1576]. Published by J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1876.
- 3. Handelingen van den kerkeraad der Nederlandsche gemeente te Keulen, 1571–1591 [Acts of the consistory of the Dutch congregation at Cologne, 1571–1591]. Published by H.Q. Janssen and J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1881.
- 1–2. Acten van de colloquia der Nederlandsche gemeenten in Engeland, 1575–1624. Followed by: Aanhangsel. Uittreksels uit de acten der volgende colloquia. 1627–1706 [Acts of the colloquia of the Dutch congregations in England, 1575–1624. Appendix. Extracts from the acts of the following colloquia: 1627–1706]. Published by J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1872–1875 (2 parts).
- 3. Acten van classicale en synodale vergaderingen der verstrooide gemeenten in het land van Cleef, Sticht van Keulen en Aken, 1571–1589 [Acts of the classical and the synodical meetings of the dispersed congregations in the land of Cleves, Episcopacy of Cologne, and Aachen, 1571–1589]. Published by H.Q. Janssen and J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1882.
- 4. Acta van de Nederlandsche synoden der zestiende eeuw [Acts of the Dutch synods of the sixteenth century]. Collected and published by F.L. Rutgers, Utrecht: 1889. Another 200 copies were published in 1889 by Martinus Nijhoff, ’s Gravenhage (reprinted, Dordrecht: 1980).
- 1. Gheschiedenissen ende handelingen die voornemelick aengaen de Nederduytsche natie ende gemeynten, wonende in Engelant ende int bysonder tot Londen, vergadert door Symeon Ruytinck, Caesar Calandrinus ende Aemilius van Culenborgh, Dienaren des Godlicken Woords [Histories and acts that relate principally to the Dutch nation and the congregation living in England and in particular at London, collected by Symeon Ruytinck, Caesar Calandrinus, and Aemilius van Culenborgh, pastors]. Published by J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1873 (2 parts).
- 2. Brieven uit onderscheidene kerkelijke archieven [Letters from various church archives]. Collected and published by H.Q. Janssen and J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1877–1878 (2 parts).
- 3. Bescheiden aangaande de Kerkhervorming in Vlaanderen [Documents concerning the reformation of the church in Flanders]. Published by H.Q. Janssen, Utrecht: 1877.
- 4. Brieven uit onderscheidene kerkelijke archieven [Letters from various church archives]. Collected and published by H.Q. Janssen and J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1880.
- 5. Brieven uit onderscheidene kerkelijke archieven [Letters from various church archives]. Collected and published by J.J. van Toorenenbergen, Utrecht: 1882–1885. (3 parts: [.1] 1882, [.2] 1884, and [.3] 1885).
The stock of the Marnix Society was sold in 1889 to Martinus Nijhoff (see 1868.11).
New Year’s Eve sermon on Luke 18:13, delivered in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. The events of the previous year—including, among others, the Franco-German war, the fall of Napoleon III, the fall of Rome, and the consequent end of the papal state and the status of the pope as a temporal authority—are depicted as parables of divine judgment. The preacher also points to the judgment of God upon the spirit of the age.
The sermon went through numerous printings, in part because it was printed from the start as a cheap edition with the possibility, after the first 1,000 copies had been sold, of a discount for those wishing to distribute the sermon freely.
The introduction to a Dutch translation of Zur Arbeiterfrage. Von einem Landpfarrer für Landpfarrer und für Alle welche es lesen wollen [On the social question: from a country parson for country parsons and for anyone who wants to read it], which was originally published in Halle (C.C.M. Pfeffer, 1870, 31 pp.). The author and translator could not be traced.
The central claim of the introduction is that, although the efforts by the Rev. O.G. Heldring and others should be respected, the church must do more than fight against isolated social evils and save individual souls. The church cannot close her eyes to the social question.
A historical sketch of the Dutch refugee congregation at London in 1570–1571, written on the basis of information drawn from the first part of the archival publications of the Marnix Society (see 1871.02). Kuyper’s account of this source was not completely free of the intention of gaining publicity for the Marnix Society and its publications among a broader public. This double issue, which describes two years of the joys and hardships of the congregation, is even introduced with a few lines advertising the benefits of membership (ƒ10.—annually) in the Marnix Society (see 1868.11).
The series Voor drie-honderd jaren [Three hundred years ago] consists of five volumes (1869–1872, 1873/1874) of short monographs about subjects and events related to the Dutch struggle for liberation against Spanish domination and to the Reformation in the Netherlands. The majority of these monographs have to do with the years 1569 to 1572.
The series for 1870–1871 was published in parts and was completed by May 1871. The publisher provided a nice cloth binding with the final installment (orange; lettered in gold and with gilt decorations on front cover and spine; blind tooling on the covers).
Kuyper, who was the editor in chief of De Heraut as well as a candidate for the Second Chamber, convened a meeting on April 18, 1871 between the editorial boards of De Bazuin, De Heraut, De Hoop des Vaderlands, Kerkelijk Weekblad, Wekstem, and De Volksbode. The purpose of the meeting was to reach agreement about a course of action to strengthen the influence of the Christian press in light of the upcoming national elections of June 13. Kuyper put forward a short and pithy three point program: (1) maintain the indepedence of the Christian Historical school of thought; (2) make free schools the rule and state schools the exception; and (3) promote a more democratic electoral system.
The program concluded with a call to readers to send to the editors of their papers the addresses of the chairmen and secretaries of the electoral associations in their electoral districts. The editors at the meeting accepted the proposed program.
According to note 25 on page 66 of 1871.10, Kuyper argued in this pamphlet that the modernists were fostering popular misunderstanding by asserting that they were the true sons of the Reformation—i.e., the true Protestants. In particular, Kuyper directed his argument against Een Protestant, no. 9, in the series Stichtelijke blaadjes [Devotional tracts] (Amsterdam: T. Kouwenaar, [1870], 4 pp., 22cm.—price ƒ0.01). These tracts were published by the Association for the Distribution of Devotional Tracts, founded on April 9, 1869, and were intended to propagate the modernist perspective in theology.
In De Heraut 21, no. 50, December 16, 1870, the publisher reports that a subscription form to Anti-moderne Blaadjes has been distributed and that twenty-four issues, each with four to eight pages, will appear yearly. For ƒ1.50 per year, subscribers would receive three copies of pamphlets with four pages and two copies of pamphlets with eight pages. A reduction in price would be extended to those who purchased greater quantities. In De Heraut, no. 20, May 17, 1871, Kuyper reports the receipt of “a half-dozen pamphlets from the series that has been appearing for some time in opposition to the pamphlets of the moderns.”
In this letter Kuyper reports to G. Groen van Prinsterer that he does not have any objection to being put forward as a candidate for the Second Chamber in the election slated for June 13, 1871, but that for many reasons he must defer any decision actually to become a member of Parliament until after he has been elected. Kuyper requests him to publish this letter in the next issue of Nederlandsche Gedachten.
This sermon followed Kuyper’s inaugural sermon at Amsterdam and was also published in two issues of a South African church newsletter.
De Gereformeerde Kerkbode was an independent periodical published on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa by the Rev. A. Faure (1795–1875), who also served for many years as its editor in chief. In 1880 De Gereformeerde Kerkbode was incorporated into De Christen (see 1882.08), a new independent paper, as a section for official notices.
A lecture on modernism in the church, held in several Dutch cities (Zwolle, Kampen, Amsterdam, The Hague, and Dordrecht) during the months of March and April 1871. The lecture severely criticizes theological liberalism and states that while the phenomenon of modernism is both fascinating and ineluctable, it is nevertheless unreal. It is a fata morgana that does not reflect the reality of religion, morality, theology, or the church. While modernists permit the Word of God only to shimmer in ethereal visions, Christians hold that the Word of God became flesh and lived among us. Sixty explanatory notes in small type (pp. [57]–76) were added to the lecture.
Kuyper later reflected on this lecture in De Heraut, no. 906, May 5, 1895.
This article was announced in 1871.10 (see note 23 on p. 66) and is a response to an article by Dr. A. Pierson (1831–1896) in De Gids 35 (= Series 3, vol. 9), part 2, June 1871 (pp. [453]–487), entitled “Een keerpunt in de wijsgerige ontwikkeling” [A turning point in the development of philosophy], which rejected the fashionable deterministic conception of the world. Pierson’s astonishing acknowledgment of a moral world order is the perel [pearl]. The schelp [shell] is his introductory empirical-dialectical argument, which does not accommodate the pearl and into which the pearl cannot be fitted without damage. Kuyper concludes that Dr. A. Pierson, while a modernist himself, points in a direction leading away from modernism.
A motivational talk held on September 6, 1871 in the Schotsche Zendingskerk in Amsterdam on the occasion of the eleventh anniversary of the Dutch Reformed Missions League. The address, which is based on John 20:21b, focuses on three questions. First, who has the authority to send missionaries? Second, who must be sent? Finally, what is the purpose of missions? The address argues against missions by missionary societies and for missions by Christian congregations. (On May 31, 1894 the missionary work of the league was delegated to the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands.)
In a notice to the reader, Kuyper makes clear that this publication is not a verbatim report, but stems from the detailed notes of a reporter who attended the meeting. The profits from the publication were donated to the Dutch Reformed Missions League.
1872
New Year’s Eve sermon on Matthew 4:17b, delivered in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Written against the background of the bloody Paris Commune, the wars, and the remarkable peace accords of 1871, the sermon addresses three main points: (1) false freedom, (2) the Spirit from the depths, and (3) the signs of God’s judgment.
Like 1871.03, this sermon was published in a cheap edition with the possibility of a high-volume discount for the purpose of free distribution (10 copies, ƒ0.60).
After numerous attempts by several parties—especially C. Schwartz, who founded De Heraut in 1850—to found a Protestant Christian political newspaper (see 1869.12), Kuyper succeeded on April 1, 1872 with the publication of De Standaard. In the first issue, the editor expressly took note of the fact that the new paper was commencing publication on precisely the same day that the Dutch struggle for independence had begun 300 years earlier with the capture of Den Briel by the Geuzen [Sea Beggars].
De Heraut continued to be published as an ecclesiastical weekly under the new name De Standaard. Zondagsnummer [The Standard: Sunday Edition], which likewise first appeared on April 1, 1872 and was published from April 5, 1874 to May 27, 1877 under the name Zondagsblad van De Standaard. Beginning on December 7, 1877, this Zondagsblad continued to be published as De Heraut (see 1877.05).
De Standaard can be considered a rebirth of Mr. G. Groen van Prinsterer’s daily De Nederlander (no. 1, July 1, 1850–no. 1538, June 29, 1855). Alongside the daily leading articles, article series, and other contributions, Kuyper also wrote the so-called “three stars,” or “asterisms,” which were short editorials or commentaries about contemporary events. An idea taken from the “occasional notes” in British newspapers (or from G. Groen van Prinsterer), these asterisms were printed in columns and named after the three asterisks printed next to heading of the column. Kuyper penned approximately 16,800 asterisms for De Standaard. The first asterism marked as such appeared on March 1, 1875 and the last on December 18, 1919, by which time he had already ceased making regular contributions for health reasons (cf. 1989.01). The final asterism deals respectfully with a fellow journalist, L.J. Plemp van Duiveland, chairman (1911–1920) of the Dutch Association of Journalists and editor in chief of the Nieuwe Courant, who had also had to put aside his work for health-related reasons. The first and the final of these columns were reprinted in 1922.01 and were also included among the 429 asterisms reprinted in 1932.08.
The paper began printing its title line in blackletter on April 1, 1889. This blackletter format stayed in place up to and including the final issue—De Standaard 73 (1944/1945) no. 21959, December 15, 1944. For special issues of De Standaard, see 1922.01 and 1937.05; for reprints (including a reprint of the first issue), see 1972.01. Concerning the numbering of the volumes, see 1911.07.
Apart from a few interruptions, Kuyper remained the editor in chief of De Standaard until November 9, 1920. De Standaard was not a financial success during the period of Kuyper’s ownership (1887–1916) and several infusions of capital were required to keep it afloat over the years. Several facts and figures relating to the paper are given below.
| Circulation: | |
| 1882 | 2,500 |
| 1911 | 3,700 |
| 1918 | 11,500 |
| 1937 | 24,000 |
| 1940 | 26,240 |
| 1943 | 34,091 |
| 1944 | 19,325 |
| Owner of De Standaard: | |
| 1872–1874 | The Heraut Association (in 1874 The Heraut Association retained ownership of the Zondagsblad) |
| 1874–1880 | De Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij (from October 1874, the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij) |
| 1880–1887 | J.H. Kruyt |
| 1887–1916 | A. Kuyper |
| 1916–1944 | N.V. De Standaard |
| Editor in chief: | |
| April 1, 1872–November 9, 1920 | Dr. A. Kuyper |
| July 14, 1927–October 1, 1939 | Dr. H. Colijn (who subsequently served as the chief political editor from October 2, 1939—August 29, 1940 and then as the politically responsible editor in chief from August 30, 1940–February 5, 1941) |
| May 8, 1941–December 15, 1944 | T. Cnossen and then H. Burger |
| Publisher: | |
| 1872–1874 | H. de Hoogh & Co. |
| 1874–1887 | J.H. Kruyt |
| 1887–1897 | J.A. Wormser |
| 1898–1907 | (N.V.) Boekh. vh Höveker & Wormser |
| 1907–1916 | J.W. Reese en R.C. Verweijck |
| 1916–1944 | N.V. De Standaarddrukkerij |
| Printer: | |
| 1872–1874 | De Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij |
| 1874–1893 | Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij |
| 1894–1898 | Electrische Drukkerij voorheen J.J. Arnd & Zonen |
| 1898–1913 | Fa. De Roever Kröber & Bakels |
| 1913–1944 | N.V. De Standaarddrukkerij |
| Format: | ||
| 1872–1873 | 48cm. | |
| 1873–1903 | 54cm. | |
| 1903–1944 | 60cm. | Already reduced to a single issue per week due to wartime rationing, the final issue (vol. 73, no. 21959) appeared on December 15, 1944. On May 5, 1945, the first issue of the newspaper Trouw (previously distributed through an underground network) was printed on the presses of the suspended De Standaard. The print run of Trouw amounted to 312,650 by September 1945. An attempt to revive De Standaard after World War II as a weekly paper with the subtitle Anti-Revol. politiek-cultureel weekblad [Anti-revolutionary political-cultural weekly] (editor in chief: T. Cnossen) lasted from November 30, 1946 (73 [1946], no. 21960) to July 26, 1947 (74 [1947], no. 21992). |
| Subscription rate: | |||||||
| 1872 | quarterly | subscription | ƒ2.27 5, | postage- | paid | ƒ2.75 | (incl. Zondagsnummer) |
| 1873 | ,, | ,, | ƒ2.60, | ,, | ,, | ƒ2.95 | (incl. Zondagsnummer) |
| 1874–1918 | ,, | ,, | ƒ2.50, | ,, | ,, | ƒ2.90 | |
| 1874–1877 | ,, | ,, | incl. Zondagsblad, postage paid ƒ3.20. | ||||
| ,, | ,, | only to the Zondagsblad, postage-paid: ƒ2.- | |||||
| 1918–1919 | ,, | ,, | ƒ2.75, | postage- | paid | ƒ3.15 | |
| 1920 | ,, | ,, | ƒ3.05, | postage- | paid | ƒ3.45 |
A summary—really a verbatim report—of an address that was delivered in abbreviated form in the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam on the occasion of 19th General Assembly of the Union of Christian School Teachers in the Netherlands. The address was delivered in abbreviated form because the meeting had threatened to overrun its schedule. In the address Kuyper contends that the “Wilhelmus” (which would be recognized as the official Dutch national anthem in 1932) could serve as a source of inspiration for both citizens and teachers in the struggle for the preservation of Christendom in the state and schools. He announces that a gathering not only of primary school teachers but also of secondary school teachers and college professors might take place soon as a consequence of this struggle. (See also “Ons Wilhelmus” in De Standaard, no. 621, April 6/7, 1874.)
This item was later repeatedly published, and once again shortened, in anthologies for Christian primary education—e.g. fifty years later in 1922 (and in the second edition of 1929) in P. de Zeeuw JGzn., Uit ’s lands historieblaân. Geschiedkundig leesboek voor de hoogste klassen der lagere school en laagste klassen der U.L.O.-scholen met den Bijbel. II. (Den Haag/Gouda) and in P. den Boer en J.C. de Koning, Leven. Leesboek voor de Scholen met den Bijbel. IX. (Rijswijk, 1922; fifth printing, 1949).
A detailed sample issue for a church newsletter for the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam. The draft is ambitious. A devotional is printed on the front page (by A. Monod, 1802–1856). A listing of all the worship services of the sixteen Protestant churches in Amsterdam is printed on the second page along with a schedule of services of worship for children and Sunday schools, as well as the meeting times of various Christian organizations. On the third and fourth pages there are wide-ranging annoucements from Christian choir associations, confirmation classes, and consistories up to and including the higher church administration. Finally, the draft includes empty space for advertisements (GAA 376).
Kuyper had already put forward a reasoned appeal for openness and freedom of information within the church in 1870, arguing that “publication must more and more become a catchword within the church” (see 1870.19). In this case, however, the draft remained just a draft. Kuyper reported in De Heraut, no. 786, January 15, 1893 that the proposal had not succeeded because potential contributors to the newsletter were contractually obligated to the Dominees briefje [Pastors’ note]—an existing publication listing preaching engagements (published by J.H. Kruyt, Amsterdam).
The first part of a collection of six biblical-theological devotional studies, each of which sets out from a brief biblical citation. This first part deals with the “name” in Holy Scripture (Micah 6:9). Parts 1–4 are reprinted from the Bible studies first published in De Heraut after Kuyper had become its editor in chief ad interim in October 1870. (Kuyper was officially appointed to that position by the Heraut Association on December 15, 1870.)
Four parts, including one double issue, would follow. See 1873.06 regarding the origin of the reprinted articles.
These official proceedings of the Special Consistory of Amsterdam and of the higher church administration have to do with the decision of the Special Consistory on November 23, 1871 to uphold the confession of the church. The majority of the consistory believed that one of its responsibilities was guarding against doctrinal deviation on the part of those wishing to be admitted to congregational membership by confirmation (cf. 1886.01). The Special Consistory had resolved to print all the items that had been exchanged with church officials in reference to the question and to send these documents without charge to enfranchised members of the congregation. This publication and 1872.10 both relate to 1872.07.
The publication was originally included in Rullmann’s bibliography as no. 44 (see De Reformatie 2 [1921/1922], no. 48, September 1, 1922), but it was omitted from 1923.07.
On March 27, 1872, seventeen elders from the Amsterdam Consistory sent a circular letter to the members of the Reformed Congregation in Amsterdam, protesting against modernism in preaching. They declared that insofar as their office permitted they would no longer attend services of word and sacrament led by modernists. The objections that G.H. Kuiper and his 1,322 supporters (1,077 male and 245 female signatories) subsequently raised against these elders are examined and refuted with documentary evidence in this memorandum, which was conceived by Kuyper and sent to G.H. Kuiper and his followers. The names of all the protesting members of the congregation who had made themselves known and to whom this memorandum was directed were printed in three columns on pages 14–25.
Reprinted articles that had appeared in De Standaard under the titles “De martelaren van de Bartholomeusnacht 24 Augustus 1572” [The martyrs of St. Bartholomew’s Eve August 24, 1572] (De Standaard, no. 123, August 24, 1872) and “Rome en de Bartholomeusnacht, I–V” [Rome and St. Bartholomew’s Eve] (De Standaard, no. 129, August 31, 1872–no. 136 September 9, 1872).
After the appearance of the August 24 article in De Standaard, the Roman Catholic newspaper De Maasbode (no. 534, August 27, 1872) had asserted that historical evidence had acquitted Rome of any guilt for the St. Bartholomew’s Eve massacre of August 24, 1572. According to De Maasbode, “none of the opponents of the Roman Catholic Church” had dared to publish anything on the three hundredth anniversary of the massacre except for De Standaard. Moreover, De Maasbode claimed that the memorial published in De Standaard was nothing more than a string of absurdities. The five articles subsequently published in De Standaard review the historical evidence and expressly refute this opinion.
As of 1872 the situation with respect to the management of church property was still rather unclear in Amsterdam. Therefore, Kuyper intervened in September with a proposal and three questions that were accepted by the General Consistory. Kuyper was also invited to take part in the committee that would advise the consistory about the management of their church property. Within a month the consistory received a report from this committee (GAA 376/48) with a summary of eleven findings. Kuyper signed on behalf of the committee and also acted as its reporter. Upon review, the report was returned to the committee for reconsideration of its legality. This decision resulted in the issuing of a second report (see 1873.02).
Proceedings supplementing 1872.06 together with proceedings relating to a matter concerning an instructor of religion, Mrs. C. Mouris, who opposed regulations enacted by the Board of Oversight for Religious Instruction on January 4, 1871. These regulations stipulated that the biblical narratives must be related just as they appear in the Old and New Testaments and that teachers may not present materials that conflict with the Holy Scripture. Mouris did not receive the annual extension of her contract in January 1872. Internally divided over this affair, the Consistory of Amsterdam appealed to the higher church authorities.
A nine-article set of statutes for a new association of members of the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation in Amsterdam. Beraad [Consultation] was a coalition within the Amsterdam Consistory that met in advance of consistory meetings to discuss a common line of action. Membership was open to anyone prepared to declare that he would “maintain the congregation for the gospel” in conflicts with the church authorities. The statutes imposed fines on those who missed meetings of Beraad and even upon those who arrived late. The statutes also required members to keep discussions secret when necessary. The statutes were not signed by Kuyper, but by the secretary of the eight-member commission that organized and led the association.
Eensgezindheid [Unanimity] (cf. 1873.04), a similar minority association of orthodox church officials in the General Consistory which had already existed for many years, was abolished after the founding of Beraad. While the purpose of Eensgezindheid had simply been to afford its members the opportunity to advise one another in advance about items that appeared on the agenda of the consistory, Beraad required its members to commit to common strategies and a united course of action in the meetings of the General Consistory. The question of 1872.06 functioned immediately as a test case for the association.
A practical list of over four hundred first lines of metrical psalms in chronological order, with a short introductory note by Kuyper. Originally printed but not published, it was subsequently sold publicly at the request of the printer. The description is taken from an advertisement in De Standaard, no. 216, December 11, 1872.
A Christmas meditation on Jeremiah 18:14 in the illustrated monthly De Zaaier [The Sower].
German translation of 1871.10, but shorn of its explanatory notes. In the introduction C.J. Riggenbach (1818–1890), professor of New Testament in Basel, first presents Kuyper to his Swiss readers and then clarifies several passages that pertain to internal Dutch affairs. Riggenbach was also the author of Der heutige Rationalismus, besonders in der deutschen Schweiz (Basel, 1862), of which a Dutch translation appeared in the same year.
According to the title page, the translator regarded this lecture as a counterbalance to the contemporary mood in Switzerland. The unknown translator may perhaps have been the Rev. Th.J. Locher. The translation was published in Zürich. Locher was born in Canton Zürich and was pastor in Uitikon on the Albis—three miles from Zürich—before he was installed by Kuyper as pastor in Zevenhoven, the Netherlands (see 1869.35). Locher might also have belonged to a small circle of Kohlbruggian pastors in the Zürich area whom Kuyper visited toward the end of April 1871. In any case, the correspondence (KA 206) definitely makes clear that Kuyper was in the midst of preparing 1871.10 for press (most likely in the German version) during this visit to Switzerland.
A reprint of four leading articles dealing with the close of the gospel in Matth. 28:29 and the baptism formula. The series was originally entitled De spitse der openbaring [The spearhead of revelation], and published in De Standaard. Zondagsnummer [The Standard: Sunday edition [1, (1872)], no. 11, June 9, 1872—no. 14, June 30, 1872. The articles were also reissued as the 6th series in 1873.06.
The reprint of the four articles (pp. 5–22) was published by order of Het bestuur der Inwendige Zendingsvereeniging te Middelburg [The Board of the Home Mission Association at Middelburg]. The Board exchanged the original title of the four article series for an appellant address. The reprint is dedicated (p. [2]) to the only modernist pastor in Middelburg, Rev. E.J.W. Koch (1828–1895) and to his modernist sympathizers.
At stake was a protest against the tendency of modernist pastors to baptize “to the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” or “to faith, hope and love”, instead of the classic formula which reads “in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” In 1870 the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church decided to leave free the liturgical use of the baptismal formula.
1873
In this second edition of 1872.11, the consistory decided to omit the names of the 1,322 signatories who supported G.H. Kuiper and his fellow champions of modernism against the seventeen elders. By resetting the text and printing on cheaper stock, the publisher was able to price the second edition more cheaply than the first. Cf. 1884.06 for this publication strategy.
Report in substitution for 1872.09, signed by Kuyper, who was also the reporter. The purpose of this second report and its three appendices (GAA 376/49) was to present the General Consistory with statutes allowing for the good governance of the church properties of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam and for the protection of their free management. Having obtained legal counsel about the matter (app. 1), the reporting committee offers recommendations to the consistory regarding the alteration of the existing statutes (app. 2). The report also recommends eleven resolutions that the consistory should make after it accepts the conclusions of the report. In the third appendix, the old statutes and a draft of the proposed new statutes are printed in parallel columns.
The redrafted version of this report was accepted with changes during the meeting of the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam and subsequently presented to the Commission for Church Buildings.
A sermon delivered on the occasion of the installation of Ph.S. van Ronkel (1829–1890) in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam on Sunday, March 23. Using the text of 2Corinthians 3:17b, the sermon describes the process by which freedom comes to fruition in society, church, and ministry. According to Kuyper, who holds up the United States—that “golden land”—as a model, social freedom arises from the adherence of Christians to the spirit of Christ. Moreover, the freedom of the church demands that it be independent from both the state and the national church (again, the United States points the way forward). As for the freedom of the ministry, pastors must have the liberty to study as they see fit and to serve congregations that share their faith.
The final two pages contain four notes. Two notes make it clear that A. de Tocqueville’s (1805–1859) observations on civil religion in La démocratie en Amérique (published between 1835 and 1840) served as an inspiration for this sermon. The notes conclude with a brief personal address to Ph.S. van Ronkel, “a man of learning and a kindred spirit.”
An open letter to J.H. van der Linden, member of the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation at Amsterdam and former leader of Eensgezindheid, concerning his disapproving remarks in the March issue of the same journal about the way in which the association Beraad was founded (see 1872.12). The epistolary form enabled Kuyper to write in a more personal and openhearted way both about the matter in question and about related matters such as his efforts toward a solution of the “church question,” his attitude toward attacks on his character in the press, and his polemical exchange with J.H. Gunning jr. over the interpretation of Scripture. Gunning reacted to the polemic in this open letter with the brochure De Heilige Schrift, Gods Woord. Antwoord aan Dr. A. Kuyper op zijn “Confidentie” [The Holy Scripture, God’s Word. Answer to Dr. A. Kuyper’s “Confidentially”] (Amsterdam: Höveker & Zoon, 1873).
The publication deadline prevented Kuyper from getting everything off his chest, so he left the letter unfinished. The second half of the letter appeared in May 1873 (see 1873.05).
The first part is an offprint of 1873.04. In the second part, Kuyper claims that the future of the church in the Netherlands is his dearest concern. He elucidates this concern, first, by describing where his love for the church came from, second, by explaining what justifies that love, and finally, by indicating where that love is leading him. The epistolary essay testifies to the author’s personal ideals and aspirations for the reformation of the Dutch Reformed Church. The letter also resembles a conversion narrative insofar as the author recounts God’s miraculous providential guidance of his life.
The cover and the title page carry the author’s name and both parts of the essay are signed “Q.N.” [Quem Novisti]. Kuyper had signed 1873.04 with his own name.
A collection of six biblical-theological studies in five parts (the fifth and sixth studies were published in one part). Subtitles were added to each of the six series of numbered articles taken from De Heraut and the Sunday edition of De Standaard.
- 1. De “Naam” in de H. Schrift [The Name in Holy Scripture], originally published in: De Heraut 21 (1870), no. 40, October 7, 1870–no. 43, October 28, 1870; no. 47, November 25, 1870–no. 50, December 10, 1870.
- 2. Heilsfeit en heilswoord [Deed of salvation and word of salvation], originally published in: De Heraut 22 (1871), no. 2, January 13, 1871–no. 13, March 31, 1871.
- 3. Heiligen [To sanctify]. In: De Heraut 22 (1871), no. 23, June 8, 1871–no. 24, June 16, 1871–no. 31, August 4, 1871; no. 33, August 18, 1871–no. 39, September 29, 1871.
- 4. Welbehagen en ontferming [Good will and compassion], originally published in: De Heraut 22 (1871), no. 46, November 17, 1871–23 (1872), no. 7, February 16, 1872.
- 5. Thabor [Mount Tabor], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 1, April 1, 1872–no. 10, June 2, 1872.
- 6. De spitse der Openbaring [The spearhead of revelation], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 11, June 9, 1872–no. 14, June 30, 1872.
The sixth series of these biblical-theological studies was also published in 1872.17.
A sermon on Ephesians 4:13a, delivered on the occasion of the installation of Rev. P. van Son (1838–1919) in the Nieuwe Kerk at Amsterdam on August 31, 1873. According to Kuyper, the church will not achieve full unity until the Lord of the church returns in glory. The history of the church shows that enforcing uniformity on its distinct forms cannot produce true unity. Unity can only come about when every form of the church has the freedom to develop its own essence. The biblical paradox “whosoever shall lose his life … the same shall save it” thus also applies to the quest for the unity of the church.
According to a note on the back cover, this sermon was written down from memory a week after it was delivered. In general, Kuyper objected to reading from a manuscript when he preached (cf. 1909.27); instead, he typically memorized his sermons. He was in the custom, however, of writing down sermons that he gave on special occasions.
This is the final sermon that appeared in print while Kuyper was a working pastor. Kuyper delivered his final sermon as an emeritus pastor on April 30, 1899 during the installation service for his son, Abraham Kuyper jr. (see 1979.05), at the Gereformeerde Kerk of Makkum and Cornwerd.
A sermon on Ecclesiastes 12:5, delivered in the Nieuwe Kerk on Monday, August 18, 1873 (at least according to the title page) and subsequently written down from memory (cf. 1873.07). The sermon deals with the meaning of family life at home. On October 29, 1872, his thirty-fifth birthday, Kuyper had received a house from his friends as a present. His expressions of spiritual gratitude for this gift form the content of this sermon. After the completion of renovations, he and his family took up residence in their new home in May 1873. The house had a stone plaque with the name De Safyrberg [The Mount of Sapphire]. The address of the house was at that time IJgracht U 28, Amsterdam; it later became Prins Hendrikkade 183, Amsterdam. The house was torn down during the construction of the IJ tunnel and the plaque was set in the facade of the Amsterdam Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 24–26.
Printed on heavy stock with a typeface similar to that of 1880.09, this limited, large-format edition of the sermon, which Kuyper personally signed and dated on October 24, 1873, includes a special dedication to the 190 friends who had given the house the year before. Each of these friends received a copy of this lovely presentation edition, which is also notable for its colorful cover depicting a cross in a doorway. The sermon text is printed above the cross and the words from Isaiah 54:11c, also from the Dutch Authorized Version of 1637, are printed underneath: “I shall lay thy foundations with sapphires.”
Three folio pages containing a detailed proposal in twenty-six articles for the formation of parishes in the 145,000-member Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam. The proposal, addressed to the Special Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation, suggests establishing two orthodox parishes, two modern parishes, and one parish for those who preferred neither the orthodox nor the modern parishes. Church properties must be fairly distributed among the parishes and each parish must be accorded significant freedom and autonomy. The proposal also offers eleven recommendations and five resolutions.
The piece is not only about church politics; it also has clear pastoral intentions. It was read at the consistory on December 29, 1873 and then put into print for all the officers of the Dutch Reformed Congregation in Amsterdam. Cf. 1874.01.
1874
Proposal advising, in connection with 1873.10, that the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation at Amsterdam apply to the synod for a greater degree of congregational autonomy (KA 180). Only if the synod passed such a motion would consistories have the opportunity to align their congregational organization with the specific desires of their congregants.
The synod took the question under consideration but subsequently let the matter drop. The question of congregational autonomy remained provisionally open.
In 1874 the Heraut Association transferred the ownership of De Standaard to the Nederlandsche Stoomdrukkerij [Dutch Steam Press] at Amsterdam. The Sunday edition of the paper was subsequently published under the name Zondagsblad van De Standaard (cf. 1872.02). It was possible to take out an independent subscription to this ecclesiastical paper.
Due to illness, Kuyper (then editor in chief of De Standaard) was temporarily replaced as editor of the Zondagsblad from February 13, 1876 to May 27, 1877. When he returned, he expressed his desire to make the two papers entirely independent from one another in the interest of journalistic clarity. As a result, Zondagsblad van De Standaard 6 (1877), no. 165, May 27, 1877 was the final issue of this weekly, which from December 7, 1877 on was published as De Heraut (see 1877.05).
When ownership of De Standaard was transferred to the Dutch Steam Press, J.H. Kruyt (1839–1898) became the publisher of De Standaard. Kuyper was apparently prompted by these events to change publishers himself. Whereas since 1869 he had published primarily with H. de Hoogh in Amsterdam (until April 1874 the publisher of De Standaard and its Sunday edition), from this point up until 1887 he tried to publish as many of his works as possible with J.H. Kruyt. Cf. 1886.14 and 1907.22.
After being elected by the chief electoral district of Gouda during the second round of parliamentary elections on January 20, 1874, Kuyper took the oath of office as a member of Parliament on March 20, 1874. His first speeches were delivered on April 17 and 18, 1874 when the session was in committee. These speeches, remarkable for a political novice, were first published seven years later (see 1881.06) and again in 1890.06 (I.1–2).
Kuyper delivered his first public addresses in the Second Chamber of the States General on April 29 (pp. 1347–1352), May 1 (pp. 1382–1384), May 2 (pp. 1390–1392), and May 4, 1874 (pp. 1412–1416) in response to an initiative by Minister S. van Houten concerning child labor. It had come to the attention of Parliament that seven-year-old children were working in factories for eighty-five hours or more per week. Kuyper agreed with the idea behind the proposed law against such practices but not with its execution. He contended that the issue did not have to do with employee regulations but with the protection of children. At the same time, he appealed for a code of labor. He withdrew an amendment to this bill after a reply (p. 1419). On May 5, he again withdrew an amendment to this bill (p. 1437). His final contribution to the parliamentary debate of this period took place during the December 16, 1875 session. Kuyper resigned his membership in Parliament on July 1, 1877 (see 1875.08).
The title of this address was taken from G. Groen van Prinsterer (cf. Nederlandsche Gedachten, series 2, IV, no. 26, October 22, 1873, p. 203, and no. 50, March 19, 1874, p. 399). The speaker’s point of departure is that it was not the French Revolution and its principle of popular sovereignty but the Reformation and its respect for the sovereignty of God that had brought true freedom to the masses. The historical course of the “red thread” of freedom is traced from Geneva, through the Netherlands and England, to the United States and evaluated in a reverse historical order. The lecture begins with the United States (section 1), goes back to seventeenth-century England (section 2), then to sixteenth-century France and the Huguenots (section 3), and ends with Beza and Calvin (section 4). According to Kuyper, what came to pass in the United States had already been sketched out by Beza and Calvin.
In a prefatory remark, the author expressly declares that he had delivered this lecture far prior to his electoral campaign and that therefore it should not be looked upon as a political manifesto for his activities in the Second Chamber.
Ten pages of notes are added to this edition. The second printing appeared fourteen days after the first.
Kuyper had already delivered the lecture to the students of the University of Utrecht, the city of his previous pastorate, in November 1873. He also delivered it to his alma mater, the University of Leiden, on March 4, 1874, and to the students of the Theological Seminary of Kampen on March 24. He continued to lecture before popular audiences in several cities, including Gouda, which had elected Kuyper to the Second Chamber (see 1874.03). Kuyper returned to Leiden on November 4, 1874 at the request of the Debating Society of Minerva to participate in a debate about this address. The debate concluded with a second round on November 16. The student Th. Heemskerk, subsequently prime minister (1908–1913), served as his opponent in both debates.
Apart from the correction of a few errors and new pagination, an unaltered printing of 1874.04.
An article reprinted from the Zondagsblad van De Standaard, no. 25, September 20, 1874, published at the initiative of the Dutch Association of Friends of the Truth for the Maintenance of the Doctrine and the Rights of the Reformed Church (cf. 1879.09). The article gives advice on the subject of congregational autonomy. Among other things, the author indicates eight consequences of congregational autonomy, sometimes breaking down his points with subpoints in order to be more precise.
Introduced (p. 1) by H.J. Dibbetz (president) and four other members of the administrative commission of the Friends of the Truth (HUA/NHKU 93), this item provides a more precise definition of what Kuyper understood by congregational autonomy at a time when the centralized administration of the church had come to stand in contradiction to its presbyterian origins.
The twelfth annual meeting of the Friends of the Truth on May 27, 1874, which Kuyper attended, gave its administrative commission instructions to promote the essential autonomy of its congregations in oral and written communications. At the subsequent annual meeting on April 14, 1875, the commission reported that it had sent, with Kuyper’s permission, an article reprinted from the Zondagsblad van De Standaard both to their departments and to the 1,337 consistories of the Dutch Reformed Church (cf. Verslag van de dertiende Algemeene Vergadering der Nederlandsche Vereeniging Vrienden der Waarheid, tot Handhaving van de Leer en de Rechten der Gereformeerde Kerk, Amsterdam 1875, pp. 8–9).
Draft platform for members of Parliament sympathetic to the Anti-Revolutionary movement. Kuyper first discussed this platform with the parliamentarians I.L. Cremer van den Berch van Heemstede (1811–1879), J. Messchert van Vollenhoven (1812–1881), J.W. van Loon (1816–1876), and J.Ph.J.A. van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1819–1894). The draft was adopted with only a few changes.
A printed version of the revised draft platform—along with a cover letter signed by Kuyper and the aforementioned members of Parliament—was sent to the members of the Second Chamber of the States General who were taking part in a conference about the Christian Historical movement. The cover letter invites the recipients to Kuyper’s home in The Hague for a “definite settlement” of the draft. After discussing the revised draft platform, the majority of the Christian Historical members of Parliament were disinclined to sign on, which frustrated the first step toward tightening their association and forming a political party. For the next step toward the creation of a political party, see 1878.01.
A copy of the cover letter and the two drafts of the platform have been preserved in the archives of Groen van Prinsterer (NA 2.21.006.43, inv. no. 112).
Various speeches delivered in Parliament in 1874. On November 11, 1874 Kuyper addressed the 1875 budget for the Dutch Indies and spoke about the responsibility of the Dutch state with respect to the Dutch East Indies, Islam, missionary activity, and education (pp. 127–131, 136–137). On November 28, 1874, during deliberations about Chapter IV of the national budget of 1875, he delivered a speech that addressed legislation concerning the mentally ill, the legal position of the Dutch Reformed Church, and the question of whether a codification of labor law was desirable (pp. 343–347). On December 7 and 8, 1874, during deliberations about Chapter V of the national budget (see 1875.05, part I), he gave two speeches on primary education in particular and the education question in general (pp. 488–493, 514–516). On December 15, 1874, during a debate about Chapter VII (the Treasury Department), he gave three speeches concerning the policy of the Department of Worship with respect to worship services, the granting of salaries to pastors, and the relation between church and state (pp. 624–625). A reply and a rejoinder followed on the same day (pp. 625–629). Kuyper then spoke about the legal inequality arising from the fact that one denomination received salaries, subsidies, and grants from the state while the other denominations did not. Although the Anti-Revolutionaries stood in principle for the separation of church and state, he appealed for the possibility of providing temporary subsidies to Christian Reformed churches (see 1875.01). The principle of legal equality would therefore be satisfied and, in his view, the separation of church and state would only come about more quickly (pp. 633–634). Kuyper addressed the 1875 budget for the Dutch Indies again in a speech he delivered on December 19, 1874 about the “Aceh question” and about whether the country still remained in a state of war with Aceh (pp. 733–734).
1875
A letter to the editor, with the heading “Een kort protest!” [A short protest!], in response to an article in De Bazuin, no. 51, December 18, 1874 in which the Anti-Revolutionary faction in the Second Chamber was accused of not having consulted with the leaders of the Christian Reformed Church regarding legislation that affected their church. In the interest of fairness and legal equity, I.L.C. van den Berch van Heemstede, an Anti-Revolutionary member of Parliament, had introduced an amendment to the national budget of 1875 to raise the expenditures of the Ministry of Finance by approximately ƒ100,000. This would enable the government to subsidize the salaries of pastors from the Christian Reformed Church if such subsidies were requested (cf. 1874.08).
Kuyper now writes that he requested information in a timely manner from the lecturers of the Theological Seminary of Kampen with debate about this amendment in mind. After deliberation, however, the Kampen lecturers had let it be known that they did not consider themselves competent in this matter.
A reader and the editors of the weekly De Bazuin had charged that Kuyper had deviated from the education policy set much earlier by G. Groen van Prinsterer. In this letter to the editor, Kuyper incorporated a short note from Groen van Prinsterer, which stated that the editors of De Bazuin were mistaken and that what had been said about his program enjoyed his full approval (see also 1992.01, p. 594).
A report prepared for the annual meeting of the Union for Christian National Primary Education (CNS), which was scheduled to take place on May 19–20, 1875. At the previous annual meeting (June 5, 1874), Kuyper had expressed his concern about the weak position of the CNS and the despondency of its members. In light of the proposed new educational law, he was worried about the progress of the movement for Christian education as a whole. Therefore, he proposed that a commission be charged with reporting to the next annual meeting on three questions that he had formulated. He hoped once more (see 1869.15 and 1869.22) to influence the CNS and give it new vision.
Two lists of received items (pp. [27]–30) for the agenda were included with the report. The report, however, was the main point of business.
The authorship of this item (as with 1869.22) cannot be decisively determined. However, Kuyper was its principle instigator. He put forward the questions, he served as a member of the commission, and his fingerprints can be detected everywhere in the document. The striking signature line perhaps also points to Kuyper’s authorship by listing him first and without initial: “Kuyper, G.J. Vos Az., B.J.L. de Geer van Jutphaas.”
Various speeches delivered in Parliament in 1875. On March 17, 1875, Kuyper spoke against the ratification of a provincial law for the district Heusden in North Brabant (pp. 1058–1061, 1064). On May 10, Kuyper requested permission from the Second Chamber to interpellate about intended modifications of the Lower Education Law at an appropriate time (p. 1262). On May 12, he addressed Parliament regarding the dismissal and replacement of the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, requesting an inquiry into the affair. He also requested an inquiry into the Aceh question (pp. 1303–1305).
In his eventual interpellation about the modifications that the cabinet was expected to make to the Lower Education Law (pp. 1326–1330), Kuyper did not intend to open a debate about the school question itself. Rather, he wished to bring to light the political agreements concerning the school question that the cabinet had made in its coalition platform. The interpellation concluded with a challenge to the government. Kuyper related that during a recent visit to London he had heard Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) speaking to an assembly of 20,000 people about manliness. Moody had claimed that only those who dared to speak their minds openly were truly manly. At the same gathering, Kuyper had also heard Ira D. Sankey sing a song of Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876): “Dare to be a straight-out man,/Dare to stand alone,/Dare to have a purpose firm,/Dare to make it known.” Kuyper recited nearly the same four-line stanza in Parliament on March 5, 1905 (see 1905.06, p. 1339). There was a definite plan of action for the new educational law, Kuyper contended, and the cabinet should have the courage to make that plan public. The following two reports (pp. 1335–1339) contain Kuyper’s answers to the reactions called forth by his interpellation.
Reprints, nearly all from De Standaard, published with an eye to the anticipated amendment of the school law (see 1875.04) and to the approaching parliamentary elections. These six uniformly published reprints appeared over the course of six weeks, as follows:
- 1. “Redevoering van Dr. A. Kuyper in de zitting der Tweede Kamer van 7 December 1874 en gedeelten uit de algemene beraadslagingen en het debat” [Address by Abraham Kuyper in the December 7, 1874 session of the Second Chamber and selections from the general deliberations and the debate], taken from 1874.08.
- 2. “Schoolwetswijziging” [Alteration of the school law], originally published in De Standaard, no. 830, December 10, 1874.
- 3. “Concurrentiestelsel bij het lager onderwijs onhoudbaar!” [Competitive system in primary education is untenable!], taken from De Standaard, no. 835, December 16, 1874.
- 4. “De opening der loopgraven” [The opening of the trenches], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875) no. 858, January 14, 1875.
- 5. “De vlieg die des apothekers zalf stinkende maakt” [The fly that makes the pharmacist’s ointment stink], taken from De Standaard, no. 831, December 11, 1874.
- 6. “Het onschuldig Lam” [The innocent lamb], taken from De Standaard, no. 832, December 12, 1874.
- 7. “Den beste bedervend!” [Spoiling the best!], taken from De Standaard, no. 833, December 14, 1874.
- 1. “Het rechtsomkeert der liberalen in de Schoolkwestie” [The liberal’s about-face in the school question], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 886, February 16, 1875.
- 2. “Faraös antwoord” [Pharaoh’s answer], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 888, February 18, 1875.
- 3. “Is het zoo erg gemeend?” [Was it meant so badly?], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 889, February 19, 1875.
- 4. “Binnens- en buitenskamers” [Within and without the Parliament], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 893, February 24, 1875.
- 5. “De balans” [The balance], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 895, February 26, 1875.
- 6. “De rijke man en het ooilam” [The rich man and the ewe lamb], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 896, February 27, 1875.
- 7. “De scherpe resolutie” [The severe resolution], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 900, March 4, 1875.
- 8. “Het decretum horribile” [The decretum horribile], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 901, March 5, 1875.
- 1. “Grieven tegen de schoolwet” [Grievances against the school law].
- 2. “Het concurrentiestelsel in zake Onderwijs” [The competitive system in education], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 855, January 11, 1875.
- 3. “Schoolinspectie” [School inspection], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 857, January 13, 1875.
- 4. “Een nog erger Cultuurstelsel” [An even worse agricultural system], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 904, March 9, 1875.
- 5. “Gedienstigheden der praktijk” [Practical accommodations], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 906, March 11, 1875.
- 6. “Het geheim verraden” [The secret betrayed].
- 7. “Misrekening” [Miscalculation], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 891, February 22, 1875.
- 8. “Doel en middel” [Goal and means], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 892, February 23, 1875.
- 9. “Hoe de openbare school tegenviel!” [How public schooling fails expectations!], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 914, March 20, 1875.
- 10. “Bekentenissen van een ijlende!” [Confessions of a delirious person!], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 915, March 22, 1875.
- 11. “Is dit de volksschool achten?” [Is this respect for public schools?], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 916, March 23, 1875.
- 12. “Hoe men zichzelf verraadt!” [How they betray themselves!], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 917, March 24, 1875.
- 13. “Is er een nevenbedoeling?” [Is there an alternative significance?], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 919, March 26, 1875.
- 1. “Hoe is de christelijke school te redden?” [How can Christian schooling be saved?], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 897, March 1, 1875.
- 2. “Regel insteê van willekeur” [Rule instead of caprice], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 898, March 2, 1875.
- 3. “Restitutie” [Restitution], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 899, March 3, 1875.
- 4. “Een nieuwe waarschuwing” [A new warning], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 903, March 8, 1875.
- 5. “De gewetens-clausule” [The conscience clause], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 905, March 10, 1875.
- 6. “Eerbied voor de begrippen van andersdenkenden” [Respect for the perspectives of those who think differently], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 907, March 12, 1875.
- 7. “Waar voor zijn geld” [Value for one’s money], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 912, March 18, 1875.
- 8. “Waar het op aankomt” [What it comes down to], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 918, March 25, 1875.
- 1. “De volksschool misbruikt tot aanvalsgeschut tegen de Kerk” [Public schools are being misused as offensive artillery against the church], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 887, February 17, 1875. (Not included in 1879.04).
- 2. “Onze schoolwet voor de vierschaar van Europa” [Our school law before the tribunal of Europe].
- (i) [Baden], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 921, March 29/30, 1875.
- (ii) [Zwitserland (Switzerland)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1975), no. 922, March 31, 1875.
- (iii) [België, Rusland (Belgium, Russia)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 924, April 2, 1875.
- (iv) [Wurtemberg, Saksen (Saxony), Hamburg, Oostenrijk (Austria)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 925, April 3, 1875.
- (v) [Frankrijk (France), Pruisen (Prussia)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 926, April 5,1875.
- (vi) [Engeland (England)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 927, April 6, 1875.
- (vii) [Amerika (America), De Kaap (The Cape), Engelsch-Indië (British India)], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 928, April 7, 1875.
- 3. “De school zonder godsdienst” [The school without religion], taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 930, April 9, 1875.
- 4. “Deugdelijk onderwijs bijzaak, bestrijding van het christelijk geloof hoofddoel!” [Sound instruction is a side issue; combating Christian faith is the main goal!]. Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 932, April 12, 1875. (Not included in 1879.04.)
- 1. “Is het restitutiestelsel onuitvoerbaar?” [Is the restitution system impracticable?]
- (i) Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 938, April 19, 1875.
- (ii) Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 940, April 21, 1875.
- (iii–vii) Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 942, April 23, 1875–no. 946, April 28, 1875.
- 2. “Een restitutiestelsel in de practijk” [A restitution system at work].
- (i–iii) Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 969, May 27, 1875–no. 971, May 29, 1875.
- (Slot.) [Conclusion.] Taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 972, May 31, 1875.
Equivalent (with same design and typeface) to part five of 1875.05, apart from the absence of the series title De schoolkwestie [The school question] on the cover and the removal of the first and the final articles.
A report, not a literal transcription, of the opening lecture held at the third Southern Missionary Festival at ’s Heer-Arendskerke on June 23, 1875. The subject was the revivalistic holiness movement in England. With thirty Dutch brothers Kuyper had attended the ten-day Brighton Convention, which opened on May 29, 1875 under the leadership of Robert Pearsall Smith (1827–1898). This convention made such a deep impression on Kuyper that he also spoke about it at the other two Dutch Christian National Missionary Festivals of that year (the twelfth Christian National Missionary Festival at Boekenrode near Haarlem on July 7, 1875 and the Northern Missionary Festival at Winschoten on July 14, 1875).
For Kuyper’s further reflections on Pearsall Smith and the Brighton movement, see 1875.09, 1878.07, and 1917.13.
Various speeches delivered in Parliament in 1875. On October 26, 1875, Kuyper clarified an amendment he had submitted concerning the construction of a railway (pp. 278–280). The amendment was significant for his electoral district of Gouda. On November 24, Kuyper explained his vote on a subject concerning railway companies (pp. 465–466). He spoke about the question of railway policy again on November 26 (pp. 488–490). On November 16 and 19, during discussions concerning the 1876 budget for the Dutch Indies, Kuyper delivered four speeches that dealt with education, mission, Islam, and the “opium lease,” among other things (pp. 382–442). Kuyper delivered three speeches on December 6, 7, and 13 about Chapter V (the State Department) of the national budget of 1876. These speeches dealt with, respectively, the electoral question (pp. 583–586), the relation between the Anti-Revolutionary movement and other political factions (pp. 609–612), and secondary education (pp. 699–705). On December 14, he spoke briefly twice about educational policy (p. 729 and p. 732). Kuyper’s final contribution to the parliamentary debate of this period took place during the December 16, 1875 session (pp. 767–768) and had to do with the payment of pastors’ salaries.
Due to serious overexertion, Kuyper left the country from February 3, 1876 to April 14, 1877. He resigned his membership in Parliament on July 1, 1877 (cf. 1877. 03).
While taking part in a reunion at Kuyper’s home, Dutch participants in the Brighton Convention (see 1875.07) decided to establish a monthly devoted to the revivals taking place in the Netherlands and abroad. The first issue of De Weg ter Godzaligheid [The path to godliness] appeared in October 1875. The third issue contained a letter addressed to J.H. Gunning jr., who had brought the concepts of “consecration” and “sanctification”—keywords of the Brighton Convention—into connection with a supposed “second conversion” that seemed to neglect baptism. Kuyper objected to this presentation of the matter.
Gunning’s answer appeared in the fourth issue. The publication of De Weg ter Godzaligheid was suspended after the appearance of the twelfth issue in 1877.
The publisher J.H. Kruyt acquired the remaining 305 copies of Uit het Woord. Stichtelijke bijbelstudiën from the publishers De Hoogh & Co., added the words eerste bundel [first collection] to the title page, and replaced the name of the original publisher with J.H. Kruyt.
Kruyt was Kuyper’s primary publisher from 1874 until 1887 (cf. 1874.02 and 1886.14).
A second collection of five biblical-theological studies, published in five parts. The first of the five parts appeared in June 1875, the second in September, the third in October, the fourth in November, and the fifth in December. The five parts were originally published as five series of numbered articles in the Sunday edition of De Standaard. Subtitles were added to the numbered sections in the collected edition.
- 1. Schuchterheid in het heilige [Timidity in holiness], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 22, August 25, 1872–no. 33, November 10, 1872.
- 2. De sleutelen [The keys], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 41, January 5, 1873–no. 53, March 30, 1873.
- 3. De sleutelmacht [The power of the keys], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 57, April 27, 1873–no. 64, June 15, 1873.
- 4. De uitverkiezing [Election], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 75, August 31, 1873–no. 91, December 21, 1873.
- 5. De mensch Christus Jezus [Jesus Christ as human being], originally published in: De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 93, January 4, 1874–no. 105, March 29, 1874.
This collection concludes with a note (p. 464) that did not appear in the final article published in De Standaard, Sunday edition, conceding that the series had treated the question of Jesus’ messianic consciousness too uncritically.
Answer to a letter that J.H. Gunning jr. had written about the prospective founding of a free Christian university. Gunning had written to Kuyper in his capacity as member of the Second Chamber of the States General, asking whether it was not now the moment to hold a national convention about the desirability of a free university for “our Protestant church” (De Standaard, no. 1140, December 13, 1875). He was alluding to what Kuyper had previously written on the subject (see 1870.07). In subsequent letters to the editor, the Rev. Ph.J. Hoedemaker (1839–1910), the Rev. J.A. Gerth van Wijk (1837–1907), and the Rev. L.J. van Rhijn (1812–1887) showed their support for Gunning’s proposal.
In his answer, Kuyper responds that he is not the right person to convene such a national convention. He therefore requests that Gunning organize a two-day national conference for the purpose of founding a Christian university. He urges Gunning to summon delegates quickly because Parliament will be dealing with the Higher Education Law at the beginning of 1876. The conference did not take place, however. There was once again too much disagreement.
1876
The first part of the third collection of biblical-theological studies. For the provenance of the articles reprinted here, see 1879.01. The second part appeared more than two years later (see 1878.07).
1877
Letter to the editor of De Standaard. Just before Kuyper returned from his long period of recuperation abroad (see 1875.08), he reengaged with Anti-Revolutionary politics and with his paper. In this letter, he promises that he will soon send his ideas from Nice about the stance that “our Christian people” should take toward the school question during the national elections slated for June 1877 (see 1877.02). He then takes sides with those who had already objected to a critical statement that H.J.A.M. Schaepman had made about Groen van Prinsterer. Kuyper provides evidence that Groen van Prinsterer had absolutely not “wish[ed] to chase” his Roman Catholic countrymen “across the Moerdijk.” Schaepman’s remark constituted a shocking offense against the memory of Groen van Prinsterer (†May 19, 1876).
This promised article (see 1877.01), dated February 24, 1877, pleads against fear of politics in Christian circles. What is at stake is the confession of faith in Christ in every sphere of life, including the political sphere. According to Kuyper, the Anti-Revolutionary press must be supplemented by “the formation of our own party as well.” He argues that lack of organization had caused the Anti-Revolutionary members of Parliament to go off track. The article was signed with the letter “K” because Kuyper had not yet returned from his long period abroad and so had not yet resumed his activities as editor in chief of De Standaard.
An article entitled “Een stille partij?” [A silent party?], no longer signed by Kuyper because he obiously considered himself once more the editor in chief of De Standaard, was published as the lead article (accompanied by four asterisms) in De Standaard, no. 1549, April 12, 1877—two days before he returned home from a long period of recuperation abroad (see 1875.08). Groen van Prinsterer had passed from the scene and a new political leader was standing in the starting block.
A letter in which Kuyper resigns as a member of Parliament. Written to the chairman of the Second Chamber, the letter (p. 1227) was read aloud during the April 17, 1877 meeting of the chamber. Three days earlier, Kuyper had returned from a very lengthy absence from the Netherlands. He had gone abroad to recover from a serious case of nervous exhaustion (see 1875.08). In his letter Kuyper writes that his recovery will take longer. He cites this as the reason for his request for resignation and suggests that his resignation take effect on June 1, 1877—a favorable date for the electoral district of Gouda because the interim election would then take place simultaneously with the election cycle for the Second Chamber. Kuyper received an honorable discharge from his office on July 1, 1877.
This letter was also published in De Standaard 6 (1877), no. 1557, April 21, 1877.
De hoop van nog in uw midden te komen, moest ik, om niet roekeloos te zijn, tot mijn innig leedwezen laten varen. Vergunt mij daarom mijn broedergroet aan de vergadering te zenden. In den geest ben ik onder u. Ook mij weegt de ernst van het oogenblik op het hart en voor niemand uwer zal ik onderdoen in hartelijke blijdschap, indien blijken mag dat de besluiten uwer Vergadering het merkteeken dragen van broederzin en beginselvastheid, waardig het heilige der zaak, waarvoor we den strijd aanbonden en waarbij wij op de goedkeuring rekenen mogen van Hem, wien in nederigheid te dienen, mijn roem en de eere der broederen is. Kuyper.
Telegram to the annual general assembly of the Union for Christian National Primary Education, held in Utrecht on April 21, 1877.
Upon returning from his period of convalescence (see 1875.08), Kuyper was determined to make a clearer distinction between political and ecclesiastical reporting with respect to the Zondagsblad van De Standaard. His continued need for rest meant that the final issue (no. 165) of the Zondagsblad came out on May 27, 1877 while the inaugural issue of the new ecclesiastical and theological weekly, which he titled De Heraut, first appeared on December 7, 1877. (On the origin of De Heraut, see 1869.16 and 1872.02; on its successful launching, see 1987.06.)
The purpose of the new weekly was to reacquaint the common people of the Netherlands with the principles of the Reformed faith. According to a promotion circular from J.H. Kruyt, the editorial clerk, dated December 1, 1877, Kuyper had found twelve colleagues to work on the paper: Rev. A. Brummelkamp, I. Esser (former resident of Timor), E. Gerdes (man of letters), Rev. J.A. Gerth van Wijk, Rev. W.H. Gispen, Rev. A.H. de Hartog, Rev. Ph.J. Hoedemaker, W. van Oosterwijk Bruyn (chairman of the Federation of Young Men’s Associations), Rev. H. Pierson (pastor and director of the Mission Homes at Zetten), Rev. Ph.S. van Ronkel, Rev. F.L. Rutgers, and Dr. Th.C.L. Wijnmalen (associate librarian of the Royal Library in The Hague).
Kuyper’s weekly contributions to De Heraut fell into three categories: (1) biblical-theological articles (the so-called “primary articles”); (2) devotionals (the so-called “secondary articles”); and (3) opinion pieces and reflections on the contemporary church (the so-called “leaders”). In the first years the weekly “leaders” frequently addressed the theological and ecclesiological conflicts of the era.
A great number of Kuyper’s biblical-theological articles were subsequently published in book form as were many of his approximately 2,200 devotionals. The writing of devotionals, one of his most beloved activities, kept Kuyper busy from week to week on Sundays. During his tenure as prime minister (1901–1905) and during his trip around the Mediterranean Sea (1905–1906), Kuyper left off writing “primary articles” and “leaders,” but he continued to publish his weekly devotionals. His first devotional, titled “Als het gespeende kind” [Like a weaned child] and based on Psalm 131:2, was published in the first issue of De Heraut; the last, titled “Uw harte worde niet ontroerd” [Let not your hearts be troubled] and based on John 14:1, appeared in De Heraut, no. 2232, October 31, 1920.
On January 9, 1887, in the wake of the Doleantie, the name of the weekly became De Heraut van de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland.
De Heraut served as the mouthpiece of the Dutch Reformed Churches from October 1, 1888 until its union with the Christian Reformed Church (June 17, 1892). The first issue of the merged churches’ newsletter, Het Kerkblad. Officiëel orgaan van de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, was published on July 1, 1892. On October 12, 1913, the name became De Heraut voor de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland.
H.H. Kuyper became the editor in chief after the death of his father on November 8, 1920. Due to lack of paper because of the wartime conditions, no. 3488, January 14, 1945 was the final issue.
For indexes of De Heraut from 1877 to 1944, see app. 1.03 and app. 1.08. Several facts and figures relating to the paper are given below.
| Subscribers: | |
| 1878: | 2,600 |
| 1880: | 2,430 |
| 1885: | 2,630 |
| 1887: | 3,750 |
| 1889: | 3,230 |
| 1897: | 3,400 |
| 1901: | 3,360 |
| 1905: | 3,350 |
| 1907: | 3,750 |
| 1914: | 3,750 |
| 1919: | 3,680 (AHS; KA 186). |
| Owner of De Heraut: The Heraut Association. |
| Editor in chief: | |
| 1877–1920: | A. Kuyper. |
| 1920–1945: | H.H. Kuyper. |
| Printer: | |
| See 1872.02. |
| Format: | |
| 1877–1944: | 58cm. |
| 1944–1945: | 55cm. (The final seven issues. The paper had already been reduced to a single sheet [since July 16, 1944] due to wartime rationing.) |
| Subscription rate: | |
| 1872–1882 | quarterly subscription postage paid ƒ1.90, subscribers of De Standaard ƒ0.95, single issues ƒ0.15. |
| 1882–1898 | quarterly subscription postage paid ƒ1.20, single numbers ƒ0.10. |
| 1898–1906 | quarterly subscription postage paid ƒ1.20, prepaid annual subscription for foreign countries ƒ6.-, single numbers ƒ0.10. |
| 1906–1918 | quarterly subscription postage paid ƒ1.20, prepaid annual subscription for Belgium ƒ5.30, prepaid annual subscription for other foreign countries and the Dutch East Indies ƒ6.-, single numbers ƒ0.10. |
| 1918–1920 | prepaid quarterly subscription postage paid ƒ1.50, prepaid annual subscription for foreign countries and the Dutch East Indies ƒ7.20, single numbers ƒ0.15. |
Included in the collection De weg ter Godzaligheid [The path to godliness], which contains the complete contents of the journal of the same name, excepting only the external features of the journal.
1878
A draft of the programmatic platform of the Anti-Revolutionaries with eighteen articles and a short introduction (cf. 1929.02). In the same file of the Kuyper Archives is also preserved a copy with the same date and signature, but in 24cm. format (KA 235), as well as a draft dated November 6, 1877 (see 2008.02, p. 115, a facsimile of the first page). For an earlier draft program, see 1874.07.
In view of the elections of 1877, two electoral associations had asked that an electoral program be drawn up. The Anti-Revolutionary Central Committee (see 1878.02) took the initiative. Kuyper wrote the draft (cf. 1937.08), which was subsequently presented to a wide circle of experts. It was signed on behalf of the committee by A. Kuyper, chair, J.A. Wormser, secretary, and E.W. Heyblom, treasurer. This draft was then forwarded with a letter (dated Amsterdam, January 7, 1878) to the electoral associations so that they could familiarize themselves with its contents. The electoral associations were asked to report before March 1, 1878 as to whether this political platform had their approval.
The program was also printed in De Standaard, no. 1776, January 8, 1878. It was possible by the end of January to order the draft program from J.A. Wormser by postal check (50 copies for ƒ1.-).
When Kuyper dealt with the program systematically in De Standaard (see 1879. 04), he added articles on justice, public decency, and hygiene. This programmatic platform, which had grown to twenty-one articles, was made official by the meeting of deputies (the meeting of the delegates of electoral associations across the entire country) in Utrecht on April 3, 1879. By agreeing to the programmatic platform, the electoral associations organized formally as the Federation of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations. The platform remained unchanged until 1916 (see 1916.07).
Draft statutes bearing the same signatures (KA 235) as 1878.01. A provisional Anti-Revolutionary Central Committee had been formed in 1873. However, with the death of Groen van Prinsterer on May 19, 1876, the Anti-Revolutionaries, robbed of their political leader, began to feel a desire for greater unity. Kuyper thought it expedient to turn the provisional committee into a permanent political organization in order to promote a common front during the periodic election cycles. These draft regulations formed the basis of the new political organization.
The primary duties of the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations were to call together delegates from the electoral associations for the meeting of deputies, to moderate these meetings, and to act as its executive committee. Kuyper was the chairman of the committee from April 3, 1879 to November 25, 1918 (see 1918.14), apart from the period from September 5, 1904 to October 17, 1907.
The draft statutes (with a few changes) were eventually adopted as the bylaws of the Anti-Revolutionary Party at the meeting of deputies on April 3, 1879. The Anti-Revolutionary Party was formally established with the adoption of the programmatic platform (see 1878.01) and these bylaws.
A letter to the editor in which Kuyper asks on what basis the Arnhemsche Courant had spread the rumor that he personally would come to support the candidacy of A.F. de Savornin Lohman in the electoral district of Arnhem. He asserts that the report is completely untrue.
A draft of the People’s Petition of 1878, intended for free and widespread distribution, which was sent postage-paid upon request. In small print above the draft a note reads that it “is meant to be signed by parents or guardians, and moreover by interested parties, if the Second Chamber accepts the proposed bill concerning primary education. It shall be made known later where the document shall be available for signing in your community.”
The petition asks the king to make biblical schooling possible and not to sanction the new primary education law with his signature. The address to the king was printed in De Standaard 7 (1878), no. 1905, June 10 and 11, 1878 and was subsequently reprinted in many other papers and magazines. (This publication had small changes to the text as a consequence.) The national action collected 305,596 signatures, which were delivered along with a handwritten copy of the petition to King William III on August 3, 1878.
Copies of the People’s Petition were sent without charge to local committees and correspondence societies for distribution. Orders exceeded all expectations, however, and as a result printing and mailing costs ran over budget. In a circular letter (dated Amsterdam, June 1879), N.M. Feringa, secretary of The Commission for the People’s Petition, reported that the comission would keep delivering free copies but would greatly appreciate partial or full reimbursement of the printing and mailing costs, which amounted to forty cents for every hundred copies.
Kuyper had already been closely associated with a people’s petition against forced vaccination of school children, which was presented to King William III (1817–1890) on November 2, 1872. The People’s Petition of 1878, however, marked the most spectacular moment in the long history of the struggle for Christian schooling in the Netherlands. On July 18, 1878, the Second Chamber accepted Minister Kappeyne van de Coppello’s bill for the amendment of the 1857 law regulating primary education. Detailed plans for a national signature campaign had already been put into place in case of such an eventuality (see 1928.01).
The Roman Catholics also collaborated in this campaign. They had previously collected 164,000 signatures against the bill. When the bill was nonetheless accepted by the Second Chamber, H.J.A.M. Schaepman (1844–1903) immediately published an appeal to the king requesting that he withhold royal approval of the bill.
Despite this opposition, the king signed the bill into law on August 17, 1878.
A memorandum clarifying and confirming the plea put forward in the People’s Petition (see 1878.04) for a legislative change that would make it possible for both the rich and the poor to choose biblical schooling. An appendix with seventeen articles about governmental funding for private schools is attached to the memorandum, along with Kuyper’s commentary on seven of these articles. The printed memorandum and the appendix were added to the handwritten copy of 1878.04 and offered to the king on August 3, 1878.
Both documents also appeared in De Standaard 7 (1878), no. 1956, August 9, 1878–no. 1963, August 17, 1878.
A circular letter to the local committees and correspondence societies that had made possible the People’s Petition (see 1878.04). The circular letter urges these organizations to form a federation for biblical schooling and to raise funds for Christian primary education among those who had signed the petition.
Added as appendices to the letter were draft statutes for a union to be formed from the local committees and correspondence societies of the People’s Petition under the motto “a school with the Bible” and a short list of fifteen organizational tips and suggestions. This circular letter and both appendices were also published in De Standaard 7 (1878), no. 2024, October 28, 1878.
The Union: “A School with the Bible” was founded in Utrecht on January 23, 1879—the three-hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Union of Utrecht (January 23, 1579), which had united the northern Dutch provinces in opposition to the Spanish king. A.F. de Savornin Lohman (1837–1924) was the first chairman. The national collection for Christian primary education was subsequently held annually on August 17—the day the king had signed the education bill into law (see 1878.04).
It was not until 1920 that the government passed a new primary education law that made financial support for special schools equivalent to that of public schools.
The second part of the third volume of biblical-theological studies described in 1876.01 and 1879.01. Remarkably, this second part (which was published more than two years after the first) did not appear in the announcements of 1874 and 1875 for the third volume. The plan had been to publish five series of articles from the Zondagsblad van De Standaard of 1874 and 1875. However, the second part is actually a reprint of a series from De Heraut of 1878. This represented the first major series of biblical-theological studies in De Heraut and the first major series that Kuyper wrote after fully recovering from his nervous exhaustion (see 1877.03). This eighteen-part series deals with the question of perfectionism. See 1879.01 for the provenance of the eighteen articles reprinted here.
The intended reprinting of a series of articles about the mystical body of the Lord (see Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 65, June 27, 1875ff.) did not come to fruition. The third and fourth parts (Natuurlijke Godskennis and Maranatha) were published in December 1878.
A reprint of articles about the Jewish influence upon liberals and liberalism, originally published on alternate days in De Standaard 7 (1878), no. 2010, October 11, 1878–no. 2020, October 23, 1878. An undated foreword and a postcript were added.
In the brief foreword, Kuyper asserts that these seven articles are being reprinted to correct the unfair representation that the press had given of their tenor and to allow everyone to see that they neither incite hatred of the Jews nor injure their rights as citizens. In the postscript, he offers another concrete demonstration of the influence of the Jews on the press, referring to a lead article from the Dagblad van Zuid-Holland en ’s Gravenhage.
The reprinted series was published within a week after the publication of the final article in De Standaard.
This memorial book about the People’s Petition appeared at the request of the twenty-five-member delegation that had delivered the petition (see 1878.04) together with all the signatures to the king. The book includes a short historical overview of the school struggle before 1878, an overview of the activities in 1878, and a brief chapter about the events of August 17, 1878—the day the king signed the education bill into law. The bulk of the book is given over to twenty numbered documents relating to the People’s Petition. Kuyper, mastermind and driving force behind the petition, undoubtedly composed not only the petition itself, but also several other pieces included in the book. Even document number fourteen, the address that P.J. Elout van Soeterwoude (1805–1893) delivered to the king at the presentation of the petition in Het Loo Palace, was written by Kuyper. Although Kuyper did not attend the presentation of the petition, its annexes, and the over 300,000 signatures to the king, he waited in the neighborhood close to the palace.
The editor of the collection, N.M. Feringa (1820–1886), was a teacher in Amsterdam, a member of the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam, and the first secretary (1860–1886) of the Union for Christian National Primary Education.
This fervently argued but soberly composed circular letter is dated December 5, 1878—the day the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles was established. The founding meeting of the association took place in Utrecht. In this circular, the Reformed community in the Netherlands is called upon to work together toward the realization of a Reformed university. This piece, which may well be termed the birth certificate of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles, is signed by I. Esser, Ph.J. Hoedemaker, W. Hovy, W. Kuhler Wz., A. Kuyper, Ph.S. van Ronkel, F.L. Rutgers, and T. Sanders, Jr. The letter concludes with the names of forty-three pastors and (former) elders from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague; from the academic cities of Leiden, Utrecht, and Groningen; and from every Dutch province—all attesting to their resolution to found a Reformed university (see 1880.09).
A copy of the statutes of the association, which had been settled upon already but which would not receive royal approval for another two months (on February 12, 1879), was added. The draft of these statutes had already been made public in De Heraut, no. 50, November 24, 1878.
The circular letter was also published in De Heraut, no. 53, December 15, 1878.
Letter to A. baron Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (1839–1918) occasioned by his debate with the minister of the interior, J. Kappeyne van de Coppello (1822–1895), concerning the latter’s report to the king about the People’s Petition. According to the minister’s report, the People’s Petition was a long-planned political action coordinated by dubious parties. In the ensuing debate, the minister had appealed to a “very good source,” which put Schimmelpenninck van der Oye in the unanticipated position of having to speak up for Elout van Soeterwoude (cf. 1878.09).
Kuyper then felt compelled to disclose the true state of affairs by acknowledging in this letter that he had been the “source.” He notes that he had made his objections to the report known to the minister in September 1878 because he felt that the ministerial report had misinformed the king about the origins of the People’s Petition. He then sheds light on how reprehensibly the minister had handled written information provided by Kuyper about the true purpose and circumstances of the People’s Petition. Kuyper had also written in his letter to the minister that he had initiated the People’s Petition in May 1878 without any prior deliberation.
1879
This collection of biblical-theological studies appeared in five parts with independent pagination. The five parts correspond to five series of feature articles from the Zondagsblad van De Standaard and De Heraut. Subtitles were added to the numbered articles in each series.
- 1. Wedergeboorte en bekeering [Rebirth and conversion], originally published in: Zondagsblad van De Standaard, no. 4, April 26, 1874–no. 17, July 26, 1874 (cf. 1876.01).
- 2. Volmaakbaarheid [Perfectionism], originally published in: De Heraut, no. 15, March 17, 1878–no. 34, August 4, 1878 (cf. 1878.07).
- 3. Natuurlijke Godskennis [Natural knowledge of God], originally published in: Zondagsblad van De Standaard, no. 18, August 2, 1874–no. 33, November 15, 1874 (cf. 1878.07).
- 4. Maranatha [Maranatha], originally published in: Zondagsblad van De Standaard, no. 34, November 22, 1874–no. 38, December 20, 1874 (cf. 1878.07).
- 5. De wonderen [The miracles], originally published in: Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 41, January 10, 1875–no. 55, April 18, 1875.
The concluding five articles from the series on miracles in the Zondagsblad van De Standaard were not (however indispensable to the sense of the whole) included in the collection. Although Rullmann suggests (RKB I, p. 205) that Kuyper may have overlooked the absence of these articles due to his recent illness, the publisher’s desire to maintain the proportions and the price of this part of the collection was the more likely cause. In comparison with the previous collections, this third collection has by far the most pages and would have been too bulky had the excised articles been included. In announcements for the collection in 1876 and 1878, the publisher had expressly stated that the subscription price would not go higher than ƒ2.90.
Letter to the editor concerning an opinion piece sent in by a reader to the daily Opregte Haarlemsche Courant on December 30, 1878. That piece had summarized an anonymous letter to the editor entitled “Reformed Letters IV,” which had been printed in the December issue of Stemmen voor Waarheid en Vrede 15 (1878), vol. 2, pp. 632–642. Among the points summarized by the author was the assertion that in 1620 the professors of theology at the University of Leiden had not signed the signatory formula to the Three Forms of Unity, as prescribed by the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619); rather, they had signed a simplified, more straightforward, and broader declaration. The author related this point as a form of protest against the decision, made by Kuyper and his followers on October 22, 1878 in Utrecht, to establish an Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles, which would provide theological education in agreement with the Three Forms of Unity (see 1878.10).
In his letter to the editor, Kuyper rejects the protest as unfounded. This exchange led in part to the appearance of a brochure about this matter (see 1879.05).
A letter to the editor, which appeared in the daily Opregte Haarlemsche Courant on January 14, 1879, had revealed that the author of the anonymous contribution to Stemmen voor Waarheid en Vrede (see 1879.02) was none other than Dr. J.J. van Toorenenbergen. So Kuyper hastens to write that he had not known the author’s identity and that he has great appreciation for the merits of Van Toorenenbergen’s work as a church historian. Kuyper also notes that Van Toorenenbergen had admitted that he had been in the wrong. This letter to the editor ends with the announcement that the dispute will be carried on elsewhere (see 1879.05).
“Ons program” is a large volume of articles reprinted from De Heraut and De Standaard, published by the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations. The heart of this impressive volume of Kuyper’s earlier political writings is the collection of seventy-two of the series of seventy-three articles first printed as “Ons program” in De Standaard from April 19, 1878–February 24, 1879. These articles, which the author divided into 325 paragraphs, provide a running commentary on the program of the Anti-Revolutionary or Christian Historical school of political thought.
Every explanatory chapter on an article of “Ons program” concludes with a cluster of appendices, which contain reprints of articles by Kuyper, including an article series that had already been reprinted elsewhere (see 1875.05 and 1878.08). The twenty-three appendices, which account for almost two-thirds of the book’s size, provide more foundations and further explanations to the forementioned articles that are the core of “Ons program.” The volume also has an extensive index. The six articles from chapter 19 (“Overseas Territories of the State”) were also included in 1890.06.
For the initial impetus for the formulation of the Anti-Revolutionary program, see 1874.07 and 1878.01. In this volume Kuyper added three more articles to the program of 1878 (see 1878.01), which brought the total to twenty-one articles.
In the prospectus, the publisher J.H. Kruyt announced that the print run would not be large and that it was therefore necessary for subscriptions to be received before February 15 in order for deliveries to be guaranteed. In an account book (AHS 10) the publisher records, “for the printing G.J. Thieme 300 ex. f 1,372.51.”
The work appeared on March 31, 1879—precisely five weeks after the appearance of the last of the articles included in it from De Standaard and a few days before the official establishment of the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the institutionalization of the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations on April 3, 1879 in Utrecht.
A list of forty-four of Kuyper’s writings is included on three unnumbered pages at the end of the book.
The final section is numbered §328, however, the section numbers 4, 15 and 16 are skipped. Because of the fact that no actual sections from the original series of articles in De Standaard are missing the number of the published sections is de facto 325.
Dr. J.J. van Toorenenbergen justified his objections to the binding of theological education to the Three Forms of Unity by appealing to an incident from the history of the Dutch church (cf. 1879.02 and 1879.03). He claimed that in 1620 the four professors of theology from Leiden did not sign the signatory formula drawn up by the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618/1619. In Kuyper’s broad and well-documented treatise, which concludes with twenty pages of supporting documentation, Van Toorenenbergen’s claim is refuted. Both the foreword and the conclusion remark on the deep-seated differences of opinion about the historical period in question that, since 1870, had divided the author from Van Toorenenbergen. Kuyper opines that a thoroughgoing refutation of Van Toorenenbergen’s thesis is particularly important, insofar as Van Toorenenbergen was a self-declared proponent of the revision of the ecclesiastical formularies.
In order to take any remaining wind out of Van Toorenenbergen’s sails, Kuyper also relates that he had advised the board of directors of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles, established on December 5, 1878, not to let professors sign such a formula and never to adopt the signatory formulary of Dordt because formularies like these cannot bring about a true bond between professors and the principles of the university. (Article 2 of the statutes of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles did require, however, that professors at the Vrije Universiteit had to sign the Three Forms of Unity.)
Van Toorenenbergen responded in: Hoe een deel der Dordtsche nalatenschap verzaakt werd. Een woord van tegenweer (Rotterdam: W. Wenk, 1879). See 1879.11.
Letter to the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam, in which Kuyper declines a pastoral call. On March 16, 1874, Kuyper had been given an honorable pension in connection with his election to the Second Chamber (see 1874.03). However, Kuyper had been forced to resign as a member of Parliament for reasons of health in 1877 (see 1877.03). He now writes that although he is gradually regaining his strength, he is prohibited from accepting this call by explicit doctor’s orders.
For an earlier declining of a pastoral call, see 1994.04.
In August 1879 the leadership of The Union: “A School with the Bible,” sent out a circular letter (34cm.) to all the correspondents of the local committees (cf. 1878.06) who had taken part in the People’s Petition (see 1878.04). The subject of the circular letter was the first annual collection for the union. A total of 447 local committees had taken part in the collection for in 1878. The circular letter reminded its readers about the planned collection of August 17, 1879 and provided information about how to organize it. Also included in this circular letter were four encouraging articles (three asterisms and a main article) about the collection, which had been previously printed (with minor variations) under the title De collecte van 17 Augustus [The collection of August 17] in De Standaard 8 (1879), no. 2256, August 1, 1879–no. 2261, August 7, 1879.
The collection was held on August 17 because on that day in 1878 King William III signed the challenged primary education bill into law. This first national collection yielded approximately ƒ40,000.- while the fourth collection (1882) resulted in more than ƒ100,000.- (cf. De Standaard, no. 3301, December 20, 1882).
The print run of the circular letter was probably about 1,500 copies.
The first and second part appeared in September 1879. After the third was published in October 1879, the first half of the collection was completed. This first half was actually the third edition of 1869.01. Subsequently the second half appeared in two parts as the second edition of 1870.31.
The collection was likely already printed in December but publication was probably delayed due to a problem with the author (see 1880.01).
Two critical articles written to unmask the pretensions behind a “letter of admonition” circulated by the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. The articles—dated Amsterdam, September 14, 1879 and September 19, 1879—were reprinted from De Heraut, no. 92, September 14, 1879–no. 93, September 21, 1879.
Like 1874.06, the articles came out as an independent publication due to the initiative of the Dutch Association of Friends of the Truth for the Maintenance of the Doctrine and the Rights of the Reformed Church. The publication was sent to the association’s departments and to the consistories of the Dutch Reformed Church.
The synod had amended Article 38 of the Regulations for the Instruction of Religion, which had to do with the admission and confirmation of members. Objections to the religious convictions of applicants were no longer grounds for refusal as long as applicants were prepared to answer the confessional questions stipulated by Article 39 of the regulations affirmatively. This amendment prompted so much protest and resistance that the synod was compelled to put out a pastoral letter on the subject, Brief van de Synode der Nederlandsche Hervormde Kerk aan de leden dier kerk (’s Gravenhage: J.M. van ’t Haaff, 1879).
A brief foreword, dated Amsterdam, October 1879, by the board of directors of the Friends of the Truth introduces the reprinted articles.
An asterism with “De brief van Prins Alexander” [The letter of Prince Alexander] as its headline, reprinted from De Standaard 8 (1879), no. 2307, September 30, 1879. In this asterism Kuyper stands up for Crown Prince Alexander (1851–1884).
A newspaper article (in Dagblad van Zuid-Holland en ’s Gravenhage) about the crown prince and the highly uncustomary letter to the editor (of Het Vaderland) that the prince had written in response had given rise to much commentary and discussion in the press. Finding this level of attention unreasonable and uncharitable, Kuyper asks in his short editorial for better understanding of the mental problems afflicting the crown prince. In the brochure De brief van Z.K.H. Prins Alexander, a partisan of the House of Orange reviews the commentaries in the press, reprinting Kuyper’s asterism from De Standaard in that context.
The prince’s letter to the editor was also published in De Standaard, no. 2302, September 24, 1879.
This brochure concerning the polemical exchange between Kuyper and Van Toorenenbergen is introduced by an open letter criticizing the latter’s brochure Hoe een deel der Dordtsche nalatenschap verzaakt werd. Een woord van tegenweer (Rotterdam, 1879), which had been written in response to 1879.05. The open letter also gives some insight both into Kuyper’s long acquaintance with Van Toorenenbergen and into his attitude toward ethical-irenical theologians in general. The letter is followed by a strictly-content related reaction to Van Toorenenbergen’s brochure.
Next is included (pp. [56]–68) the text of a lecture that Kuyper had delivered to a gathering of the Association of Dutch Reformed Pastors in 1870 (not 1869 as is mistakenly and repeatedly stated in the brochure). That lecture had itself been prompted by a lecture given in 1868, on a meeting of the pastors’ association, by Van Toorenenbergen, who had been chairman of the association since its founding in 1862. The heading of Kuyper’s lecture is “Referaat over de belijdenis” [Lecture on the confession]. According to W.F. Dankbaar in Onbekrompen en ondubbelzinnig (’s Gravenhage, 1962, p. 23 of the appendix) the subject of Kuyper’s lecture was “Wat leert ons de geschiedenis van het ontstaan en de vroegste bewaring en handhaving van eene confessie omtrent haar wettig en naar de echte kerkelijke begrippen ingericht gebruik?” [What does the history of the origin and earliest conservation and preservation of a confession teach us about its use both legally and as instituted according to church standards?].
In 1879 members of the recently established Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (see 1878.10) began to express renewed interest in the confessional issues raised by the polemic in Kuyper’s lecture of 1870 about being bound to the confession. This discussion led consequently to the series of fifteen articles, first printed in De Heraut under the title Revisie der formulieren van eenigheid [Revision to the forms of unity] (cf. 1891.07), that are included in this brochure after Kuyper’s 1870 lecture. Each of the first eleven articles (reprinted from De Heraut, no. 68, March 30, 1879–no. 79, June 15, 1879) has been given a subtitle. The final four articles (reprinted from De Heraut, no. 80, June 22, 1879–no. 84, July 20, 1879) contain documents related to the Synod of Dordt.
This brochure signaled the conclusion of the polemical exchange between Van Toorenenbergen and Kuyper (see 1879.02, 1879.03, and 1879.05).
Articles reprinted from De Standaard concerning the relationship of the Anti-Revolutionary school of thought to Roman Catholicism. As was likely the case with 1870.33, this brochure was printed (at least partially) but very likely never sold or distributed. In 1879.04, it is noted at the beginning of appendix F (p. [203]) that the brochure has “already been printed” and it is included in an attached list of publications by Dr. A. Kuyper (p. [1310]) that will be “appearing in the course of this year.” In the second edition as well (1880.05), it is reported in a similar list that this reprint shall appear in the course of the year. However, the publisher did not include the usual prepublication announcement and there was no announcement of its appearance in the relevant newspapers and magazines.
An overview of the returns on Kuyper’s writings published in Amsterdam by J.H. Kruyt until the end of 1880 reports the print run and the production costs (ƒ213.85) of the brochure. It also notes that not a single copy had been sold as of December 31, 1880 (KA 366). Two incomplete copies survived.
The brochure contains four series of articles (1–4) from De Standaard and two sets of replies (I–II):
- 1. Onze verhouding tegenover Rome [Our relation to Rome]. Twelve articles about the relationship with Roman Catholics in the fight against “unbelieving” radicalism, taken from De Standaard, no. 512, November 27, 1873–no. 532, December 20, 1873.
- 2. Is dwaling strafbaar? [Is deviation punishable?]. Sixteen articles about the Roman Catholic vision of the fight against religious deviation as a state affair, about John Milton’s vision of the state and free speech, and about the fact that the Dutch government considered religious deviation to be punishable, taken from De Standaard, no. 660, May 25/26, 1874–no. 680, June 18, 1874.
- 3. De strijd tegen het Ultramontanisme [The struggle against Ultramontanism]. A polemical exchange about the possibility of a Roman Catholic minister, taken from De Standaard, no. 726, August 11, 1874–no. 728, August 13, 1874.
- 4. Rome en Dordt [Rome and Dordt]. Six articles about the role of the Anti-Revolutionaries and the Roman Catholics in the school struggle, taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 1001, July 3, 1875–no. 1006, July 9, 1875.
- I. “Repliek uit Den Haag” [Reply from The Hague]. A polemical exchange occasioned by the electoral campaign of June 1875 and the relation between Rome and Dordt, taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 1017, July 22, 1875.
- II. “Repliek uit Rotterdam” [Reply from Rotterdam]. A polemical exchange occasioned by the series of articles about Rome and Dordt, taken from De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 1018, July 23, 1875. It is noteworthy that the Reply from Rotterdam was not fully reprinted in the (only?) two copies of these reprinted articles that have survived. Less than an eighth of the corresponding article from De Standaard—only the beginning of that article, in fact—is printed on the final page of both copies and both also lack a title page.
1880
The first six of these twelve sermons represent the third edition of 1869.01 and the second six represent the second edition of 1870.31. According to the publisher, the two prior collections had been sold out for two years. Both series from the Twaalftal leerredenen were also sold separately (ƒ0.85 each).
Kuyper made it clear in the foreword, which was apparently pasted in after the printing of the collection (or after publication, because in some copies it is lacking), that he was not happy with this edition. He disliked it not simply because the twelve sermons did not form a comprehensive whole and had been published without his foreknowledge, but above all because the sermons had been written early in his career and he could no longer take responsibility in every respect for the viewpoints expressed in them.
An open letter to A.W. Bronsveld, requesting two corrections to the recipient’s publications. First, Kuyper urges a correction of the spelling of the word Heer [Lord] in an illustrated Bible that Bronsveld had edited and supplied with explanatory notes. This Bible was published in 1879 (N.T.) and 1880 (O.T.) by A. Akkeringa, Amsterdam. In his letter Kuyper pleads for Heere and underscores his request by reprinting a letter on the subject from the Leiden professor of linguistics, M. de Vries (1820–1892). As for the second correction, Kuyper requests that Bronsveld renounce a passage from an article he had published in Stemmen voor Waarheid en Vrede (December 1879). In that passage Bronsveld had questioned whether the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (see 1878.10) really had the right to found a university. With an extensive and well-documented argument, Kuyper defends the right of the association to found a university. Bronsveld responded to both requests with De “Bede” van Dr A. Kuyper afgewezen (Utrecht: C.H.E. Breyer, 1880).
A comment on a public meeting held in Amsterdam to discuss the founding of the Vrije Universiteit, taken from De Heraut, no. 130, June 6, 1880. Public meetings were held throughout the Netherlands to promote the Vrije Universiteit and to defend the right and significance of its establishment. One such meeting took place in Amsterdam on May 28, 1880. After a lengthy address by Kuyper, Rev. H. Beuker (1834–1900) raised six objections to the founding of the Vrije Universiteit. A motion to adjourn the meeting was then tendered on account of the advanced hour, preventing any further discussion of the matter. The motion to adjourn provoked the Rev. L. Lindeboom (1845–1933).
Looking back on this meeting in the untitled comment in De Heraut, Kuyper terms it a “sad incident.” After making several less than flattering remarks about Rev. Lindeboom, Kuyper reports that when Rev. Lindeboom had risen to speak he had been reminded that only the motion to adjourn could be discussed. Rev. Lindeboom reportedly reacted by exclaiming that those from the Christian Reformed party were apparently not welcome to speak at the meeting.
This report prompted Rev. Lindeboom to write an open letter to Kuyper in which he reprinted the comment from De Heraut. At the conclusion of the brochure Een zestal bezwaren tegen den grondslag der Vrije Universiteit, ingebracht en gehandhaafd op de eerste en tweede meeting te Amsterdam (Amsterdam: B.H. Blankenberg, [1880]), Rev. Beuker (Amsterdam) provided qualified support to Rev. Lindeboom’s account of the events.
These flyers, supposedly printed in “Eleutheropolis” [The City of Freedom] and popularly presented in the form of open letters, were intended to champion the legality and the importance of the Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands. The first was written by “a man of the threefold cord,” while the second and third were written by “the man of the threefold cord.”
From an announcement in 1880.08 (p. 131) it appears that Kuyper did not produce these flyers, but that he composed their content either in part or in whole. The flyers were distributed by provincial correspondents and agents of the Vrije Universiteit.
The arguments put forward in the Vliegend blad [Flying paper] were countered by six issues of the Loopend blad [Running paper], supposedly published in “Haplotetopolis” [The City of Honesty], but actually published in Amsterdam by Weijtingh & Brave and printed in Amsterdam by A. Hoogeboom. The issues of the Loopend blad are dated from June 12 (must be July 12) through August 18, 1880.
An abridged, discounted edition of 1879.04, which was published by the Central Committee of the Federation of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations. In the preface to this second edition Kuyper refers to it as a “popular edition.” The appendices of the first edition were not included in order to make this edition as inexpensive as possible. The series of articles entitled Antirevolutionair óók in uw huisgezin (see 1880.07) was included along with an appendix on pages [405]–473, between sections 324 and 325, just prior to the conclusion. Also in this edition the section numbers 4, 15 and 16 are absent (see 1879.04).
The list of writings by Dr. A. Kuyper with which the 1879 edition closed has been updated and now numbers forty-seven publications.
Two primary articles from De Standaard, reprinted in a circular letter (35cm.) dated August 17, 1880 from The Union: “A School with the Bible.” The first article, “17 Augustus 1878,” is taken from De Standaard 9 (1880), no. 2562, July 30, 1880. The second, “17 Augustus 1880,” is taken from De Standaard 9 (1880), no. 2565, August 3, 1880. The goal of this circular was to orchestrate and to promote (cf. 1879.07) the yearly Union Collection (see 1878.06) among the correspondents and the executives of the local committees of the People’s Petition (see 1878.04).
Reprinted from a series of fifteen articles originally published in De Standaard and subsequently included in 1880.05. The articles assert that the seed and the root from which the state grows is the household and that therefore Anti-Revolutionary political theory arises from family life. The articles in this series were published nearly every other day in De Standaard 9 (1880), no. 2397, January 16, 1880–no. 2427, February 20, 1880.
An article titled “De beteekenis van de lagere school voor den Staat” [The significance of primary schooling for the state], from De Standaard 9 (1880), no. 2429, February 23, 1880, is included as an appendix with the heading “De School” [The school].
In this third (after 1879.05 and 1880.02) and most extensive study, Kuyper seeks to remove objections to the Vrije Universiteit and to defuse resistance to an exclusively Reformed university.
Taking his title from a passage in A.W. Bronsveld’s reply to an earlier challenge (see 1880.02), Kuyper treats the legality of founding a university in two chapters entitled, respectively, “Strikt ‘naar recht’” [Strictly ‘according to the law’] and “Strikt ‘wetenschappelijk’” [Strictly ‘scholarly’]. Finally, in “Strikt ‘ernstig’” [Strictly ‘seriously’], Kuyper discusses the polemical exchange itself. He confesses his readiness to be corrected and offers to tone down the debate.
In the first appendix the reply of Bronsveld with respect to the question of Heer or Heere (see 1880.02) is taken up. The second appendix contains an essay by Ph.J. Hoedemaker entitled “Protest tegen de reconstructie van de wordingsgeschiedenis der Vrije Universiteit” [A protest against the reconstruction of the history of the formation of the Vrije Universiteit], which sets out the true history of the founding of the Vrije Universiteit, partly by drawing on a number of citations culled from Kuyper’s previous works. The third and final appendix contains two articles reprinted from De Heraut, no. 133, June 27, 1880–no. 134, July 4, 1880 under the title De theologische faculteit en de kerk [The theological faculty and the church].
According to a report drawn up by the publisher (KA 366), 592 copies of the print run were complimentary copies.
A speech delivered at the opening ceremony for the Vrije Universiteit in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, delivered by Kuyper in his capacity as rector magnificus.
The concepts of sphere sovereignty and freedom for every sphere of life in society are used to analyze the national significance, scholarly prospects, and Reformed character of the Vrije Universiteit. Kuyper’s famous exclamation, which encapsulates the spirit of both this speech and his general theological perspective, appears on page 32: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” Groen van Prinsterer had already used the concept of “sovereignty in one’s own sphere” in the struggle for Christian schooling and the idea, though not yet explicitly formulated as a slogan, was already a major motif in 1869.15.
The type face and the printing resemble the complimentary copies of 1873.08. However, the cover of this edition features red and black printing on heavy, uncut blue/gray laid paper; the text is also presented on lovely, uncut laid paper with a watermark and countermark (“U d B”).
The work appeared in print on the same day the speech was delivered and was sold out within a week. The second printing was published precisely a week after the first (October 27, 1880).
Aan den Koning! Directeuren, Curatoren, Hoogleraren en Stichters der Vrije Universiteit, bij den uitgang van het stichtingsfeest in feestdisch vereenigd, bieden hunnen Koning de betuiging hunner eerbiedige hulde en bevelen de nieuwe Stichting in zijn Koninklijke gratie aan. De Rector der Vrije Universiteit.
Telegram to King William III, sent during the dinner on October 21, 1880 (after the solemn assemblies held on October 19–21, 1880) to celebrate the opening of the Vrije Universiteit. Kuyper was the first rector magnificus of the Vrije Universiteit. The Equerry of Service sent thanks for this homage by return telegram and conveyed the best wishes of the king for the flourishing of the corporation. The telegrams were printed in a celebratory issue (12 pp.) of De Heraut, which was printed in color.
In this letter Kuyper informs the directors of the Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium” that he gratefully accepts its offer of honorary membership. The honorary membership had been offered for his journalistic work relating to the social question and for his leadership at the Vrije Universiteit, which “must be regarded as the crown and ornament of the struggle for free Christian education.”
The Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium” was the first Christian social organization in the Netherlands (established in 1877). It was not a labor union but a union of laborers with general social and cultural purposes. Klaas Kater (1833–1916), one of the founders, was Patrimonium’s first chairman (1877–1900).
The title of this first collection of devotionals was taken from Psalm 81:16. Seventy-five of these devotionals first appeared as weekly secondary articles in De Heraut, no. 1, December 7, 1877–no. 75, May 18, 1879. The other twenty-five were taken from De Heraut, no. 123, April 18, 1880–no. 124, April 25, 1880 and no. 127, May 16, 1880–no. 149, October 17, 1880. The second collection appeared under the same title (see 1883.08).
Of the approximately 2,200 devotionals in the Sunday edition of De Standaard, in the Zondagsblad van De Standaard, and subsequently in De Heraut, 616 were reprinted in eight different collections (ten volumes) between 1880 and 1908 (see 1880.12, 1889.15, 1891.16, 1893.08, 1899.32, 1901.04, 1902.17, and 1908.21). Devotionals were also reprinted in collections of biblical-theological articles. For additional information about Kuyper and his devotionals, see 1877.05. See also Kuyper’s article “Tweeduizendste meditatie” [Two thousandth devotional] in De Heraut, no. 2000, May 21, 1916.
1881
Preface to the Dutch translation of Les limites de la liberté chrétienne. Trois discours suivis d’un appendix relatif à la question du théatre by the Rev. G. Tophel (Lausanne: G. Bridel, 1880). A controversial appearance in Amsterdam by an English group called the Bell Ringers prompted Kuyper to write a fifteen-article series in De Standaard, no. 2680, December 15, 1880–no. 2736, February 21, 1881 about art and entertainment. Offered under the title Publiek vermaak [Public amusement] (see 1924.03), the series was critical of the theater as a source of public entertainment. In the first article of this series, Kuyper already refers favorably to the upcoming translation of Les limites de la liberté chrétienne.
In his foreword to the Dutch translation, which refers to the theater as “the bulwark of worldly-mindedness,” Kuyper recommends Tophel’s appeal because its author is a foreigner who is neither a puritan nor a Calvinist. This lends extra support, Kuyper claims, to his protest against worldly-mindedness in public entertainment.
A.J. Hoogenbirk (1848–1920), who translated Tophel’s booklet into Dutch, was an editor of De Standaard and De Heraut from 1878 to 1892.
Two primary articles reprinted from De Standaard in a circular letter (35cm.; print run 1,500) dated July 27, 1881 from The Union: “A School with the Bible” in connection with the planned collection of August 17, 1881 (cf. 1879.07). The first article, “August 17,” is taken from De Standaard 10 (1881), no. 2860, July 19, 1881. The second, “The Free School,” is taken from De Standaard 10 (1881), no. 2865, July 25, 1881.
Primary article reprinted from De Standaard 10 (1881), no. 2871, August 1, 1881 in a circular letter (35cm.; print run 1,500) dated August 7, 1881. The circular letter, which was sent out by The Union: “A School with the Bible,” also contained thirteen suggestions about how to gather the annual Union Collection (see 1879.07).
At the publisher’s request Kuyper wrote this introduction to a new edition of the first Protestant martyrology, which had been composed by Adriaan van Haemstede (1525–1562) and originally printed in the Netherlands in 1559. This new edition reprinted the improved edition of 1671.
In the introduction Kuyper cautions the readers of the work. First, he asserts that only the martyrology by Adriaan van Haemstede is a truly Reformed book of martyrs. Second, he warns that the martyrology must not lead to the veneration of the martyrs, because they endured their trials not by the power of their own blood, but by the blood of the Lamb. Third, he cautions that the book might testify on the day of judgment against readers who have lacked courage, enthusiasm, or holy intentions. Kuyper writes: “Now that Reformed life is beginning to be awakened among us again by the special grace of God may an end also come to spiritually deadening cowardice.”
Kuyper’s introduction to Van Haemstede’s martyrology was printed in two columns in a prospectus and delivered with the first installment (48 pp.). The introduction was subsequently reset, reprinted, and added to the twenty-first and final installment, which was published at the end of 1883.
A lecture delivered on October 20, 1881 on the occasion of the transferal of the rectorship of the Vrije Universiteit to F.L. Rutgers. In the lecture Kuyper elaborates programmatically on the thesis that “the biblical criticism of the present day is destructive of the best interests of the community of the living God, for the reason that it revokes her theology, robs her of the Bible, and destroys her liberty in Christ” (English translation by Rev. J.H. De Vries—see 1904.25). Addressed above all to the so-called “ethical theologians,” this lecture gave rise to polemical responses by F.E. Daubanton (1853–1920), J.J. van Oosterzee (1817–1882), and J.J. Prins (see 1882.11), among others.
The Annales Academici (pp. [45]–50) are also attached. In the first of the seventy-four notes included with this edition (pp. 53–64), Kuyper remarks that he can only give a sketch of his standpoint in this lecture. Kuyper would subsequently develop his position on the doctrine of Scripture more comprehensively in his Encyclopedia (see 1894.12) and in the Locus de Sacra Scriptura from the lectures on dogmatics that he gave from 1881 to 1888 (see 1891.22 and 1891.25).
The report of the sessions in committee on April 16, 17, 18, and 20, 1874, was published in supplement 74.1 of the Session Reports of the Second Chamber: Verslag van het behandelde in de vergadering der Tweede Kamer in comité-generaal. (Oorlog met Atjeh) [Report on the matters under discussion in closed session of the Second Chamber. (War with Aceh)]. Kuyper began his political career in the Second Chamber (cf. 1874.03) with the two speeches in this volume. On April 17 Kuyper spoke about the government’s policies on the war in Aceh and declared that he was considering submitting a motion of condemnation (pp. 19–23). When the minister of the colonies thereupon threatened to resign, Kuyper stated in his rejoinder on April 18 that he would provisionally suspend his motion (pp. 36–38).
The war in Aceh was concluded in 1879 and therefore the parliamentary speeches about the war could be made public. The minister of the colonies had been prepared to release the speeches in 1880.
In this letter to the editor, Kuyper writes that the pseudonymous A.V. (Amicus Veritatis)—actually the Rev. W. Diemer (1837–1926), editor of the Christian Reformed periodical Wekstem [Voice of awakening]—had finally gone too far. According to A.V., Kuyper had insinuated in De Heraut that there were no brothers and sisters in the Christian Reformed Church. The editors of Wekstem noted next to Kuyper’s letter that their fellow editor had read more into Kuyper’s article in De Heraut than he had actually written. In his reply to Kuyper (Wekstem, no. 139, November 24, 1881), however, A.V. held fast to his opinion, writing that it was not he but Kuyper who was making insinuations (cf. 1882.02).
1882
While sojourning in Scotland in 1881, Kuyper discovered to his amazement that Alexander Comrie (1706–1774), one of the best representatives of Reformed theology in the eighteenth century, was virtually unknown in the Scottish Presbyterian Church. Accordingly, Kuyper wrote a series of three articles for Presbyterian readers about this theologian, who was born in Perth, Scotland and who was pastor for forty years in Woubrugge, the Netherlands.
The first article is a short biography based entirely on Kuyper’s own research and composed in part on the basis of information he received in response to an advertisement (cf. 1863.02) that he had placed in De Heraut, no. 193, September 4, 1881 (and the next issue) requesting details about Comrie’s life. The advertisement was reprinted in 1929.04, on page 68.
The second article gives a short sketch of the conflict surrounding Antonius van der Os. That conflict had centered on the question whether justification precedes or follows the actual exercise of faith. Van der Os was pastor in Zwolle from 1748 until 1755, when he was removed from office.
In the third article Kuyper asserts that the church of his day is undergoing practically the same attack—only in more intensified form—as it had undergone in Comrie’s day. He complains, however, that the contemporary orthodox defense has not yet been as successful as Comrie’s. From Comrie’s example, Kuyper derives five practical tips for present-day defenders of the church.
In this 1878 private letter to the Rev. W. Diemer (cf. 1881.07), Kuyper declares that he desires with all his heart to reunite the Dutch Reformed Church with the other Reformed churches. Diemer published this private correspondence in 1882 to indicate that Kuyper was now sounding a completely different tune. Kuyper responded with 1882.03.
In this letter to the editor, Kuyper objects to the Rev. W. Diemer’s publication of a private letter that he had written to Diemer more than three years previously. In the letter that Diemer made public (see 1882.02), Kuyper had written that he greatly wished for church union among all the Reformed churches. However, Diemer thought that Kuyper had sounded a completely different tune in a recent article in De Heraut. Kuyper totally disagreed with this charge. J.H. Donner (1824–1903), the editor in chief of Wekstem, added an editorial note next to Kuyper’s letter stating that he very much disapproved of making private letters public.
Two short editorials about the confidentiality of the correspondence appeared shortly thereafter in De Standaard, no. 3042, February 17, 1882 and no. 3050, February 27, 1882.
A poem for Nicolaas Beets. In Najaarsbladen. Gemengde gedichten, 1874–1880 (Amsterdam: W.H. Kirberger, 1881), Beets included his 1874 poem “Aan dezen en genen” [To these and those]. The dismissive two-stanza poem was likely inspired by Beets’s experience with Kuyper (see 1870.11). While Beets directed his poem cautiously to “these and those,” Kuyper regarded the poem as directly addressing him and thus wrote his seven-stanza poem openly and directly aan Beets.
Kuyper could write prose very poetically but he left very few poems behind. After Kuyper’s death, however, his oldest son, H.H. Kuyper (1864–1945), wrote an article (De Heraut, no. 2235, November 21, 1920) entitled “Dr. A. Kuyper … Also a Poet.” In this article he revealed that the poem printed at the opening of a celebratory issue of De Heraut (cf. 1880.10) was authored by his father. The concluding line of this six-line poem reads, Uit deernis met uw smaad, schonk u Zijn trouw deez’ stichting [Out of pity for your defamation this institution is offered to you through his faithfulness]. (See also 1928.02, p. 116. For the poem translated into German and Hungarian, see 1924.08 and 1927.09, respectively.) In the same brief article, H.H. Kuyper printed another poem—as playful as it was serious—that his father had once written in his son’s scrapbook (see 1920.09). On the occasion of Kuyper’s hundredth birthday in 1937, A.G. Honig (1864–1940), a Kampen professor, published a poem that Kuyper had written during his student days (see 1937.09). An even earlier rhyme was published in 1921.03. Finally, it should also be mentioned that Kuyper once expressed his life’s goal in poetic form (see 1897.16 and, for an English translation, 2001.09) by reworking a poem by Isaac da Costa (cf. 1891.05).
A reprint of a five-article series from De Heraut, the first four articles of which appeared as “Prof. Doedes’ beweren dat de schepping niet het werk zou zijn van den Drieëenigen God” [Prof. Doedes’ assertion that the creation is not the work of the Triune God] in De Heraut, no. 209, December 25, 1881–no. 212, January 15, 1882. The fifth and concluding article appeared as “Naschrift inzake het verschil met Prof. Doedes” [Postscript regarding the disagreement with Prof. Doedes] in De Heraut, no. 213, January 22, 1882. An article from De Heraut, no. 171, April 3, 1881 was added as an appendix.
Kuyper entered into a polemical exchange with J.I. Doedes (cf. 1867.02) after Doedes published the first volume of his two-volume De Nederlandsche Geloofsbelijdenis en de Heidelbergsche Catechismus, als belijdenisgeschriften der Nederlandsche Hervormde Kerk in de negentiende eeuw, getoetst en beoordeeld (Utrecht: Kemink & Zoon, 1880–1881), a critical analysis of the confessions of the Dutch Reformed Church. Kuyper reviewed the first volume in four articles under the title “Welke Godgeleerdheid er te Utrecht onderwezen wordt?” [What sort of theology is being taught at Utrecht?] in De Heraut, no. 115, February 22, 1880–no. 118, March 14, 1880. In these articles he criticized Doedes’ methodology as ahistorical. After the publication of the second volume, Kuyper wrote another article in De Heraut, no. 171, April 3, 1881 seeking to demonstrate, from an analysis of his interpretation of the simplicity of God, that Doedes’ interpretation of the confessions as a whole was flawed. Doedes’ provocative rejoinder in Stemmen voor Waarheid en Vrede (December 1881, p. 532), prompted Kuyper immediately to respond with the five-article series in De Heraut reprinted here.
These articles, which sharply criticize Doedes’ presentation of the relationship between God the Father, the trinity, and the creation, were subsequently published with a few adjustments and a slightly altered introduction as a brochure. The point of this edition was to raise a scholarly protest (i.e., “among those who may have considered themselves too scholarly to read De Heraut”) against the danger that Doedes’ book posed to the confession of the triunity of God. Kuyper’s concern about potential revision to the confessional documents of the Dutch Reformed Church was an unspoken motive for the publication of the brochure.
The meditation on Isaiah 50:11, “Wandelt in de vlam van uw vuur” [Walk in the flame of your fire], was first published in De Heraut, no. 33, July 21, 1878. It was reprinted in Dutch in the South African monthly De Getuige, edited by the Rev. S.J. du Toit (1847–1911).
During a trip through Europe and the Middle East in 1880, Du Toit had visited the Netherlands and met Kuyper for the first time. Kuyper and Du Toit worked closely during the four years after their meeting, but subsequently grew apart due to conflicting interests and visions.
This is the first volume in the Bibliotheca Reformata series. The volume, which was edited with a foreword by Kuyper, contains an autobiography and bibliography of Franciscus Junius (1545–1602), as well as the following selections from his work: Tractatus de vera theologia; Theses theologicae Leydenses; Theses theologicae Heidelbergenses; De politiae Moysis observatione; and Eirenicum. Kuyper also furnished 1888.05 for the series.
On April 1, 1880 a conference for pastors favorably disposed toward Reformed principles was held at the invitation of several curators and professors at the still-to-be-opened Vrije Universiteit to discuss the curriculum of the new theological faculty. On October 21, 1880, the day after the Vrije Universiteit opened, a second conference for pastors was held, at which time a plea was made for the republication of works by the most important old Reformed theologians, whose books had become rare and difficult to find. The purpose of the theological faculty was indeed both to breathe new life into classical Reformed theology and to bring it into rapport with the spirit of the times. A Society for the Reprinting of Reformed Theological Works was subsequently established and staff members of the Vrije Universiteit produced the editions of the Bibliotheca Reformata in that framework.
The following ten volumes appeared between 1882 and 1896:
- 1. D. Francisci Junii opuscula theologica selecta, ed. A. Kuyper (1882).
- 2. Gisberti Voetii tractatus selecti de politica ecclesiastica, series prima, ed. F .L. Rutgers (1885).
- 3. Gisberti Voetii tractatus selecti de politica ecclesiastica, series secunda, ed. Ph.J. Hoedemaker (1886).
- 4. D. Gysberti Voetii selectarum disputationum fasciculus, ed. A. Kuyper (1887 [= 1888]), see 1888.05.
- 5. D. Hieron. Zanchii commentarius in Epistulam sancti Pauli ad Ephesios, pars prior, ed. A.H. de Hartog (1888).
- 6. D. Hieron. Zanchii commentarius in Epistulam sancti Pauli ad Ephesios, pars altera, ed. A.H. de Hartog (1889).
- 7–9. Hieremiam Bastingium, Verclaringe op den Catechisme der Christelijcker Religie so die inden Belgischen, oft Nederlantschen Geunieerden Provintien, ende inder Keur-vorstelicker Paltz, in kercken ende scholen gepredict, ende geleert wort, ed. F.L. Rutgers (1893).
- 10. Willem Amezes, Vijf boeken van de conscientie en haar regt of gevallen, ed. W. Geesink (1896).
The second and subsequent volumes were no longer printed on laid paper and published in vellum bindings, but were sold unbound on ordinary paper. The plan—made public in the initial advertisements for the series as well as in the foreword to the first volume—to publish an entire series of Reformed scholastics was not realized due to a lack of subscribers (ƒ5.- per year).
The meditation on Hosea 14:2 that appears in De Christen 3, no. 18 was taken from De Heraut, no. 221, March 19, 1882. The meditation on Isaiah 48:18 that appears in De Christen 3, no. 26 was taken from De Heraut, no. 168, March 13, 1881.
The untranslated meditations were included in the independent South African church newsletter De Gereformeerde Kerkbode. In 1880 this church newspaper was incorporated into De Christen, a new independent paper, as a section for official notices. In 1883 De Gereformeerde Kerkbode was no longer published as a section within an independent paper, but as a distinct publication of the synod. Its name was changed to De Kerkbode. Het Weekblad der Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerk van Zuid Afrika.
As is stated on the cover, this is Kuyper’s opening address to a meeting of supporters of the Vrije Universiteit, which took place in Leeuwarden on July 5, 1882. A similar meeting, held annually in different significant cities to garner national support for the Vrije Universiteit, was convened by the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles. The addresses that Kuyper delivered at such meetings were typically intended both to keep the audience up to date about the university and to recruit new students.
In the Leeuwarden address Kuyper discusses the job prospects of students. The university initially had no effectus civilis. Thus, diplomas conveyed by the Vrije Universiteit lacked legal standing and could not be used for professional licensing. Moreover, the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church would not admit graduates of the Vrije Universiteit to its pulpits. Kuyper discusses these and attendant problems carefully by putting them into broader perspective. His address deals above all with the prospects of theological students because twelve of the fourteen students at the Vrije Universiteit in the academic year 1881/1882 were students of theology.
Nine notes were added to the address (pp. 37–40).
A memo addressed to the directors of the Dutch South African Association (NZAV). The NZAV was the result of cooperation between liberals and Anti-Revolutionaries. A national association established on May 12, 1881, the NZAV consolidated several local committees for the Transvaal, which had been established at the time of the outbreak of the First Boer War (1880–1881). Prof. Dr. P. Harting (1812–1885) became the chairman of the NZAV. Kuyper was co-founder of the NZAV and a member of the board.
In this lengthy letter to the board (KA 367), Kuyper objects to the idea of sending H.F. Jonkman (secretary of the NZAV) to South Africa for a year as its official representative. The idea was that Jonkman would gather local information about how the NZAV might foster the interests of the Boers. Kuyper disagreed with the board’s plans. In his view the proposed action went against the statutes of the association. He also found Jonkman lacking both in qualifications for the task and in spiritual sympathy for the Boers. Moreover, Kuyper opposed the decision because it would send Jonkman off without training and would require the expenditure of a substantial percentage of the NZAV’s treasury.
The board nevertheless decided to send Jonkman as its delegate to South Africa. Kuyper resigned his board membership on October 19, 1882. The Rev. F. Lion Cachet (1835–1899) had already resigned from the board and D.P.D. Fabius (1851–1931), professor at the Vrije Universiteit, would soon follow suit.
The memo was also published in De Standaard 11 (1882), no. 3252, October 24, 1882, but the passage about the board’s non-compliance with its statutes was left out. This abbreviated version was subsequently reprinted in the press.
A letter to J.J. Prins (1814–1898), a professor at Leiden who had sent Kuyper a gift copy of his Apologetische polemiek (Leiden: A.H. Adriani, 1882), a set of four short polemical essays. In the letter, Kuyper laments that his former preceptor has expressed himself so arrogantly about Kuyper’s lecture on biblical criticism (see 1881.05). In that lecture, Kuyper had affirmed the value and significance of the textus receptus of the New Testament, which served as the basis of the Dutch Authorized Version (1637). In an anonymous article published in November 1881 under the title “Zelfbedrog” [Self-deception], Kuyper’s views were rejected as, among other things, “nonsense.” It turned out that Prins had been the author of this criticism, which was published as the second article in the gift copy sent to Kuyper.
In a postscript, Kuyper writes that he is making this letter public because the identity of the author of the 1881 article has now been made public.
1883
Ingezonken door moe- en matheid beurde der broederen vriendelijk woord mij heerlijk op. Voor allen den groet mijner ziele. Zegene de Heere de Unie. Kuyper.
Kuyper was prevented from attending the meeting of the South Holland Local Committee of The Union: “A School with the Bible” (see 1878.06) by ill health, household cares, and the recent death of his father, Rev. J.F. Kuijper (1801–1882). At the suggestion of Mr. L.W.C. Keuchenius, a member of the national board attending the regional “Union Day,” a cordial cable (pp. 1–2) was sent to Kuyper, who responded with this cable.
In the preface Kuyper reports that his new edition of the three forms of unity had its origin in a meeting of church elders in Amsterdam on February 24, 1883. A proposal was put forward at that meeting, requesting that all the elders and the pastors of the church sign the three forms of unity as a token of their “undivided and sincere agreement with the confessional documents of our church.” For the signing ceremony an edition of J.J. van Toorenenbergen was used: De symbolische schriften der Nederlandsche Hervormde Kerk in zuiveren, kritisch bewerkten tekst haar aangeboden tot wettig gebruik door Dr. J.J. van Toorenenbergen (Utrecht: Kemink en Zoon, 1869).
Kuyper’s edition was intended to rehabilitate the classic Dutch confessions, of which the Canons of Dordt in particular had fallen from favor. It raised the Canons of Dordt to equal status with the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. (See Jasper Vree, “De drie formulieren van enigheid: een vondst van Abraham Kuyper,” Historisch Tijdschrift GKN 13, 2007.) Kuyper conformed the texts to contemporary spelling and grammar rules. After the forms of unity, the Church Order of Dordt is printed in accordance with the official text of the Postacta (1619) of the Synod of Dordrecht. F.L. Rutgers (1836–1917) conformed this text to contemporary spelling and grammar rules. Kuyper contended that this church order should replace the Reglementen van 1816 [General regulations of 1816], but argued that this could only happen after church members had again consciously subscribed to the basics of the Christian faith as expressed in the three forms of unity.
Kuyper envisioned a twofold use for this edition. On the one hand, he intended the book to be used in churches by consistories and pastors and also to be given to newly confirmed members. On the other hand, he envisioned that church members would read the book at home to better acquaint themselves with the confessions. He suggested that heads of households should place this edition alongside the book of martyrs (see 1883.12) “in order to bring forth from both books the word of the time-honored church to the members of his household” and in so doing to instill a grounded knowledge of the faith. The preface was also published in De Heraut, no. 275, April 1, 1883.
Copies with blank pages interleaved were available at a higher price for students, as were copies with additional pages inserted for church officers’ signatures.
Half-title, title page, and preface (KA 366). It appears from the preface that this printer’s proof was a design for the title page and preface for the three-volume series of biblical-theological studies that was ultimately published under the title Uit het Woord. Tweede serie [From the Word: Second series] (see 1884.09, 1885.04, and 1886.24; for the first series, see 1875.10, 1875.11, and 1879.01). Ultimately the second series would include approximately thirty articles more than the preface to Mabdîl announces; changes also appear to have been made to the classification of the articles and the series. Item 1883.06 would also be added to the series, being “nothing else than the consistent application of the ‘Mabdîl’ to the Church of Christ as well.”
Kuyper apparently had second thoughts about publishing these volumes with such an obscure title, which he would have had to explain in the preface. Therefore, the title was dropped along with the preface explaining it. In addition to a detailed table of contents for the projected three volumes, the dropped preface also provides a pithy analysis of the way in which pantheism blurs the boundaries set up by God. Kuyper thus also left out the background information about what had given rise to the first volume: “The awful danger [of pantheism] moved me more than three years ago now to bravely raise up the watchword once again that ‘grace is particular!’—a saying which caused everyone, however finely and imperceptibly afflicted they were, to detest me ever since; but which also led many in the nation to offer me thanks and sympathy. The effects of this phrase were actually so strong that the pressure continued unabatedly to put the series which elaborated this phrase within everyone’s reach.”
Letter from the Advisory Committee of the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations (see 1878.02) to the Roman Catholic A.H.M. van Berckel (1847–1915) and the liberal A.E.J. Modderman (1838–1885). After the elections for the Second Chamber of the States General on June 12, 1883, a run-off election was required in the primary electoral district of Delft. The Anti-Revolutionary candidate had dropped out and this letter put three questions to the two remaining candidates, Van Berckel and Modderman. The advisory committee planned to use the candidates’ answers to recommend a candidate for the second ballot on June 26, 1883 (cf. 1886.10 and also the letter signed by Kuyper and D.P.D. Fabius in De Standaard, no. 5753, December 18, 1890, where the same policy was followed).
The committee recommended Van Berckel. Modderman, who had recently resigned as minister of justice, had answered that he did not wish to take part in a “comparative exam” in the context of the elections.
A reprint of a leading article from De Standaard 12 (1883), no. 3486, July 30, 1883 in a circular letter (34cm.) from The Union: “A School with the Bible,” which was intended to boost the annual Union Collection (see 1879.07).
The fourth centenary of Luther’s birth provided the occasion for this treatise, which offers a new plan for reformation. In the preface, Kuyper contends that Luther always remained in the public eye even in the Calvinist Netherlands. Furthermore, Luther serves as a witness that the reformation of the church may require the breaking of church relations. In a brief introduction following the preface Kuyper comments that this treatise is “only the pale silhouette of what a ‘handbook for a Reformed church order’ should be.” Four main chapters follow: (1) “Algemeene beginselen” [General principles (i.e., what constitutes the being of the church)]; (2) “Van de rechte formatie der kerken” [Concerning the right formation of the churches]; (3) “Van de deformatie der kerken” [Concerning the deformation of the churches]; and (4) “Van de reformatie der kerken” [Concerning the reformation of the churches].
The book had its origins in four lectures about the reformation of the church, which Kuyper delivered as an elder in De Broederkring [The Circle of Brothers] during the months of March, April, and May 1883. The Circle of Brothers was a group of like-minded members of the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam who advocated making subscription to the three forms of unity mandatory and who regularly consulted with one another about their lines of action in the consistory. De Broederkring was the successor of Beraad (see 1872.12). This publication has rightly been called the blueprint of the Doleantie (cf. 1886.25). It is dedicated to P.J. Elout van Soeterwoude, who “from the council chamber of the land harkened rulers and people in church and state back to the Word of the Lord.”
This address about the “native question” is an apologia that Kuyper drew up in London in cooperation with the Rev. S.J. du Toit. In De Standaard 12 (1883), no. 3577, November 13, 1883, Kuyper referred to this item as an “apologia concerning the Kaffir Question [that] shall be distributed in large quantities in England and Germany.” The address was signed by S.J.P. Kruger (1825–1904), president of the South African Republic, S.J. du Toit, superintendent of education, and N.J. Smit (1837–1896), general. This three-member delegation from the Transvaal (cf. 1884.02) had come to London for talks with the English government about the revision of the Convention of Pretoria (August 3, 1881). The convention granted the Transvaal “complete self-government, subject to the suzerainty of Her Majesty.” The implication of this agreement was that the Transvaal could not carry out any independent foreign policy. The delegation tried to reword the agreement to avoid this consequence. Du Toit (see 1882.06) likely invited Kuyper to advise the delegation about formulating documents for the English government and about conducting talks with government officials. Kuyper remained in London from November 1–14, 1883.
The two societies to whom the address was delivered shared the opinion of the lord mayor of London that Transvaal Christians were falling short of their Christian duty with respect to the “Kaffirs.” The Transvaal Government had even been accused of slavery and inhumanity. Recent correspondence with the lord mayor (pp. 13–15) was also included in this apologia (BLPES, pamphlets, HT/D108, special).
The address was published, among other places, in The Times, no. 30.976, November 13, 1883. A Dutch version appeared in De Standaard 12 (1883), no. 3578, November 14, 1883. In 1930.04, Kuyper wrote that he had no knowledge of this apologia, but “had at that time submitted many letters to the editors of various English newspapers.” In all likelihood, this address was published in pamphlet form after Kuyper had already returned to the Netherlands.
For the second volume of Honig uit den rotssteen, a new selection of weekly devotions was made from De Heraut of 1879 (twenty-two devotions), 1880 (seventeen devotions), 1881 (forty-four devotions), and 1882 (seventeen devotions). A notable feature of this volume is that the devotions from 1879, 1881, and 1882 are not entirely reprinted in the chronological order of their original publication—the volume opens with two devotions from 1881. The hundred devotions composing this volume were published in De Heraut, no. 76, May 25, 1879–no. 236, July 2, 1882.
The typeface, size, and the omission of the text of the Church Order of Dordt made this edition cheaper than 1883.02 and therefore more widely accessible. Since the edition was intended primarily for use in catechism classes, as gifts for those who made public confession of faith, and for diaconal and Bible schools, the publishers also held down the price by printing the booklet in a smaller format and on lower quality paper.
The preface urges readers to acquaint themselves with the forms of unity and indicates briefly for whom this edition is intended. The meaning and significance of the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dordt are subsequently described in a simple and pithy manner.
Only one reprint followed (1885.02) and an edition that included the “Compendium of the Christian Religion” (1884.05) subsequently became the catechism book for at least three generations of Gereformeerden in the Netherlands.
Kuyper opposed the use of pastors’ self-published catechetical booklets because of their great diversity (see De Heraut, no. 206, December 4, 1881). It is likely for this reason that he printed a cautionary piece against the use of catechetical booklets by Voetius without commentary in De Heraut, no. 272, March 11, 1883 just before the publication of 1883.02. See also the remarkable change in the preface of 1885.02, his remark in 1886.24 (p. 107), the introduction to 1892.06, and the preface of the eighth printing in 1892.08.
A twin edition of 1883.09, which also left out the text of the Church Order of Dordt. It was meant for use by church councils, families, and students, and therefore entirely conformed to the projected use of the first edition (see 1883.02). This edition was printed on high-quality paper. By paying an extra supplement, it was possible to purchase an edition with extra blank pages on which members of the consistory could sign their names.
Aan den Voorzitter der Unie. Overkomst is mij onmogelijk. Dit is mij zeer leed. Mag ik u verzoeken aan mijne geachte medebestuurders en aan de vergaderde broederen mijnen hartelijken groet te willen overbrengen. Dusver was de Unie zeldzaam gezegend. Verzelle haar ook in het jaar, dat nu komt, de goede gunste onzes Gods. Kuyper.
Cable sent to the fifth annual meeting of The Union: “A School with the Bible,” which took place on October 17, 1883 in Utrecht. A.F. de Savornin Lohman was chairman [from 1879 to 1889].
The threefold warning (see 1881.04) is printed immediately after the title page. This martyrology was a republication with contemporary spelling of De Historie der martelaren [The history of martyrs] by Adriaan van Haemstede, published in Amsterdam in 1671 by the widow of Jan Jacobsz Schipper. Kuyper called this edition, which was corrected and updated by Johannes Gysius (c. 1583–1652), pastor in Ouddorp, “our true, trustworthy, Reformed book of martyrs.” The book contains the histories of martyrs who perished on account of their faith. The stories of approximately 1,600 martyrs are recounted in this edition. Of the approximately 150 copper engravings in the edition of 1671, eighty-two were copied for this new edition and reproduced (together with the stories that they depicted) on forty-one pages. These copies do not always reliably reproduce the original illustrations and do not live up to the standards of the seventeenth-century copper engravers. The lithographed illustration facing the title page was produced for this new edition; it depicts Matthew 16:18b in heroic fashion. The edition was published in twenty-one installments.
Many Dutch Calvinist families used to keep a book of martyrs next to the Dutch Authorized Version (1637) in their homes.
1884
This special, luxury-bound edition of the forms of unity was published as a signatory book for office holders. The edition conforms to 1883.02 in all but three respects: there is a new preface, the church order has been dropped, and 128 blank pages have been inserted along with an affidavit of consent.
This information is derived from an advertisement. A copy could not be traced.
A speech held on behalf of the Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium” (see 1880.11). The speech was delivered on March 11, 1884 at the Plancius building in Amsterdam before S.J.P. Kruger, the president of the South African Republic, the Rev. S.J. Du Toit, and General N.J. Smit—the members of the Transvaal deputation (see 1883.07). They had just signed a treaty with England concerning the South African Republic before arriving in the Netherlands. (The London Convention, February 27, 1884, was a revision of the Convention of Pretoria.) The address concluded with the presentation of a special Transvaal flag to the deputation.
In his speech Kuyper emphasizes the strong sympathy in the Netherlands for the struggle of the South African Boers against the English. He explains this sympathy by referring to common kinship and shared historical experiences, both in the past (the Sea Beggars’ struggle against Spanish mastery) and in the present (the opposition to Kuyper and his sympathizers).
The preface reports that this address was not reported accurately by the press (cf. 1884.03 and 1884.04) and therefore gave rise to misunderstanding and protest.
Kuyper wrote the address down from memory in transcript form, reporting the words by which he was introduced as well as the resounding applause that drowned out his words toward the conclusion of the speech.
The Transvaal deputation remained in the Netherlands from February 29 to July 17, 1884.
A letter that accompanied the gift copy of 1884.02 presented to Prof. Dr. P. Harting. Harting had written to a Dutchman who was living in England and acting as a correspondent of the Dutch South African Association (see 1882.10) that the Plancius address had aroused widespread astonishment and indignation and that the Calvinist faction formed no part of the civilized Dutch nation. This commentary appeared in the English press, where it reinforced the negative impression of the Plancius address given by a reporter from the Times.
Kuyper concludes his request for rectification by announcing that he will publish this letter because Harting’s commentary had also been made public.
Letter in response to Prof. Harting’s extensive response (in De Standaard, no. 3698, April 5, 1884) to 1884.03. Kuyper clarifies the complaint that he had expressed in his previous letter. Harting’s argument in his reply had actually passed over the salient point by giving a lengthy description of the difference between the Christian and the humanist worldview. That was not what the debate was about. Kuyper promises to take up the difference between the Christian and the humanist worldview after Easter in De Heraut (see 1884.07) and focuses instead on the present point of contention—namely, that by arousing widespread astonishment and indignation the Plancius address had also endangered the friendly relations between the Netherlands and England.
As a result of this letter, Harting withdrew a few more of his assertions (De Standaard, no. 3705, April 14, 1884). Kuyper reported that his correspondent, who had meanwhile also received 1884.02, had sent a letter to the editors of several English papers in which he admitted, among other things, that “what was said by Dr. Kuyper did not contain anything hostile or insulting to the English nation but to the contrary showed much sympathy for the English people” (De Standaard, no. 3709, April 19, 1884).
This printing of the forms of unity is probably identical with 1883.09. At the request of the Board of Oversight for Religious Instruction (cf. 1872.09), however, the Kort begrip der Christelijke religie voor hen die zich willen begeven tot des Heeren Heilig Avondmaal [Compendium of the Christian religion for those desiring to be admitted to the Lord’s Holy Supper] was added with a separate pagination. The Compendium (1608), a simple adaptation of the Heidelberg Catechism intended primarily to prepare young people for the public profession of faith, was revised by Amsterdam pastors C.A. Renier (1844–1899) and B. van Schelven (1847–1928), who transformed the seventeenth-century text into contemporary Dutch.
The publication date has been discerned from advertisements in De Heraut. An advertisement in no. 330, April 20, 1884 states that the work will be published “this Monday,” while an advertisement in no. 331, April 27, 1884 states that it “has been published.”
This edition became a very frequently used catechetical booklet in Reformed circles. In 1887 the publisher J.A. Wormser brought out the fifth printing of five thousand, which indicates that the publisher J.H. Kruyt printed approximately 20,000 copies of the forms of unity in four years time. The forty-second and final printing appeared in 1972 (see 1972.05). In the course of the years, improvements (see 1885.02 and 1897.19), a few small changes (see 1887.26), and some additions (see 1895.27) were made.
An unaltered reprint published on ordinary paper. The title page looks different because of the use of a simpler typeface and the addition of the word volksuitgave [popular edition]. The preliminary matter was reduced from twenty-two pages to sixteen pages through a more economical use of space.
This edition represented the first time that the author and the publisher tried to reach a wider audience of readers by printing a popular edition of this sort. Kuyper’s publishers came to use this strategy frequently to achieve widespread distribution of his writings. This printing—and to some extent 1873.01 and 1880.05—anticipated the new publication strategy.
On the morning of Holy Saturday 1884, Kuyper wrote the promised letter to Professor Harting (see 1884.04) contrasting the rationalistic, liberal worldview and the Christian vision of life. This very extensive letter—at once both critical and respectful of Prof. Harting—expresses Kuyper’s personal vision of what is essential to the Christian worldview.
This article, reprinted from De Standaard 13 (1884), no. 3784, July 18, 1884, warmly commends the sixth annual Union Collection scheduled to take place on August 17. The circular letter (34cm.) that reprinted this article was addressed to the local committees for the People’s Petition (cf. 1879.07), of which there were now 675 actively soliciting for the Union Collection across the country.
The first volume of a second series of biblical-theological studies, each chapter of which sets out from a brief biblical citation on the subject of particular grace. The series of articles in this volume began appearing in De Heraut about four months after the establishment of The Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (see 1878.10) and came to a conclusion about four months before the opening of the Vrije Universiteit (cf. 1880.09). In the final article (pp. 447ff.) Kuyper lets it be known that he has written this series on particular grace not only to promote the restoration of the Reformed character of the Dutch Reformed Church but also to encourage the supporters of a free university. For additional background concerning the publication of this collection, see 1883.03. For the continuation of this theological line of argument, see 1902.13.
This first volume of the second series was published in four parts. The first appeared in May, the second and third in August, and the fourth in October 1884. The four parts were originally published in De Heraut as five separately titled series of numbered articles. The title of this volume was derived from the original title of the first series of biblical studies as it appeared in De Heraut. The titles of the original first two series were replaced with new titles. The title of the fifth series from De Heraut was also left off so that the articles included under that title could be consolidated with the articles from the fourth series. Subtitles were added to all the numbered sections in this collected edition.
| Part 1. | Geen Christus pro omnibus [No “Christ for all”], taken from De Heraut, no. 71, April 20, 1879–no. 76, May 25, 1879; no. 78, June 8, 1879–no. 79, June 15, 1879; and no. 88, August 17, 1879–no. 89, August 24, 1879. |
| Part 2. | Getoetst aan de uitkomsten [Tested against the results], taken from De Heraut, no. 90, August 31, 1879–no. 98, October 26, 1879. |
| Part 3. | De ondoorgrondelijke barmhartigheden [The unfathomable mercies], taken from De Heraut, no. 99, November 2, 1879–no. 100, November 9, 1879; no. 106, December 21, 1879; and no. 109, January 11, 1880–no. 113, February 8, 1880. |
| Part 4. | Schijnbare strijd [An apparent conflict], taken from De Heraut, no. 114, February 15, 1880–no. 118, March 14, 1880; no. 122, April 11, 1880–no. 124, April 25, 1880; no. 126, May 9, 1880; and no. 128, May 23, 1880–no. 131, June 13, 1880. |
Eleven theses defended by Kuyper at a meeting of the eight professors who taught at the Vrije Universiteit (listed according to seniority: A. Kuyper, F.L. Rutgers, Ph.J. Hoedemaker, D.P.D. Fabius, F.W.J. Dilloo, J. Woltjer, A.H. de Hartog, and A.F. de Savornin Lohman). Nine theses deal with various facets of the unity of the church, such as the church as corpus Christi and the church as human organism. The author argues that, considered purely as a human organism, the church is not adequate to the parousia. In the ninth thesis this contention is used to point to the possible necessity of reforming the church. As far as possible, all churches should strive for reform simultaneously, but if need be each congregation should shoulder that responsibility on its own and be prepared to break its denominational ties. The final two theses have to do with the ordination examination required for admission to the ministry of the Word. Among other things, they assert that any local church that issues a call has the right to administer the examination itself.
The theses were intended for use within the closed circle of professors at the Vrije Universiteit. Each page was printed with a single column so that annotations could easily be made in the blank space.
Two asterisms (columns) published as Appendix XI en XII in a brochure on compulsory vaccination, written by J.C. Fabius, Anti-Revolutionary member of parliament (1881–1890).
The asterism Het fine conto was originally published in De Standaard 12 (1883), no. 3603, December 12, 1883 and deals with the statistics concerning the tragic side effects caused by the vaccination of children. Inenting was taken from De Standaard 12 (1883), no. 3605, December 14, 1883 and includes five serious grievances and objections concerning vaccination. However, vaccination is neither advised nor advised against. The main issue is that the state has to leave the responsabiblity wether to vaccinate or not to parents.
1885
A brief, untitled commentary reprinted from De Heraut, no. 372, February 8, 1885. The editor of De Heraut repeatedly received questions about whether or not it was appropriate to sing hymns during worship. Kuyper judged, however, that a suitable opportunity had not yet arisen to deal with this question theologically, historically, and from the perspective of church polity. Furthermore, he thought that the question could not easily be debated without sowing greater division. In this comment, therefore, he deals with the question in five points without making additional arguments, hoping to bring a provisional end to the matter: (1) The polity of the church makes the use of hymns illegal; (2) the custom of singing hymns has an Arminian origin; (3) the resistance of the Afgescheidenen [Secessionists] of 1834 to the singing of hymns seems to have been a matter of duty; (4) it is the best and most customary use of Christian freedom not to sing hymns; and (5) the practice is too inconsequential to dampen spirits or to divide the church now that the singing of hymns is no longer being forced upon the church.
The Rev. L. Schouten Hzn. (1828–1905), whom Kuyper called “the great advocate of hymns in the Netherlands,” protested against these theses with an open letter, which was reprinted two times in a single month. He subsequently published yet another public challenge to Kuyper concerning the same question at the end of March, titled Hebben de gezangen regt van bestaan in onze Kerk? (Utrecht: Kemink & Zoon, 1885).
The foreword is almost identical to the foreword of November 15, 1883 (in 1883.09). It is interesting to note that the wording in the phrase “this catechism is also … the only official and solely approved catechism for all our churches” was changed to “this catechism is also … the only official and solely approved workbook [vragenboekje] for all our churches.”
The typeface of this printing is identical to that of 1883.09. However, corrections, amendments, and additions were made to the biblical references in the 1883.09 edition of the Heidelberg Catechism.
The preface, the printing of the forms, and the typesetting are identical to the corrected printing of 1885.02. The “Compendium of the Christian Religion” was added as an appendix (32 pp.).
The second collection of the second series of biblical-theological studies, each chapter of which sets out from a brief biblical citation on the doctrine of the covenant. Kuyper held that the doctrine of the covenant had been neglected both in the Dutch Reformed Church and at the theological academies. He wrote this series to expound upon this unjustly neglected doctrine and to complement his previous series on particular grace.
The second volume of the second series was published in five installments between January and the beginning of March 1885. Subtitles were added to all the numbered sections in this collected edition.
| Part 1. | Het verbond des Heeren [The covenant of the Lord], taken from De Heraut, no. 142, August 29, 1880–no. 147, October 3, 1880. |
| Part 2. | De leer van het verbond [The doctrine of the covenant], taken from De Heraut, no. 152, November 12, 1880–no. 156, December 19, 1880. |
| Part 3. | Het verbond der werken [The covenant of works], taken from De Heraut, no. 161, January 23, 1881–no. 172, April 10, 1881; and no. 176, May 8, 1881. |
| Part 4. | Het verbond der genade [The covenant of grace], taken from De Heraut, no. 177, May 15, 1881–no. 179, May 29, 1881; and no. 181, June 12, 1881–no. 184, July 3, 1881. |
| Part 5. | De genooten van het verbond [The partners of the covenant], taken from De Heraut, no. 193, September 4, 1881–no. 200, October 23, 1881 (see also 1904.03). |
The title of the fifth installment in De Heraut—Bekeerden en onbekeerden [The converted and the unconverted] (see also 1904.03)—was changed to De genooten van het verbond [The partners of the covenant] in this collection. Finally, an appendix entitled “Een zegel des verbonds” [A seal of the covenant] was added to the fifth installment. The appendix contains a set of four previously unpublished articles about the baptismal formula of Matthew 28:1: “De letterlijke bewoording” [The literal wording]; “Pelagius of Augustinus” [Pelagius or Augustine]; “De volheid der Openbaring” [The fullness of revelation]; and “Het ingaan in het verbond” [The entrance into the covenant].
A commentary, reprinted from De Heraut, no. 375, March 1, 1885, concerning the first edition of the above-referenced brochure by the Rev. A. Littooy (1834–1909). Littooy challenged the assertion that the Afgescheidenen [Secessionists] of 1834 should have stayed in the Reformed Church. The background of this brochure, which was composed on the eve of the Doleantie, was the discussion about whether or not Kuyper and his followers should remain in the Dutch Reformed Church. This discussion began in De Heraut, no. 353, September 28, 1884 when Kuyper responded to voices from the Christian Reformed Church, the church of the Secessionists, calling for his followers to come over to them. A discussion subsequently developed in De Heraut with D.K. Wielenga (1842–1902), lecturer at the Theological Seminary at Kampen. Two more exchanges followed with the Rev. Littooy, the second of which was reprinted at the end of the second printing of his brochure.
The immediate stimulus for the brochure by the Rev. Littooy was a flysheet printed by the same printer in Middelburg and distributed at almost every doorstep in the city. The author of that flysheet contended that “our separated brothers should also have stayed [in the Dutch Reformed Church].” In his rebuttal of this claim, the Rev. Littooy argued against Kuyper, whom he associated with this standpoint.
In this editorial, reprinted by De Hope from De Heraut, no. 362, November 30, 1884, Kuyper claims that the idea of forming societies for youth associations is a misguided and risky imitation of secular practices. The idea had been proposed by W. van Oosterwijk Bruyn, founder and chairman of the Dutch Young Men’s Federation.
De Hope was a Christian Reformed, Dutch-language weekly for the “Christian family,” which was edited, printed, and published by Hope College (Holland, MI) from 1865–1933.
The article, “Zij zullen hem niet hebben!” [They shall not have him!] was reprinted by De Hope (see 1885.06) from De Standaard 14 (1885), no. 4028, May 4, 1885. The article protests against the superficial and undignified way in which Isaac da Costa (1798–1860) had been memorialized as a poet on April 28, 1885—the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. The literati who took part in the memorial had no sympathy with Da Costa’s religious beliefs and simply passed over his witness to the gospel. Kuyper laments that Da Costa had been “annexed … for the glory of human greatness” but adds defiantly, “They shall not have him, the children of our age!”
An address held on the evening of June 30, 1885 at the start of the fifth annual prayer meeting for the Vrije Universiteit. This prayer meeting preceded the annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (see 1878.10). In his address Kuyper applies a line from Daniel 2:43, “just as iron does not mix with clay,” to the situation in the Dutch Reformed Church, in which belief and unbelief have become mingled. He identifies four deadly influences that have fostered this intermingling and assures his audience that the Vrije Universiteit is trying to render these influences innocuous.
The speech opens with a remarkable historical analogy. In 1617, when the Arminians had the upper hand in The Hague, the consistory denied the request of the Reformed to hold a prayer service in the Kloosterkerk. Almost three hundred years later, the Reformed Consistory of The Hague was again refusing to allow Reformed Christians to hold a prayer service in the Kloosterkerk. Then as now, the reasons for the refusal of the Consistory of The Hague were fear of schism, objection to the presumed revolutionary intentions of the participants, and the desire to inhibit what they considered ungodly work.
A printed copy of this address has also been preserved in larger format with the same typeface and broader margins. This copy has 27 ([1]–27) single-sided, printed, and numbered pages and lacks a title page (cf. 1909.27).
A response to the brochure, “De heelen en de halven.” Een woord aan de gemeente te ’s Gravenhage, ook naar aanleiding der weigering van de Kloosterkerk, by J.H. Gunning jr. (’s Gravenhage, 1885). Gunning was professor in Amsterdam from 1882 to 1889 and in Leiden from 1889 to 1899. From Kuyper’s use of 1John 2:19 in a lead article in De Standaard (no. 4064, June 17, 1885) Gunning had inferred that Kuyper believed antichrists were present in the Dutch Reformed Church.
In this response Kuyper writes that he neither intended nor said this. He had used the scriptural citation in his article to describe a general trend. By “the halves” Kuyper simply meant those members of the congregation who go along with the confession of the Lord, but do so only halfway because they do not want to follow the implications of their confession into politics, law, and the sciences. Kuyper explains his intentions in the controverted article (reprinted in this brochure), referring extensively to 1885.08. Gunning had originally thought that the Kloosterkerk should have hosted the prayer service for the Vrije Universiteit (see 1885.08) with certain stipulations. But after reading the article in De Standaard, he had experienced a radical change of heart and now contended that the Consistory of The Hague had been absolutely right. Kuyper discusses the issue in some detail and then briefly lists five serious points of disagreement that had divided him from Gunning for some time. Finally, Kuyper proposes to Gunning that from now on each should go his own way. That would be better for them as brothers. Gunning should put his energy into promoting the heritage of Chantepie de la Saussaye while Kuyper would in like manner secure the legacy of Groen van Prinsterer.
Kuyper wrote the brochure while regaining his strength in the Swiss Alps.
An article reprinted from De Standaard 14 (1885), no. 4105, August 4, 1885. Kuyper sought to mobilize the seventh annual collection on behalf of The Union: “A School with the Bible.” His article was reprinted along with two promotional pieces from other papers, a poem, and a dialogue about the August collection. The circular letter from the union was sent, as usual, to the correspondents and the boards of directors of the local committees in order to raise awareness about the Union Collection of August 17 (see 1879.07).
The People’s Petition (see 1878.04), reproduced on a flysheet for the purpose of soliciting new members for The Union: “A School with the Bible.” The mayor and aldermen of Buiksloot (now a northern suburb of Amsterdam) had not given permission for the annual Union Collection to be held in the village. Rather than making another request to the mayor and aldermen, these flyers were delivered to every house. Then representatives were sent to visit all one hundred fifty households in Buiksloot to request that they join the local committee of The Union: “A School with the Bible” (De Standaard, no. 4121, August 22, 1885).
On April 12, 1887 a “school with the Bible” was opened in Buiksloot with an enrollment of twelve students. This school was then referred to as the “protest school” because it had come into existence against the wishes of the local authorities. The Buiksloot school was particularly dependent on national financial support during its early years; contributions were even received from the United States and the Dutch East Indies (cf. Toen wij nog in tenten woonden [Goes: Oosterbaan & Le Cointre, (1934), pp. 238–239]).
May the Lord of Righteousness grant right to the oppressed portion of the English people. Our heart is with you.
This short telegram was included in an article on an anti-vaccination demonstration in Leicester. Printed under the heading “Anti-Vaccination Demonstration At Leicester”. The telegram was sent to organization of the demonstration and was one of the many messages of sympathy they had received.
1886
In sixteen sections, Kuyper chronicles the events leading up to the refusal of certain elders in the Amsterdam congregation to attend confirmations conducted by modernist pastors. He summarizes the objections of these elders to the consistory’s practice of simply issuing certifications without investigating the doctrinal understanding and moral conduct of the confirmands (cf. 1872.06). These sections are followed by sixteen ecclesiastical documents dealing with the issue, which are numbered I–XVI and which date from 1885.
Confirmation had become the responsibility of pastors in 1879. An elder simply had to be present. The consistory was also required to furnish a certificate, if requested, attesting to the moral character of the candidate for confirmation. This publication was produced by a commission charged with investigating the process of certifying the soundness of the belief and conduct of confirmands in the Consistory of Amsterdam, which constituted the commission on March 5, 1885. The commission was expanded at the December 3, 1885 meeting of the consistory to include an additional two pastors and four elders, among them Kuyper. The commission received a wide-ranging mandate to counsel the congregation about the state of affairs and to take measures such as contacting other Dutch Reformed congregations in the Netherlands if they deemed such a step necessary. The charge to the commission also included advising the consistory about the decision of the General Synodical Commission (records 10 and 11) to furnish the certifications of moral conduct requested by the modernists within six weeks. Record 16 is the report of the authorized commission (dated Amsterdam, December 29, 1885).
A second (unaltered) printing was published less than two weeks after the first. Two small parts of section 7 and section 15 appeared separately as an offprint (see 1886.26).
First part of a three-part series continued in 1886.03 and 1886.04. On January 4, 1886, the Board of the Classis of Amsterdam provisionally suspended eighty of the 148 members of the General Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam. As grounds for the suspension, the board cited the Consistory of Amsterdam’s alteration of the Algemeen reglement en instructie voor de commissie tot het bestuur over kerkgebouwen, goederen, fondsen en inkomsten der Nederduitsche Hervormde Gemeente te Amsterdam [General regulations and instructions for the commission for the administration of church buildings, properties, funds, and revenues of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam] at its meeting on December 14, 1885 (cf. 1886.03). This alteration had given the board the impression that the Consistory of Amsterdam intended to hold onto its church properties even as it plotted founding a new, smaller congregation using the three forms of unity as the framework for joining together with similar such congregations across the country to bring about a separate Reformed Church of the Netherlands.
In chapters 1–6 of this first part of the series, Het conflict gekomen, Kuyper critically discusses the role of the Rev. H.V. Hogerzeil (1839–1907; Dutch Reformed pastor at Amsterdam, 1878–1902) and also refutes the commonly voiced accusation that those who were suspended had already been plotting since the founding of the Circle of Brothers (see 1883.06) to bring about a revolution in the church. In chapters 7–16, Kuyper answers the charges that the Rev. Hogerzeil had raised in his three-part series of brochures, De kerkelijke strijd te Amsterdam toegelicht en beoordeeld [The church struggle in Amsterdam elucidated and evaluated] (Amsterdam: F.W. Egeling, 1885/1886). The first part of this series, De stand der kerkelijke kwestie [The state of the church question], was published in December 1885; the second and the third parts, De revolutie gereglementeerd [The revolution regulated] and De voorlopige schorsing [The provisional suspension], were published in January 1886.
In the first of the sixteen chapters of this brochure, Kuyper pronounces the Rev. Hogerzeil’s (see 1886.02) insinuation that the suspended members of the consistory intended to take the church’s cashbox a grave insult requiring immediate rectification. His defense subsequently focuses on the question of the free management of church properties. During the December 14, 1885 meeting of the Consistory of Amsterdam, the general regulations for the administrative commission had been changed at the proposal of the commission itself (cf. 1886.02). Rev. Hogerzeil’s second brochure had been directed against those changes. In this reply, Kuyper defends the competence of the consistory to manage its own finances and sets out the historical precedents and developments that accord the consistory this capacity. At the heart of the argument is Kuyper’s conviction that the right to self-administration is inimical to synodical hierarchy and that by pursuing the question of church administration the lordship of Jesus can become a reality again in Dutch churches.
The third brochure by the Rev. Hogerzeil (see 1886.02) had addressed the provisional suspension as well as two incidents that had taken place immediately afterwards. Kuyper responds to both topics in this essay. In the course of thirteen chapters, he deals with both the suspension and the forced entry by suspended officers of the consistory into the annex of the Nieuwe Kerk (cf. 1898.01) in their capacity as members of the administrative commission (cf. 1886.03). Sometimes he gives an hour-by-hour chronology of the events. The brochure culminates with the charge that the irenic party in the Board of the Classis of Amsterdam—the so-called “peace-loving” party—had revealed the true face of ecclesiastical hierarchy. At the expense of the prospect of peace among brothers, they had painfully shown how hierarchy in the church effectively ends by elevating the authority of church leaders above the authority of Christ.
On page 39 Kuyper mentions that he would still very much like to publish his encyclopedia, his dogmatics, and finally a biblical commentary.
As was the case with the three-part series De kerkelijke strijd te Amsterdam toegelicht en beoordeeld (see 1886.02), the three brochures composing Het conflict gekomen were also published together in a single volume with continuous pagination. De facto, only 1886.05 was a fifth printing. No print run was found.
This counter-memorandum was the first of the seven appendices that accompanied Aan de Algemeene Synode. Openbaar schrijven van de geschorste kerkeraadsleden te Amsterdam, onder dagteekening van de 27sten februari 1886 [To the General Synod. An open letter by the suspended members of the Consistory of Amsterdam, dated February 27, 1886]. The other appendices were 1873.05, 1886.01, 1886.08, and two defenses written or co-authored by A.F. de Savornin Lohman in early 1886.
The counter-memorandum was composed in opposition to the Memorie van noodige inlichtingen in zake het Amsterdamsche conflict, door het Classicaal Bestuur van Amsterdam in zijne vergadering van den 1sten Februari 1886 opgemaakt [Memorandum of necessary information about the conflict in Amsterdam, prepared by the Board of the Classis of Amsterdam in its February 1, 1886 meeting]. The Board of the Classis of Amsterdam published this memorandum, with a few editorial changes and additions, under the title: Waarom tachtig kerkeraadsleden te Amsterdam voorloopig geschorst? Noodige inlichtingen, door het Classicaal Bestuur van Amsterdam gegeven en openbaar gemaakt [Why have eighty members of the Consistory of Amsterdam been provisionally suspended? Necessary information furnished and made public by the Board of the Classis] (Amsterdam: D.B. Centen, 1886). The counter-memorandum critically comments on the main arguments in the board’s memorandum. It was rushed to print just after the board published its memorandum.
Those interested in acquiring copies were given only a few days to place orders, after which the publisher printed the counter-memorandum in a limited edition.
Letter written in the name of the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations (see 1878.02) to two liberal candidates running for office in the primary electoral district of Assen. The Anti-Revolutionary candidate, M.A. de Savornin Lohman (1832–1899), had dropped out of the race for the Second Chamber during the interim between the first and second ballots. The run-off election was thus contested by two liberal candidates. As it had done in 1883.04, the committee put several written questions to the candidates, this time having to do with suffrage and education. On the basis of the responses, the committee expressed its preference for one of the candidates, who was subsequently elected on March 30, 1886.
The author and date of this letter were derived from one of the two letters (published in De Standaard, no. 4301, March 24, 1886) that the Central Committee received in response to its inquiry.
Report of an introductory lecture held during the seventh annual meeting of The Union: “A School with the Bible” on October 22, 1885 at Utrecht. The purpose of the lecture was to generate discussion about the solution that the Rev. L. Tinholt (1825–1886) had proposed to the school question. In the final issue of his journal, Nederlandsche Gedachten, no. 7, April 20, 1876, Groen van Prinsterer had proposed that the state schools be split into elective schools. Tinholt was continuing that line of thought when he argued in 1885 that the “school with the Bible” should be made into a state school, that is, into a Christian school administered by the state if sufficient private funds were not available. Kuyper declared himself absolutely opposed to the idea because he contended that the state has only political authority. God did not give the civil authorities sovereignty in the realm of the church, family, education, or the sciences.
This less expensive edition of 1886.09 was published within a month of the initial publication. In this edition short titles—with formulations that are often more colorful than the table of contents of the first edition—have been placed above the twenty-eight paragraphs. The text of the open letter to the General Synod, to which the counter-memorandum was the most significant appendix, is included in the back (pp. 113–131).
At the publisher’s request, Kuyper allowed this church order (cf. 1883.02) to be reprinted, with a few editorial changes, as an independent volume. The passages in the Church Order of Dordt that no longer applied due to changes in the relation between church and state in the Netherlands were removed from the main text and placed in footnotes.
There was a growing awareness that De reglementen en besluiten voor de Nederlandsche Hervormde Kerk [The regulations and decisions of the Dutch Reformed Church] could no longer provide proper guidance for the church. As a result, there were calls for a new edition of the Church Order of Dordt, which had been in effect until 1816. The publisher C.F. Callenbach at Nijkerk had already put out a compactly printed edition of the church order in February 1886, but it did not feature modernized spelling as did the version included by Kuyper and Rutgers in their 1883 edition of the Forms of Unity. A subsequent edition of the church order, edited by the Rev. W. van den Bergh (1850–1890) and the Rev. G.H. van Kasteel (1850–1931), was also published by Callenbach in 1887. That edition was also printed in compact format, but it used the more readable, modernized text of Kuyper and Rutgers.
A sermon held ten days after the Provincial Church Administration of North Holland removed seventy-five officials of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam from office. Kuyper begins the sermon by addressing this event and then undertakes an exposition of Matthew 20:25–28, from which the sermon’s title is derived. After establishing that the church cannot be ruled by human power, he asks how such treasonous power can be driven out once it has crept into the church.
Since the provisional suspension of January 4, 1886 (see 1886.02), the suspended pastors and their supporters in the Amsterdam congregation had been meeting in various locations (lokalen) across the city—not for worship services, but for “Bible readings.” Kuyper gave the first “Bible reading” on January 10, 1886 in Locaal Plancius (on Hebrews 11; see De Standaard, no. 4240, January 12, 1886). Ten such Bible readings took place in seven different locations on Sunday, July 11, 1886. Sermons from these Bible readings were gathered together into a sermon series titled Uit de diepte [Out of the depths]. “It will not be so among you” was the first sermon included in this series.
According to the publisher’s prospectus, the purpose of this series was twofold: first, to bring people to faith through the messages of the sermons; and second, to raise proceeds for supporting both the expenses of renting space for the Sunday gatherings and the expenses of pursuing the rights of the suspended pastors in ecclesiastical proceedings. A sermon of about sixteen pages (compactly printed and with continuous pagination) was published every Thursday (at a price of f 0.07 5). The first series, Uit de diepte, ran from July 11, 1886 to June 30, 1887. The annual subscription price was ƒ3.90. Full cloth bindings were available for a small surcharge. In total, four series/volumes were published (1886/1887–1889/1890). For additional sermons by Kuyper in this series, see 1887.08 and 1887.31.
With this edition a new publisher emerged as the successor to Kuyper’s publisher J.H. Kruyt (1839–1898). In April 1886, H. Höveker (†1889) retired as a partner of the book dealer and publishing company, Höveker & Zoon (the son in question was his son-in-law, J.A. Wormser) under the condition that nothing be published by the firm without his explicit approval. Höveker wanted to prevent his firm from publishing the leading men of the Doleantie. J.A. Wormser (1845–1916), who stood on Kuyper’s side in the church conflict, was forced by this move to found a publishing house under his own name on May 1, 1886 (cf. 1907.22). On January 15, 1887 Wormser purchased the unsold stock of all the works by Kuyper from J.H. Kruyt for ƒ3,200.- and then began buying up other publishers’ editions and printings of his works. In a letter (dated March 21, 1887) about the future of De Standaard written to potential financial supporters, Kuyper gave the following explanation for the transferal of the fund: “… as a consequence of the church conflict … [we] no longer had the old sympathy [of Kruyt]” (KA 125/microfiche 598). Kruyt had not joined with the Doleantie, but had remained a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He resigned as director of De Standaard on December 31, 1886. After the sale of his Kuyper stock to Wormser, Kruyt then sold his interest in De Standaard to Kuyper. Wormser was appointed director and publisher of the paper on July 1, 1887.
In De Standaard 16 (1887), no. 4686, June 25 1887, Kuyper gave a short overview of the fifteen-year history of De Standaard. He recalled that Kruyt had saved the paper from financial ruin in 1874 by his energetic management and his exceptional fiscal administration, stating for the record that “in administrative matters our movement owes a debt of gratitude to this man for the possession of its own newspaper.” Ten years later, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of De Standaard, Kruyt wrote to his friend Kuyper that he considered the first fifteen years of De Standaard “as the happiest of [his] life” (KA 129/microfiche 790).
For information on Kuyper’s publishers, see also 1874.02 and 1907.22.
Kuyper was summoned to appear before the General Synod for questioning on September 16, 1886. This item contains the objections that he had wanted to make prior to his hearing. After the synod decided that he could state his objections to the proceedings only after his hearing and not before, Kuyper got up and left. The synod had set aside four days to hear the appeals of the seventy-five members of the Amsterdam Consistory who had been suspended in January 1886 (see 1886.02) and who were now appealing the subsequent sentence (passed by the Provincial Church Administration of North Holland on July 1, 1886) that had removed them from office. However, the defendants argued that their cases should have been heard by the classis and that the synod could not correct this oversight simply by hearing their cases. After the synod had denied him permission to raise his procedural objections (cf. 1886.16), Kuyper, who was representing the seventy-five defendants, publicized his objections by way of this printed paper. The date and signature were added by hand.
The item was reprinted in De Heraut, no. 456, September 19, 1886 and also as appendix 3 (= 2) in 1886.17 under the heading, “Memorie van Dr. Kuyper” [Memorandum of Dr. Kuyper]. Both are dated Amsterdam, September 17, 1886.
This letter to the editor addresses a newspaper report concerning the events described in 1886.15. According to the newspaper report, Kuyper left the synod hearing because he refused to answer the questions the synod wanted to ask before making known his procedural objections. In this letter, Kuyper lets it be known that he had wanted to have his procedural questions addressed first because he was challenging the synod’s competence to hold a hearing and to question defendants at this stage in the proceedings. The press report had given the impression that Kuyper had made the hearing impossible while precisely the opposite had been the case. It would have been an absurdity, Kuyper concludes, to have explained why the synod had no right to question him after he’d already been questioned.
The same letter with the same date was sent to De Amsterdammer, Dagblad voor Nederland and published in no. 1320, September 19/20, 1886. The letter was also published—with the date September 18, 1886—in De Banier 13 (1886), no. 76, September 22, 1886 (n.v.), from which it was reprinted in De Bazuin 34 (1886), no. 39, September 23, 1886. The letter is also reprinted as appendix 3 in 1886.17.
According to the preface, Kuyper intended this brochure to clarify an apparent contradiction: on the one hand, the suspended members of the Amsterdam Consistory had complained that no administrative board had been willing to hear their cases but, on the other hand, the suspended members had refused to be heard by the General Synod. After a brief explanation of the course of events, Kuyper offers a ten-page sketch about how the eleven-member synodus contracta received him as the representative of the suspended members on September 16, 1886 in the Willemskerk in The Hague; he also describes the circumstances and the atmosphere of that hearing. On September 24, 1886, this synodus contracta confirmed the sentences of dismissal put forward by the Provincial Church Administration of North Holland on July 1, 1886 (cf. 1886.14, 1886.15, and 1886.25).
Three appendices are attached to the main text: (1) “Antwoord der geschorsten” [Answer of the suspended], in which the summoned members of the consistory state the reasons why they did not wish to be heard by the synod (cf. 1886. 15); (2) (mistakenly numbered 3) “Memorie van Dr. Kuyper” [Memorandum of Dr. Kuyper] (see 1886.15); and (3) “Synodaal bericht” [Synodical report], which contains the letter to the editor of September 17, 1886 (see 1886.16).
Apart from a number of editorial changes and a few additions, this draft letter is identical to 1886.21. This is probably the item that according to 1886.21 (p. 24) was read to and accepted by a meeting of suspended members of the Amsterdam Consistory held on November 3, 1886 (UBVU CB 10810). After some minor alterations and a change of title, the letter was subsequently published (see 1886.21).
This item contains, with some alterations, the text of section 3 (pp. 3–16) of the handwritten report (32 pp., preserved in Kuyper’s own handwriting [KA 182 inv. no. 36]) “Aan de leden van den Amsterdamschen Kerkeraad, die op 24 September j.l. door de Synodus Contracta gevonnisd zijn en thans in revisie wenschen te gaan” [To the members of the Amsterdam Consistory, who were sentenced last September 24 by the Synodus Contracta and now wish to lodge appeals]. The report of a commission appointed during a meeting on October 10, 1886 of the seventy-five suspended members of the Amsterdam Consistory gives advice about how to begin preparing for the anticipated final decision of the synod. The commission was composed of two pastors and four elders, Kuyper among them. The commission was also asked to compose a declaration by which office holders could give an account of their actions suitable for publication in case of expulsion by the synod.
This untitled part of a report includes the wished-for declaration. It deals with the significance of the consistory members’ removal from office and states that a sentence of dismissal from an unfaithful synod cannot signify that the office holders have been removed from their office and dismissed from their official duties by Jesus, the king of the church. The office holders should therefore not accept the anticipated verdict of the synod. The paragraph was dated Amsterdam, December 8, 1886, and its declaration was published, with some amendments, as the third and final item in 1886.25.
Letter to the attorney Th. Heemskerk (1852–1932) who, along with his colleague, W. Heineken, offered legal aid to the Commission for the Administration of Church Buildings, Properties, Funds, and Revenues of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam. Kuyper was a member of this administrative commission. The two church parties in the Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam could not settle on a provisional agreement while the legal procedure was pending. The administration of the congregation was thus frozen, meaning that income could not be received and expenses could not be paid. In this letter, Kuyper summarizes in ten points the opinion of the administrative committee with respect to a proposal put forward by the opposing party. He requests that Heemskerk bring this letter to the attention of Heineken, also giving him permission to give a copy to the attorney of the opposing party.
For a second published letter to Heemskerk on the same subject, see 1886.22.
This letter was sent to the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church on November 15, 1886, along with the “Memorie van rechten in cas van revisie aan de Algemeene Synode van de Nederl. Herv. Kerk aangeboden door de vijf en zeventig bezwaarde Amsterdamsche kerkeraadsleden” [Statement of rights in the revision case offered to the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church by the seventy-five accused members of the Amsterdam Consistory] and the brochure Dr. Kuyper voor de Synode [Dr. Kuyper before the synod] (see 1886.17).
The statement gives an exposition of the grounds for the request sent to the full synod, which asked for revision of the synodical verdict of September 24, 1886. In De Heraut, no. 466, November 28, 1886, Kuyper contended that this letter was not a pamphlet but an act because it was read, changed here and there, and finally ratified by the suspended office holders (cf. 1886.18) before being officially sent to the synod. The case, which had already lasted nine months, had played itself out within the limits of the formal and procedural structures of the church. This “final word” marks a last-ditch effort to bring the case back into proper, that is, spiritual, perspective. The accused were prepared to reach a settlement with respect to administrative matters (cf. 1886.03) if the spiritual motives for the conflict could openly be broached.
Letter to Th. Heemskerk, who in his capacity as attorney for the administrative commission had conversed with the attorney for the opposing party (see 1886.20). In this letter Kuyper certifies that an attempt to reach a provisional administrative agreement has again been blocked by the Classis of Amsterdam. Kuyper notes that the failure to reach an agreement disadvantages third parties because it renders the administrative commission unable to process charitable bequests.
This edition, published for the purpose of mass distribution, has a smaller format and typeface. Kuyper appended an article from De Heraut, no. 467, December 5, 1886 (pp. [24]–28) to make it clear that he did not intend to remain “fixated” on the question of attestations (cf. 1886.01) and administrative matters (see also 1936.04, pp. 139–144). This article was published in De Heraut after the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church had confirmed the sentence of dismissal (cf. 1886.25).
The second printing of this cheap edition appeared approximately one week after the first. At least 7,000 copies of the cheap edition were printed.
This is the third and final collection of the second series of biblical-theological studies, each chapter of which sets out from a brief biblical citation on the subject of the practice of godliness. This volume offers the practical application of the matters discussed in the previous two volumes. In this collection several issues in the biblical studies, especially those from 1881 and 1882, surely touched and moved readers who were caught up in the church struggle of 1886 and recognized their actual circumstances and needs in what was written.
Subtitles were added to all the numbered sections in this collected edition.
| Part 1. | Practijk in de bediening [Practice in service], taken from De Heraut, no. 202, November 6, 1881–no. 208, December 18, 1881 and no. 211, January 8, 1882–no. 215, February 5, 1882. |
| Part 2. | Practijk in de strijd [Practice in struggle], taken from De Heraut, no. 216, February 12, 1882–no. 223, April 2, 1882; no. 225, April 16, 1882–no. 230, May 21, 1882; and no. 232, June 4, 1882– no. 237, July 9, 1882. |
| Part 3. | Practijk in het lijden [Practice in suffering], taken from De Heraut, no. 1, December 7, 1877–no. 2, December 14, 1877 and no. 5, January 4, 1878–no. 9, February 3, 1878. |
| Part 4. | Practijk in de oefening [Practice in exercise], taken from Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 85, November 14, 1875–no. 89, December 12, 1875 and no. 93, January 9, 1876–no. 94, January, 16, 1876. |
On December 1, 1886, the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church confirmed the sentence of dismissal passed by the Provincial Church Administration of North Holland. After this decision by the General Synod, Kuyper published three papers for the benefit of the consistory and the congregation at Amsterdam. These documents were joined together and published as a single unit.
I. “Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerk (doleerende)” [Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende)], dated Amsterdam, December 16, 1886 and signed by P. van Son, chairman, and H.W. van Loon, clerk. This document announces that the Consistory of Amsterdam is throwing off the yoke of synodical hierarchy, bringing back the church order of Dordt, and adopting the previous form of the name of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Nederduitsche Gereformeerde Kerk. (See for doleren a.o. De Heraut, no. 528, February 5, 1888; also included in Maandblad van de Evangelisten der Ned. Ver. van Vrienden der Waarheid, enz. 11 [1887/1888], no. 6, March 1888). The brochure also announces that church services will be held again beginning Sunday, December 19, 1886 (cf. 1886.14) and that it will soon be possible to make voluntary pledges to the church. The paper also advises its readers to read the next two documents.
II. “Bericht van reformatie” [Notice of reformation], dated Amsterdam, December 16, 1886 and signed by P. van Son, chairman, and H.W. van Loon, clerk. This report sets out in six points the causes and the consequences of the present situation in the Amsterdam congregation and concludes with an appeal to break ties with the synodical hierarchy and cease all financial contributions to the state church.
III. “Verklaring van de ‘ontzette’ kerkeraadsleden” [Declaration of the “expelled” consistory members], dated Amsterdam, December 8, 1886 and signed by P. van Son (cf. 1873.07), J. Bechthold, and W.F. Buré. In nine paragraphs this document clarifies and justifies the position of the seventy-five members of the Consistory of Amsterdam who had been removed from office. The paper expresses the suspended members’ conviction that Jesus, the king of the church, has not removed them from their offices and that they therefore have not been released from carrying out their official duties. The text of this account is identical to 1886.19 apart from minor changes such as the division of the document into nine paragraphs and a new dating.
Reprint of two small parts of section 7 and section 15 from 1886.01. The pamphlet provides background and counsel, in catechetical form, about the conflict over attestations and confirmation. The first part (from 1886.01, section 7, pp. 19–20) is entitled “Wat kan een ouderling bij de aanneming doen?” [What can an elder do at the confirmation?]. The second part (from 1886.01, section 15, pp. 44–46) is entitled “Wie had gelijk in de zaak der attesten?” [Who was right in the attestation affair?].
1887
Program of the Reformed Church Congress. The national congress was convened by the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende) of Amsterdam and held at the Frascati in Amsterdam from January 11 to January 14, 1887. Its goal was to inform, advise, and encourage office holders and church members who considered it their duty to throw off the yoke of the synodical hierarchy. About 1,500 participants attended the congress.
The program prints the agenda for the four days and then lists the locations in the Frascati where each of the twelve regional sections (analogous to the twelve Dutch Reformed classes) and each of the twelve pragmatic divisions were to meet (for the results see 1887.10). Finally, the program prints fourteen suggestions about how to promote good order during the congress. The piece is signed by Dr. A. Kuyper, chairman, the Rev. P. van Son, vice chairman, Dr. J. Woltjer, secretary, W. Hovy, treasurer, and the eight other members of the organizing committee.
Het Gereformeerd Kerkelijk Congres, door zijnen voorzitter herinnerd aan het roerend schrift, waarmeê Elout van Soeterwoude lucht gaf aan de verontwaardiging, door het synodale vonnis in zijne ziel verwekt, spreekt zijn dank aan den Heere uit, dat Hij den eerbiedwaardigen grijsaard nog spaarde, om deze deelneming van een haast voorbijgaand geslacht in het lijden van wie thans den strijd voeren uit te spreken, alzoo den band der eenheid tusschen deze twee generatiën van Christi strijders doende uitkomen, en aan de vervolgden de zekerheid biedende, dat zij wel waarlijk ingingen tot denzelfden strijd, dien Elout zelf eens in schooner dagen met Groen van Prinsterer en zijne medestanders voor de kerken onzer vaderen heeft gevoerd. Zij bidden hun beminden broeder, neen, hun vader in Christus toe, dat zijne stem die uitging nog voor velen de banden slake, en dat hem, als eens de laatste banden zullen geslaakt zijn, ruste na zooveel zielsarbeid wachte bij zijn Heer. Namens het bureau: Kuyper.
A respectful telegram to P.J. Elout van Soeterwoude (1805–1893; cf. 1883.06) sent, with the consent of the Reformed Church Congress (see 1887.01), after the opening of the congress.
Like Groen van Prinsterer, Elout had once led the opposition to the state’s repression of the secessionists of 1834. The eighty-one-year-old judge and advocate for Christian politics and Christian schooling had recently written a passionate and forceful open letter titled “Verklaring aan de Hervormde Gemeenten in Nederland” [Declaration to the Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands], dated December 9, 1886 and published in De Heraut, no. 469, December 19, 1886. In his letter, Elout stated that, though not directly affected by the church struggle and though he had not consulted with its leaders, he considered his words and deeds to have also fallen under the synod’s verdict. After having earnestly sought God’s countenance, he had decided to renounce communion with the denominational authorities. His declaration ended with the prayer “that before long all congregations and individual believers who have cherished the time-honored confession of the churches of this nation and wished to bring them into practice, might reunite in a single mighty community, visible to the world and opposed to the unbelief and half-belief of these days, under the leadership and discipline of the Holy Spirit and in the demonstration of the power of the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The third of three resolutions proposed by F.L. Rutgers, A.F. de Savornin Lohman, and A. Kuyper, respectively, on the first day of the Reformed Church Congress held at Amsterdam from January 11 to January 14, 1887 (see 1887.01). This concluding resolution makes the point that trying to abolish the hierarchy in the Dutch Reformed Church by efforts from within the church has to be given up because it is ineffective and improper. Instead, Kuyper encourages church members to imitate the Reformers by throwing off the yoke of this “second hierarchy” (see 1887.04) by renouncing their pledges to the denomination and its congregations. He did not want his supporters to withdraw into private circles, but to work actively to bring about a broad-based movement to liberate local congregations from denominational hierarchy.
The three resolutions were printed and made available on the first day of the congress. Approximately 1,500 participants and seventy churches took part in the congress, which aimed at liberating churches throughout the Netherlands from the synodical hierarchy. Kuyper was the chairman of the congress.
After the opening (see 1887.08) of the four-day Congress of the Reformed Church (see 1887.01), three lectures were held to elaborate upon each of the three proposed resolutions (see 1887.03). The three resolutions were adopted by the congress almost without discussion and the collection of lectures was published on January 12, 1887—just one day after they had been presented and adopted.
In his lecture, Kuyper puts forward, elucidates, and elaborates upon the concluding resolution. He also identifies and assesses possible objections. He argues that the whole church should throw off the yoke of the “second hierarchy,” following the example of the sixteenth-century Reformers, who threw off the “first hierarchy” of the Roman Catholic Church. Kuyper anticipates that by humbling themselves and looking expectantly to the Lord, the participants in the congress will become the catalyst for the liberation of the church across the nation. The third resolution was supplemented by an amendment submitted by W. van den Bergh.
This edition lacks the preface and the table of contents of the previous edition (1886.13). The typesetting is nearly identical to 1886.13, although the headings have another typeface and the layout has been changed. The editon is printed on higher-quality paper than 1887.06.
This text of the church order was also printed in the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode, no. 6, March 13, 1887–no. 9, April 3, 1887; the Zeeuwsche Kerkbode, no. 9, April 15, 1887–no. 37, October 29, 1887; and the Utrechtsche Kerkbode, no. 26, August 27, 1887–no. 32, October 8, 1887. The Zeeuwsche Kerkbode printed the text of the church order with headings taken from De wettige kerkorde van 1618–1619. Rapport uitgebracht aan de classikale vergadering van Middelburg, gehouden den 25 juni 1884 [The lawful church order of 1618–1619. Report published by the classical assembly of Middelburg, held on June 25, 1884] by N.A. de Gaay Fortman (Middelburg: F.P. d’Huij, 1885).
Same type matter as 1886.13, but without the preface and the table of contents. Printed on lower-quality paper.
This sheet, signed by Dr. A. Kuyper, chairman, and Rev. C.A. Renier, secretary, contains the seven articles that stipulate the status and task of the corporations of the dolerende church of Amsterdam.
The financial situation of the dolerende church had also appeared on the agenda for the meeting of the consistories on December 16, 1886. A corporation was formed in each of the eight districts of the dolerende church of Amsterdam. Members of these corporations were given the task of going in pairs to visit the members of the church community to establish contacts between them and the consistory, to extend the reformation of the church, to sign them up for freewil contributions, and to collect such contributions. These corporations received their initial form in the Provisioneele regeling voor de beschrijving en inning der vrijwillige bijdragen voor de kerkelijke kas [Provisional regulations for describing and collecting freewill contributions to the church treasury]. The status and the task of the corporations became more carefully defined in this Instructie voor de corporatiën.
The first campaign for freewill contributions took place from January 4 to February 3, 1887. After adjustments were made to the Provisional Regulations and the Directives for the Corporations, the Association “The Church Treasury” was recognized by royal decree. Kuyper was among the first members of the board of governors of this local association.
This item was also published in the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode 1 (1887), no. 3, February 20, 1887.
These reflections constitute Kuyper’s introduction to the Reformed Church Congress in Amsterdam (see 1887.01). The homily was the first of four delivered during the morning prayers that were held daily during the four days of congressional meetings. All four sermons were reprinted in this double issue of the sermon series Uit de diepte (see 1886.14).
The reflections begin with a reading of Psalm 42 and end with the words of Psalm 130. Kuyper stresses that though liberation from the yoke of the synod cannot be a cause for jubilation because only nine churches had so far entered into Doleantie, it is appropriate to give thanks for the little cloud of churches, no bigger than a person’s hand, that comprise the current movement. The participants in the congress are called upon humbly to acknowledge that Reformed Christians past and present have fallen short of fulfilling their responsibility to God and the church. The congress may be judged a success, Kuyper contends, only when the congress seeks reconciliation after so much unfaithfulness and guilt, hoping for divine redemption.
For additional sermons by Kuyper in this series, see 1886.14 and 1887.31.
An untitled series of twelve devotional sketches about the patriarchs. Kuyper began the series in the first issue of the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode. Beginning with the second sketch the installments are numbered; a biblical phrase characteristic of the patriarch is printed above every sketch. Kuyper uses his descriptions of the lives of Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin to give much practical advice to the congregation about how to deal with its present circumstances. See also 1889.02.
The Amsterdamsche Kerkbode was the first church newletter of the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende). Kuyper had tried in 1872 to get a church newsletter started in Amsterdam (see 1872.04), but that project had resulted in just a single sample issue (in which no contribution by Kuyper can be identified). Now, however, circumstances compelled the establishment of a paper for the nascent church. Commenting on an article reprinted from the Utrechtsche Kerkbode in De Heraut, no. 520, December 11, 1887, Kuyper asserts that the purpose of a church newsletter is more to inform believers about the church of Jesus Christ than to disseminate devotional literature.
Among the meetings that took place during the Reformed Church Congress (see 1887.01) were the meetings of the twelve pragmatic sections. Participants in the congress turned in questions for discussion during these sections via coupons attached to their entry cards. This brochure publishes the questions addressed in the pragmatic meetings, along with print versions of the responses to these questions. Kuyper was chairman of sections 3, 4, 10, 11, and 12. Section 3 focused on the subject of church members throwing off the yoke of hierarchy. Section 4 addressed the question: What is our relationship to believers who have already and in different ways thrown off the yoke of hierarchy—for example, the Christian Reformed and the Ledeboerians (followers of the Rev. L.G.C. Ledeboer, 1808–1863)? Section 10 dealt with the spiritual and material issues affecting the organization of worship services once the synodical yoke was thrown off. Section 11 addressed the topic of the upcoming synodical convocation. Section 12 took “propaganda for the principle” as its subject.
Only those who had signed a printed declaration—also attached to the entry card—attesting that “he likewise considers it the duty of everyone who wants to honor the kingship of Jesus in his church to throw off the yoke of the synodical hierarchy” (cf. 1985.02, illustration on p. 744) could take part in the congress. The point of the congress was to bring reformed and dolerende officers and members of the Dutch Reformed Church together to reflect on the experiences, problems, and consequences of having rejected the synodical hierarchy and consequently to arrive at concrete solutions and plans of action.
Access to the recommendations of the pragmatic sessions was given by moderators, correspondents, or consultants (see 1887.11) only to those who had signed a declaration akin to the one above.
This brochure contains three sets of instructions.
Instructions for moderators. A moderator was appointed in each classis to organize the delegations of the churches in the classis, to motivate consistories to free themselves from the synodical hierarchy, and (in churches where the consistory did not wish to free itself from the synod) to find agents to unite church members who were inclined toward reformation and to begin to collect lists of such members.
Instructions for consultants. The task of a consultant was to serve as pastor and to administer the sacraments to vacant congregations that wanted to free themselves from the synod.
Instructions for agents. An agent was a local co-worker of a moderator charged with ensuring that members of the church in his place of residence who wanted to break with the synod signed the collection list.
Moderators, consultants, and agents regularly reported to the Committee of the Congress. It was their responsibility to advance the reformation of the church in part by preparing church officers and congregants to participate in the upcoming Classical Convention and Synodical Convention. Each of these three sets of instructions is signed in the name of the Committee of the Congress by Dr. A. Kuyper, chairman, P. van Son, vice chairman, Dr. J. Woltjer, secretary, and W. Hovy, treasurer. The instructions were not published publicly and could only be consulted under the conditions referred to in 1887.10 (see, however, 1887.19).
Ten sample letters and statements (labeled A to J) intended to assist consistories, pastors, church trustees, and congregations to efficiently, formally, and correctly throw off the yoke of synodical hierarchy. The Reformed Church Congress (see 1887.01) passed a resolution that such sample documents should be formulated and made available by the Committee of the Congress. These draft documents were likely composed with the assistance of F.L. Rutgers, although the names of those who drafted the documents are not stated.
Eight sample letters and statements (labeled G to N) composed for use by minorities in consistories or congregations who wished to throw off the yoke of synodical hierarchy despite the fact that the majority did not. Some practical advice is also given. The samples G–J in this document are identical to the samples G–J in 1887.12. On the authorship see 1887.12.
Information about the election of church officers (elders and deacons), which had now taken place according to Article 2 of the Church Order of Dordt. The consistory had itself elected these church officers due to the exigencies of time and the disorder and confusion caused by the church conflict. An announcement followed about the upcoming celebration of the Lord’s Supper and about the baptismal services on Thursday evening. The Thursday baptismal service was very popular because a hired carriage made it possible for mothers to attend the baptism of their children without violating the Sabbath rest.
This article deals with the localities (see 1886.14) to which congregants had to shift their services of worship after the use of their former church buildings and meeting rooms had been denied to them with the help of the police. The author then turns his attention to the soon-to-be-established Association “The Church Treasury” (see 1887.07), which, if fund-raising for the association proved successful, would arrange and finance loans for the construction of churches and schools. A final section argues that riding carriages on Sunday is not conducive to the Sabbath rest, even when mothers want to attend the baptism of their children.
Kuyper notes that a comparison of the proceeds from the diaconal collections of the Dutch Reformed and the dolerenden show that the meetings of the dolerende church have raised well more than twice as much money as the eleven Amsterdam churches. He also notes that the annual proceeds from the diaconal collection of the dolerende church in Rotterdam greatly exceed the annual proceeds of the Amsterdam meetings. But if sacrifices should truly be made, he argues, “then the Spirit who liberates from every bond shall perform miracles here as well.” Finally, Kuyper reports that the planned celebration of the Lord’s Supper has been postponed because the consistory does not have membership records at its disposal and must now find another way to determine who has and who has not received admission to the Lord’s Supper.
Written in reference to the postponement of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (see 1887.16), this article describes the criteria for admission or non-admission to the Lord’s Supper. This description is followed by three notices. First, the number of people signing the duplicate membership books was rising continually. Second, financial pledges to the church treasury (see 1887.07) amounted to ƒ40.000.- for 1887. Third, members who receive ballots for the cancelled election of the classical board should treat these ballots as waste paper.
Kuyper argues that among the advantages of the new church situation is that pews need no longer be rented and that consequently the business of renting pews may now disappear from church services. He promises that the inequality caused by the system of renting pews will not reappear when new church buildings are finished. He also reports that church members should receive certificates of membership in mid-April, by which time the names of all those visited by the members of the corporations (see 1887.07) will have been inscribed in the duplicate membership books.
This history of the church conflict, written from the standpoint of those who remained loyal to the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, reprints the following writings and publications by Kuyper:
- 1. “Aan den bijzonderen kerkeraad heeft ondergeteekende de eer aan te bieden het volgende voorstel …” [To the special consistory those signed below have the honor of offering the following proposal …], pp. 12–14 (see 1873.10).
- 2. “Ook de ‘smalle Synode’ heeft den euvelen moed gehad …” [The “reduced Synod” (i.e., the synodus contracta) also had the nerve …], pp. 164–165. An article from De Heraut, no. 458, October 3, 1886 containing Kuyper’s reaction to the sentence passed by the Synodus Contracta concerning the removal of the seventy-five members of the Consistory of Amsterdam from office.
- 3. “De liberalisten hadden zich verbeeld …” [The liberals had misled themselves …], pp. 205–206. An asterism with the heading “Ons onverzettelijk ‘non possumus’” [Our unbending “non possumus”], from De Standaard 15 (1886), no. 4361, June 3, 1886, about the elections for the Second Chamber.
- 4. “Instructie voor moderatoren. Instructiën voor agenten. Instructie voor de consulenten” [Instructions for moderators. Instructions for agents. Instructions for consultants], pp. 395–398, with changes made to the order of the instructions (see 1887.11).
Announcement of the decision by the consistory to call a pastor and information about the proper procedures. Since 2,500 men had already signed the duplicate membership book (cf. 1887.18), it was decided that the congregation would hold eight smaller neighborhood meetings at convenient times to vote on the two proposed pastors. These eight meetings would be considerably less expensive than a single congregational meeting.
The preface to a debate about a thesis composed by F.L. Rutgers, which was presented at the sixth annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles held at Leiden on June 23 and 24, 1886. Since Rutgers had fallen ill, Kuyper, an alumnus of the University of Leiden, defended this provocative thesis. He asserted that it was directed in particular against three targets: first, against the irenicals, who believed that pastors could be trained at the public faculties of theology; second, against the Higher Education Law, which stated that the formation of students for social callings belonged to the Ministry of Higher Education; and third, against this common practice since everyone who studied theology, including the theology students in Leiden, did so to become a pastor. No one made use of the opportunity to enter into debate with the presenter.
A letter to the editor concerning an editorial from the Nieuwe Sprokkelaar that the Kerkelijke Courant reprinted. The article charged that what Kuyper had written in 1869 (see 1869.13) about the rhymed setting of the psalms by P. Dathenus (1531/1532–1588) contradicted what Kuyper later wrote about the setting. This contradiction could only be explained if Kuyper had written the first article prior to his conversion to orthodoxy.
In his letter to the editor, which was also published in De Heraut, no. 495, June 19, 1887 (cf. RKB 6), Kuyper refutes this allegation at length. The editor of the non-official section of the Kerkelijke Courant was the Leiden professor M.A. Gooszen (1837–1916). This piece provides at once some autobiographical details about Kuyper and some information about the publication date of the second contribution in 1869.13.
The Nieuwe Sprokkelaar was an Anti-Revolutionary weekly that opposed both the Doleantie and Kuyper. The editor published fragments of Kuyper’s letter in an editorial titled “Als altijd gelijk” [As always right]. The editorial appeared in the issue of June 17, 1887 (volume 1).
An address delivered during a prayer meeting in Middelburg on June 15, 1887, held on the day prior to the seventh annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles.
Kuyper found inspiration for this address in Hebrews 11:7–16. “By faith” we are children both of an earthly fatherland and of a heavenly fatherland. Both have been given by God, but since Adam’s fall these two fatherlands have often collided and come into conflict. The Vrije Universiteit owes its existence to this collision. The conflict between the two fatherlands is extensively analyzed. Kuyper also assesses possible reactions to the conflict. He notes that some choose for the earthly fatherland to the point of secularization, subordinating church to state by upholding a national church and public schooling. Others (e.g., the Anabaptists) seek to avoid the world so as to reside purely in the higher fatherland. Kuyper holds that the proper course of action in this conflict should be determined by Calvinist, Reformed—or better yet, prophetic—isolation. Charitable institutions, dolerende churches, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, the Christian press, the “school with the Bible” movement, and the Vrije Universiteit all had been inspired by the heavenly fatherland to serve as a blessing to the earthly fatherland.
The Eighth Annual Report of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (Amsterdam, 1888) mentions that the address lasted for three hours and sustained the attention of the audience despite the nearly tropical heat. The address was published on the day it was delivered.
Agenda for the Synodical Convention of June 28 to July 1, 1887 (cf. 1887.32). The Church of Amsterdam had decided during the Reformed Church Congress in January 1887 (see 1887.01) to hold this convention and the Church of Rotterdam agreed to act as host. Delegates were called to Rotterdam to consult about the formation of a provisional church association and to explore potential practical forms of collaboration. Delegates from seventy-one churches and thirty classes attended the convention.
The agenda, which addressed questions and concerns that had been submitted by interested parties across the nation, was drawn up by a commission composed of delegates from the Amsterdam Church, including Kuyper (who served as chairman of the commission) and F.L. Rutgers, and from the Rotterdam Church, including the Rev. F. Lion Cachet (1835–1899) and Rev. W. Geesink (1854–1929). The agenda numbered 50 items, however number 42 was unintentionally used twice. The corrected agenda provided with the delegates (see 1887.25) counted 51 items. On the authorship, see 1887.32.
After dealing with the constitution of the meeting (part I), the articles in the agenda are treated under nine themes (parts II–X). The agenda mistakenly printed the article following article IV and the article following article VI under the same number as the preceding article. The numbering is printed correctly in 1887.25. The nine themes are as follows:
- II. Concerning the ordering of church relations
- III. Concerning churches that have not yet broken or have only partially broken ties with the synod
- IV. Concerning relations to believers who have previously thrown off the yoke of synodical hierarchy and have since formed independent associations
- IV. Concerning relations to Reformed churches beyond our borders, particularly those with Dutch backgrounds
- V. Concerning the establishment of Reformed churches among the heathen and the mission to the Jews
- VI. Concerning the ministry of Word and sacraments
- VI. Concerning the ministry of charity and instruction of school children
- VII. Concerning external affairs [finances]
- VIII. Concerning relations to the churches or parts of the churches that remain under the hierarchy
The agenda for the Synodical Convention (see 1887.24) is reprinted in a guide for the delegates. This small guidebook provides a map of the building, information about public transportation, suggestions for the maintenance of good order during the meeting, the agenda itself, a list of the names of the 193 delegates, and the addresses of each delegate’s accommodations during the meeting. The guidebook also included the personalized entry card that had to be signed both by the delegate and by the secretary of the convention (see 1887.10).
The subtitle voor gemeentelijk gebruik [for congregational use] has been changed to voor kerkelijk gebruik [for church use]. The title page states that 25,000 copies of the forms of unity edited by Kuyper have been printed since 1883.
An occasional sermon held while dolerende churches were being constituted in many cities and towns across the country. The biblical text for the sermon is Isaiah 1:27a, “Zion shall be redeemed by justice.” The divine justice is the justice of the Creator and Sustainer who grants to us the law and the rule of life so that we may reach our destination. God’s justice will not be hindered, no matter who resists it. After putting forward this thesis, the preacher makes three points—showing, first, that Zion has been saved by justice, second, that Zion is saved by justice, and third, that Zion will be once and for all saved by justice. The closing sentences assert that whoever stakes his claim on the justice of God will come through his trials, whatever befall him, for to the justice of God belongs the glory of victory.
According to an advertisement in the Utrechtsche Kerkbode no. 22, July 30, 1887, this occasional sermon was delivered on Sunday, June 19, 1887 in Tivoli, one of the lokalen [meeting places] (see 1886.14) of the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende) in Utrecht.
A draft letter composed at the request of the Synodical Convention (cf. 1887.32, art. 33) for the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende) seeking to make contact with the Christian Reformed Church in their locality and to broach the topic of a possible merger between the denominations. The letter reports on the resolutions passed by the Synodical Convention (cf. 1887.24) that called for an end to the divisions between Reformed Protestants. (These resolutions were aimed in particular at the Christian Reformed Church.) The letter also conveys the heartfelt conviction of the delegates that the distinctions between their churches do not amount to a real difference between denominations, but to different administrations of what is in essence the same church. The letter points to what the two churches share in past, present, belief, and confession. It also indicates that the two churches should not and cannot join together in a hasty fashion. A spirit of open-mindedness is called and prayed for.
A brief accompanying letter to the consistories of the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende) was added. It expresses the hope that the draft letter will prove of service to the consistories. The draft letter and the accompanying letter were also printed in De Heraut, no. 506, September 4, 1887.
The first installment of a new Dutch edition of Calvin’s Institutes containing Kuyper’s introduction (pp. 3–14) as well as three contributions by Beza: the life of Calvin; Calvin’s vocation; and Roman Catholic testimony about Calvin (pp. [XV]–XLVII). Explanations of the seventeenth-century Dutch used by the translator Willem Corsman are printed in footnotes below the corresponding column on each page.
In his extensive introduction Kuyper states that there have been ten previous Dutch editions of the Institutes. Shortly after the publication of this first installment, several readers called attention to the existence of editions that he had not included in his list. Kuyper put a notice in De Heraut, no. 509, September 25, 1887 requesting bibliographic information from anyone who possessed an old Dutch translation of the Institutes not included in his list. The result of this appeal was a new list of eighteen Dutch editions of the Institutes, which Kuyper published in 1889.12 as an afterword.
The cover of this installment mistakenly states that Kuyper had composed an index of biblical passages. After the completion of the work, this statement was left off the title page. The second installment appeared in November 1887. The entire work was completed in twenty installments by 1889.
In this article Kuyper writes about the terminations announced at the eight diaconal schools in Amsterdam. After the Doleantie the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam retained control of the eight diaconal schools in Amsterdam. The consistory decided to terminate all personnel who had gone over to the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende), effective December 31, 1887. Kuyper reports that as of January 1, 1888 the fired personnel would continue their work at five new schools, for which locations had already been found. He also notes that the formation of these new schools would again require financial sacrifices from the congregation (cf. 1888.07).
A circular letter, dated Amsterdam, October 1887, invited parents to move their children to the new schools. The circular letter was signed by the board of the School Commission: A. Kuyper, chairman, W. Hovy, treasurer, and J.A. Wormser, secretary.
This sermon deals with a phrase from Moses’ farewell address, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children” (Deuteronomy 29:29). After the introduction, the sermon unfolds in three points, explicating what this admonition signifies about our knowledge of God, God’s will, and God’s decree. The sermon cautions against the inclination to intrude into the divine world, the spiritual world of angels and the deceased, and the secrets of a fellow human’s heart. Kuyper also cautions against asking questions about the relation between divine providence and human responsibility and he warns his listeners not to neglect the revealed knowledge of God.
Kuyper uses figurative language to communicate his points, comparing, for example, his congregants to sailors rowing with their backs to their destination, which only the helmsman can see. While defending the hiddenness of the divine decree, he condemns as morbid, unscriptural, and non-confessional those sermons that incite curiosity about the mystery of divine election.
The sermon was delivered on September 4, 1887 at the Maison Stroucken in Amsterdam and was included, like 1886.14, in a double issue of the series Uit de diepte (volume 2, which ran from July 1, 1887 to June 30, 1888). For additional sermons by Kuyper in this series, see also 1886.14 and 1887.08.
The first report of the Synodical Convention was turned in by Kuyper, who had been appointed chairman of the Agenda Commission (see 1887.24) by the Reformed Church Congress (see 1887.01). The report, which accompanied the agenda that the commission submitted, contains additional prescriptions for the maintenance of good order during the sessions, a list of nominees for the position of moderator, an introduction to the advisors for the convention, and a proposal that a commission be appointed for the preparation of press releases (since the proceedings of the convention were officially closed to the public). Kuyper and the Rev. F. Lion Cachet were named to this commission. Seven dispatches, prepared by the Commission of Advisors and covering the full agenda of the convention, were also included in the proceedings (Acta). Four of these dispatches were reported in the synod by Kuyper. Among the issues on the agenda was reunion with the Christian Reformed Church (p. 32). Kuyper was also appointed chairman of the fifteen-member Commission of Advisors.
The prominent role that Kuyper played in the preparation and the proceedings of the Synodical Convention suggests that he had the primary role in conceiving the agenda and formulating the list of recommended decisions [praeadviezen], upon which he reported and to which he signed his name.
The majority of the decisions taken by the Synodical Convention agreed with the list of recommended decisions. The only exception had to do with the name of the denomination. The list of recommended decisions reported on by Kuyper had suggested that the denomination be referred to as the Voorlopig Kerkverband van Gereformeerde Kerken (doleerende) [Provisional Denomination of Reformed Churches (doleerende)]. The convention voted to include the word Nederduitsche [Dutch] in the title as well.
The proceedings were to be published as quickly as possible and sent to the approximately three hundred delegates, advisors, and guests of the Synodical Convention. Gift copies were also sent out.
The word “patriarch” was added to the subtitles. Faulty biblical references at the beginning of the meditations were left uncorrected.
In this study of the incarnation, Kuyper devotes a great deal of attention to the ideas of the Rev. H.F. Kohlbrugge (1803–1875) and the neo-Kohlbruggians, Prof. E. Böhl (1836–1903) and the Rev. J. Fr. Bula (1828–1893). The latter was a Swiss pastor who in 1855 had been an assistant pastor with Kohlbrugge in Elberfeld and who had written a book titled Die Versöhnung des Menschen durch Christum oder die Genugthuung [The reconciliation of humanity through Christ or The satisfaction] (Basel: Felix Schneider’s Buchhandlung, 1874).
The extensive introduction was largely composed of three articles from De Heraut, no. 491, May 22, 1887 [partially reprinted]–no. 493, June 5, 1887. Kuyper included these articles in the introduction to provide his readers with a broader understanding of his disagreement with Bula and Böhl, which flared up over Böhl’s assertion in his newly published Dogmatik (Amsterdam/Leipzig/Basel: Scheffer & Co., 1887) that Adam’s guilt was imputed not only to us but to Christ as well. Kuyper contended that our redemption is left unsettled if Christ suffered for his own guilt. The key to our reconciliation with God lies in the inequality between Christ and us at just this point.
Böhl responded to the critique with Zur Abwehr. Etliche Bemerkungen gegen Professor Dr. A. Kuyper’s Einleitung zu seiner Schrift: “Die Incarnation des Wortes.” (“De vleeschwording des Woords.”) (Amsterdam, 1888). A Dutch translation of Böhl’s response appeared in the same year.
The twenty-three chapters of Kuyper’s work correspond to the twenty-three articles published under the title De vleeschwording van het Woord in De Heraut, no. 263, January 7, 1883–no. 273, March 18, 1883; no. 275, April 1, 1883–no. 279, April 29, 1883; and no. 282, May 20, 1883–no. 288, July 1, 1883. Subtitles were added to the collected articles. Chapters 12–18 deal with the question that the introduction had already treated at length. Kuyper’s original intention was to have these biblical-theological studies reprinted in Het werk van de Heilige Geest [The work of the Holy Spirit] (see 1888.09). He later decided that the broad scope of this article series about the incarnation would disturb the harmony of that work and that it would be better to publish this series independently (cf. De Heraut, no. 515, November 6, 1887).
Three of twelve talking points composed for a dialogue between six deputies selected by the Synodical Convention (see 1887.24) and the lecturers of the Theological Seminary at Kampen. A number of theses intended to stimulate discussion accompanied every talking point (quaestio). The conference at Kampen marked another step (cf. 1887.28) toward merger between the Dutch Reformed Churches (doleerende) and the Christian Reformed Church.
The three talking points submitted by Kuyper concern the relation between the one invisible church and the various phenomenal forms of the visible church (quaestio II), the question whether there is enough room for an additional Reformed consistory in places where Reformed consistories already exist (quaestio VII), and the reasons why collegialism and congregationalism are impossible frameworks for Reformed church order (quaestio XI). Kuyper’s talking points are accompanied by twenty-eight theses,
After a preparatory conversation among three deputies and three lecturers in Utrecht on October 20, 1887, the dialogues where held in Kampen on November 17 and 18, 1887. Lecturer S. van Velzen, the senior participant, was chairman. The conversations required six sessions over two days. For the results see 1888.01.
The talking points, along with the accompanying theses and the names of their authors, were printed and made available to the participants in the form of a thirty-page booklet. Lecturer D.K. Wielenga submitted an additional thirteen theses to supplement the ten theses he had attached to quaestio IV. Wielenga’s additional theses were printed as a four-page flyer and included along with the booklet.
The first part of a four-part series of biblical-theological articles and meditations (so-called “primary” and “secondary” articles) from De Heraut and De Standaard, written on the occasion of the festivals and memorials of the church year: I. Christmas, II. Passover and Good Friday, III. Easter and Ascension Day, and IV. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. For the complement to these collections, see 1889.15.
The twenty-two unnumbered biblical-theological articles and meditations in the first volume of Dagen van goede boodschap [Days of good tidings] (cf. 2Kings 7:9) are reprinted from the following weekly papers: (1) De Heraut, no. 157, December 26, 1880; (2) De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 92, December 28, 1873; (3–4) De Heraut, no. 54, December 22, 1878; (5) De Heraut no. 418, December 27, 1885; (6) De Heraut no. 365, December 21, 1884; (7–8) De Heraut no. 261, December 24, 1882; (9) De Heraut no. 3, December 21, 1877; (10) Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 91 December 26, 1875; (11) De Heraut, no. 365, December 21, 1884; (12) De Heraut no. 470, December 26, 1886; (13) De Heraut no. 157, December 26, 1880; (14) De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 39, December 22, 1872; (15) De Heraut, no. 209, December 25, 1881; (16) De Heraut no. 313, December 23, 1883; (17) De Heraut no. 470, December 26, 1886; (18) De Heraut no. 313, December 23, 1883; (19) De Heraut no. 418, December 27, 1885; (20) De Heraut no. 209, December 25, 1881; (21) De Heraut 21 (1870), no. 51, December 23, 1870; and (22) Zondagsblad van De Standaard, no. 39, December 27, 1874.
The collection reprinted the articles rather faithfully, although some articles were shortened and the spelling of some words was changed.
This edition, printed on high-quality paper, uses the title page of 1887.26 while changing voor kerkelijk en huiselijk gebruik [for church and home use] to voor kerkelijk gebruik [for church use]. The prefaces of 1883.10 have been replaced by the preface of 1887.26. In all other aspects, apart from the blind tooling on the back cover, it is identical to 1883.10. Copies intended for use by consistory members (i.e., to indicate their agreement with the forms of unity) have an additional thirty-two blank signature pages.
1888
Thirty-one propositions outlining the results of the Kampen conference of November 17–18, 1887 (see 1887.35). The document (UBVU, XW 05157), which was supposed to point the way forward to reunion, was originally intended to be discussed at a public conference with office holders of the Christian Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Churches (doleerende). A commission—made up of H. Bavinck, W. van den Bergh, A. Kuyper, M. Noordtzij, F.L. Rutgers, and S. van Velzen—was appointed during the Kampen conference to record its proceedings and formulate its proposals. The names of the first five commission members are printed below the thirty-one propositions. At a continued conference of deputies and lecturers in Amsterdam on February 17, 1888, however, it was decided that a different and more practical interpretation should be given to the upcoming “public conference” for office holders from both sides. A conference took place for the officers of the Christian Reformed Church on April 10, 1888 and for the officers of the dolerende churches on April 12, 1888. The thirty-one propositions were judged to be no longer suitable for pointing out the next steps and were accordingly put aside.
The propositions constitute a striking example of an item that cannot be directly attributed to Kuyper, even though it clearly bears his hallmark. It was his idea to have a commission formulate and record the results of the Kampen Conference. It was also his proposal to make this item the subject of a conference of office holders. He may even have been the editor of this item, as well as its contributor.
In De Heraut, no. 532, March 4, 1888, Kuyper printed these propositions in full. In a brief foreword, he called them a “historic” document and simply printed his name under the theses. The propositions were also included in the Friesche Kerkbode, no. 19, March 10, 1888 and in De Hope 22 (1887/1888), no. 20 (whole number 1112), March 28, 1888 (see 1888.03).
A letter to the editor in which Kuyper denies intending to propose the attorney W. Heineken for the lucrative position of clerk of the Amsterdam Consistory while he was still a member of the consistory. Heineken agreed with Kuyper’s views on the ownership of church properties (cf. 1886.20), which is why it was suspected that Kuyper had proposed him for this office. The sitting clerk did not join the Doleantie.
The editor in chief of the De Wageninger and the author of the incriminating passage in the leading article of February 8, 1888 (no. 11) was the Rev. S.H. Buytendijk (1822–1910). Buytendijk was a member of the Central Committee of Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Federations from 1879 to 1884. However, he became a party dissident due to his strong opposition to the Doleantie. Together with the Rev. A.W. Bronsveld, he founded the National Party in 1888, which vainly attempted to prevent the right-wing coalition of Roman Catholics and Anti-Revolutionaries after their first electoral victory in 1888. In 1905, Buytendijk declared himself once more a supporter of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in his brochure Rechts of links? Een politiek advies (Utrecht, 1905).
The letter to the editor was also published in De Standaard, no. 4896, February 27, 1888.
In 1888 De Hope reprinted three meditations from De Heraut. The meditation on Psalm 143:6 in vol. 22, no. 18 was reprinted from De Heraut, no. 518, November 27, 1887; the meditation on Nahum 2:7 in no. 40 was reprinted from De Heraut, no. 552, July 22, 1888; and the meditation on John 4:14 in vol. 23, no. 2 was reprinted from De Heraut, no. 558, September 2, 1888.
In De Hope, vol. 22, no. 20, the “Propositions for the Public Conference on the Matter of the Reunification of the Reformed” were reprinted from De Heraut, no. 532, March 4, 1888 (see 1888.01).
In vol. 22, no. 41, “De martelaren van den Bartholomeusnacht. (24 Augustus 1572)” [The martyrs of St. Bartholomew’s Eve. (August 24, 1572)] was reprinted from De Standaard, no. 123, August 24, 1872 (see 1872.08).
In vol. 22, no. 43, “Naijver of samenwerking” [Envy or collaboration] was reprinted from a leading article in De Standaard 17 (1888), no. 5037, August 13, 1888. The editors of De Hope subtitled the article “Clannishness or Generosity—Where and How the Line Should Be Drawn.” After making extensive reference both to practices in his own circles and to national and international customs, Kuyper concludes the article by expressing his hope that this line will become better delineated in church circles. Although De Hope dropped some material that was of regional interest only, it reprinted the majority of the piece, which deals largely with matters of general concern.
Concerning De Hope, see 1885.06.
In the brief preface to the second volume of Dagen van goede boodschap, Kuyper asserts that Good Friday can only be understood in the light of Easter and therefore that the Lord’s Supper should not be celebrated on Good Friday.
The twenty-nine unnumbered biblical-theological articles and devotions in this volume were reprinted from the following weekly papers: (1, 23) De Heraut, no. 435, April 25, 1886; (2, 21) De Heraut, no. 329, April 13, 1884; (3) Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 52, March 28, 1875; (4) De Heraut, no. 328, April 6, 1884; (5) De Heraut, no. 434, April 18, 1886; (6) De Heraut, no. 433, April 11, 1886; (7) De Heraut, no. 172, April 10, 1881; (8) De Heraut, no. 18, April 7, 1878; (9) De Heraut, no. 223, April 2, 1882; (10, 20) De Heraut, no. 380, April 5, 1885; (11) De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 54, April 6, 1873; (12, 29) De Heraut, no. 485, April 10, 1887; (13) De Heraut, no. 273, March 18, 1883; (14, 28) De Heraut, no. 274, March 25, 1883; (15) De Heraut 22 (1871), no. 14, April 7, 1871; (16, 25) De Heraut, no. 173, April 17, 1881; (17, 18) De Heraut, no. 224, April 9, 1882; (19) De Heraut, no. 70, April 13, 1879; (22) De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 55, April 13, 1873; (24) Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 53, April 4, 1875; (26) De Heraut, no. 69, April 6, 1879; and (27) De Heraut, no. 275, April 1, 1883.
The first thirteen devotions deal with Good Friday and the next sixteen deal with Easter.
This fourth volume from the series Bibliotheca Reformata (see 1882.07) contains a sheaf (fasciculus) of twelve disputations from the Selectarum Disputationum Theologicarum Partes I–V (1648–1669) of Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676). Six disputations were reprinted from volume 1 of the original work: De ratione humana in rebus fidei; Quousque sese extendat S. Scripturae auctoritas; De jure et justitia Dei; De necessitate et utilitate dogmatis S.S. Trinitatis; An Christus qua mediator sit adorandus (with appendix); and De propagatione peccati originalis. Four disputations were reprinted from volume 2: Problemata de merito Christi; De persona Christi mediatoris; De statu electorum ante conversionem; and De regeneratione. A single disputation, De sabbatto et festis, was reprinted from volume 3 and another, De lege et euangelio, from volume 4.
The three-page foreword, which like the rest of the book is written in Latin, offers a few remarks about Voetius and his significance for theology (section 1), a brief rationale for the selection of the twelve disputations and for the correction of the printing errors in the original edition (section 2), and finally bibliographic information about the original five volumes (section 3). An index of all the disputations in the original edition—nearly three hundred treatises and approximately four hundred summarily written theses—was included for interested scholars (section 4, pp. VII–XXIII).
The index was compiled by Rev. Chr. Hunningher (1864–1928). See 1922.03, p. 73 of Herinneringen van de oude garde.
In the foreword to the third volume of Dagen van goede Boodschap, the author asserts that God’s church was a national church in the strict sense of the word until Pentecost. As a consequence of the ascension, the church became a worldwide and catholic (in the biblical sense) church at Pentecost, as it had been in the days of Noah and Abraham and as it will be in paradise.
The twenty-six unnumbered biblical-theological articles and devotions in this volume were all reprinted from De Heraut, as follows: (1) no. 230, May 21, 1882; (2) no. 491, May 22, 1887; (3) no. 335, May 25, 1884; (4) no. 280, May 6, 1883; (5) no. 75, May 18, 1879; (6, 8) no. 441, June 6, 1886; (7) no. 386, May 17, 1885; (9) no. 493, June 5, 1887; (10) no. 27, June 9, 1878; (11) no. 387, May 24, 1885; (12, 13) no. 77, June 1, 1879; (14) no. 127, May 16, 1880; (15) no. 281, May 13, 1883; (16) no. 181, June 12, 1881; (17) no. 443, June 20, 1886; (18) no. 336, June 1, 1884; (19, 22) no. 231, May 28, 1882; (20, 24) no. 442, June 13, 1886; (21, 23) no. 180, June 5, 1881; and (25, 26) no. 492, May 29, 1887.
The first eight devotions deal with the ascension and the next eighteen with Pentecost.
This article announces the dissolution of the commission that the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Church (doleerende) of Amsterdam had established to oversee the schools (cf. 1887.30). The commission would turn over its duties and its materials to the soon-to-be-established school board. Two members of the consistory had already been selected to serve on the board. They would be joined by two deacons, and the parents of school children would elect two members for the board from the financial contributors to the schools. Furthermore, after the annual meeting of the Association “The Church Treasury” (see 1887.07) and the installation of a new school board, the previous commission’s provisional regulations for the five schools would be replaced by a more definitive set of regulations.
At the time of this article’s publication, there were already 1,600 children enrolled at five schools. The new schools had experienced some financial difficulties. A shortfall of ƒ4,000 had been reported by January and a circular letter (dated Amsterdam, June 1, 1888) with a subscription card had been sent out to resolve this debt.
Introductory remarks delivered during the annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles, held at Zwolle on June 21, 1888. The ecclesiastical events of 1886 raised the question whether the association should seek a formal connection with the Dutch Reformed Churches (doleerende). Kuyper begins his reply by arguing that higher education does not arise from the church, but from the government or free citizens. The theological faculty should, however, have some connection to the church in principle and practice. This had not been possible when the Vrije Universiteit was founded in 1880, but it has become a possibility due to the conflict in the church.
Kuyper goes on to state that, while the Theologische School at Kampen belongs entirely under synodical oversight because its purpose is to fight heresy and train pastors, a theological faculty at a university has a different character. Such a faculty must be engaged not only with the arts and sciences, but also with the churches, since its professors are also ministers of the Word. The connection between the faculty and the church, however, should not be restricted only to the dolerende churches; rather, it should extend to all Reformed churches. An official connection with all the Reformed churches will have to wait until a combined synod of the Reformed churches takes place. If such a synod does not take place, then separate deliberations with every denomination can be pursued. Kuyper concludes that such deliberations presently would be premature. See also 1890.07.
Het werk van den Heiligen Geest appeared in three volumes. The text of the three volumes is reprinted from biblical-theological studies published in De Heraut from September 2, 1883 to July 4, 1886. These studies appeared weekly, except when superseded by biblical-theological articles or meditations published on the occasion of church holidays and during summer vacations.
In section 1 of the foreword, Kuyper notes that few individual studies of the work of the Holy Spirit have been written. In sections 1–4, he provides a detailed examination of the works of the Puritan John Owen (1616–1683), who wrote three books about the Holy Spirit. Kuyper also includes a seventy-four-item bibliography of Owen’s works and gives an overview in sections 5–7 of other works about the Holy Spirit that have been published since the Reformation. The foreword concludes with a reply to E. Böhl (see 1887.34).
Volume 1 contains thirty-nine articles from the series of Het werk van den Heiligen Geest in De Heraut, no. 297, September 2, 1883–no. 340, June 29, 1884. Subtitles were added to all thirty-nine reprinted articles. In De Heraut the articles are separately numbered within each series. In book form, the articles are numbered sequentially, with the sequences starting afresh at the beginning of each volume.
Kuyper acted as advisor and consultant at the first of the four provisional synods of the Dutch Reformed Churches (doleerende) that preceded the union with the Christian Reformed Church. The first part of the synod was held from June 25–29, 1888 and the second part from January 16–23, 1889. At the June 25 session, Kuyper and F.L. Rutgers turned in a report in the name of the Preliminary Advisory Commission that charted a course for entering into union negotiations with the Christian Reformed Church. The course of action indicated by the report was unanimously adopted by the synod.
At the June 27 session, the commission that the Synodical Convention had appointed to negotiate with the editors of De Heraut (see 1887.32) presented their report. The report consisted of the agreement reached at Amsterdam on September 16, 1887 between the commission and Kuyper. De Heraut became the official organ for the Dutch Reformed Churches (doleerende) on October 1, 1888. The rights and the duties of the editors were laid out in ten points and the synod confirmed the agreement. During the same session the synod decided to drop the word doleerende from the name of the church.
Address at the transferal of the rectorship of the Vrije Universiteit to F.L. Rutgers. Kuyper, also professor in aesthetics, chose the subject “Calvinism and art” to overturn the prejudice that these two are mutually exclusive. The first section of the address recounts the formal principle of Calvin that art is a gift of God and discusses the consequences of this principle for the evaluation of art. In the second section, Kuyper investigates the effects of seven characteristics of Calvinism on the development of the plastic arts. In the third and final section, he deals with the relation between Calvinism and poetry.
The Annales Academiae for the academic year 1887–1888 are also included (pp. [41]–51) in this edition of the address. The endnotes (pp. [53]–87), which are compactly printed, are more extensive than the address itself.
Section 254 belongs to the elucidation of Article 18 of the platform of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP), which treats the colonial question. Taken from 1879.04, this section was reprinted in a series of ten articles about the colonial politics of the ARP, which were originally published in the Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad under the title “What Is in Store for Us?” (The section was included in the fourth article of Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad 3 (1887/1889), no. 11, April 11, 1888). Many colonists in the Dutch Indies had largely lost their trust in the liberals and had high hopes for the Mackay cabinet (1888–1891), the first Christian coalition cabinet. L.W.C. Keuchenius (1822–1893) was the minister of the colonies.
The article series clarified the colonial program of the ARP. When the government had to determine the budget for the Dutch Indies in connection with the royal budget for 1889, Th. Ch.L. Wijnmalen (1841–1895) provided a separate edition concern- ing these ten articles, to which he added an introduction and notes, for the Dutch public.
A short notice including practical advice to those who had made reservations for the opening service of the Keizersgrachtkerk on November 4, 1888, when Rev. H.W. van Loon took the pulpit and preached on Ephesians 2:19–22. The Keizersgrachtkerk (about 1,700 seats and two galleries) is called “the cradle of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands” (cf. 1892.18).
Between 1888 and 1892 the young congregation built another four churches, nearly as large as the Keizersgrachtkerk. Only this church building survived and is still in use.
While the first volume deals with the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, the second and third volumes provide a systematic treatment of the work of the Holy Spirit in individuals. The second volume devotes seven chapters to the work of the Holy Spirit in humanity, particularly as this work relates to human sinfulness, preparatory grace, regeneration, calling and conversion, justification, and belief.
Volume 2 contains forty-one articles from the series Het werk van den Heiligen Geest in De Heraut, no. 349, August 31, 1884–no. 393, July 5, 1885. Subtitles were added to all forty-one articles.
The foreword of Dagen van goede boodschap IV briefly explains why a volume about New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day has been added to the volumes of devotions about Christmas, Easter morning, and Pentecost. Kuyper argues that the conflicting thoughts that arise within us at the time of the New Year, when God’s voice frequently pierces our consciences, also require direction and interpretation.
The twenty-five unnumbered biblical-theological articles and devotions in this volume were reprinted from: (1) De Heraut, no. 108, January 4, 1880; (2, 24) De Heraut, no. 523, January 1, 1888; (3, 22) De Heraut, no. 419, January 3, 1886; (4, 18) De Heraut, no. 158, January 2, 1881; (5, 17) De Heraut, no. 210, January 1, 1882; (6, 19) De Heraut, no. 55, December 29, 1878; (7) Zondagsblad van De Standaard 4 (1875), no. 40, January 3, 1875; (8) Zondagsblad van De Standaard 5 (1876), no. 92, January 2, 1876; (9, 21) De Heraut, no. 4, December 28, 1877; (10, 16) De Heraut, no. 366, December 28, 1884; (11, 25) De Heraut, no. 262, December 31, 1882; (12, 15) De Heraut, no. 314, December 30, 1883; (13) De Standaard, Sunday edition, no. 40, December 29, 1872; (14, 23) De Heraut, no. 471, January 2, 1887; and (20) De Heraut, no. 5, January 4, 1878. The reprinted articles occasionally leave out a date or line from the original.
The first fifteen articles and devotions deal with New Year’s Eve and the next ten deal with New year’s Day.
1889
Report, drawn up at the request of the provisional synod (see 1888.10), about the meaning and sense of Article 8 of the church order of Dordt. This article dealt with the question of the admission to ministerial office of those who had no theological training, but who still wished to become pastors. After giving a brief historical sketch of the background to the article in question, the report concludes with seven resolutions about its implementation. Among other things, the report posits that admission to ministerial office is a responsibility of all the churches and can only take place after suitable inquiry or examination. The report provides three criteria for evaluating candidates. Furthermore, the author contends that two classes must be involved in any such examination. The report is signed by Kuyper (HUA 55/205).
The synod’s discussion of this item is recorded in 1889.04.
A second untitled series (cf. 1887.09) of twelve “biblical character studies,” as Kuyper called these devotional sketches, which were published in the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode. These studies present profiles of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Japheth, Abraham, Lot, Melchizedek, Isaac, and Jacob.
Three brief reports in the proceedings of the continued Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands, which was held in the Burgwalkerk in Kampen January 15–18, 1889. The first report (pp. 6–7) has to do with what Kuyper said on November 22, 1888 when he submitted the printed copy of the Concept-Acte van ineensmelting der Kerken, te Utrecht en te Assen dit jaar synodaal samengekomen [Draft act for fusing the churches meeting in synod this year at Utrecht and Assen]. Kuyper submitted this report on behalf of the delegates from the dolerende churches who had been asked to negotiate with their counterparts in the Christian Reformed Church and, if possible, to design an act of fusion between the churches. Kuyper later admitted in retrospect that the report had been submitted somewhat prematurely (see 1889.04).
The second report (p. 8) relates to a presentation to the synod about the meeting of the reciprocal delegates at Utrecht on December 13, 1888. After the amendments to the draft act submitted by the delegates from the Christian Reformed Church had been incorporated (with a few small changes), both sides accepted the draft act.
The third report (pp. 56–58) concerns Kuyper’s address to the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in the Burgwalkerk in Kampen on January 18, 1889. Kuyper and Dr. W. van den Bergh both tried in vain to move the synod to accept the draft act by clarifying the apparent points of contention.
F.L. Rutgers turned in the draft act of fusion (see 1889.03) at the meeting of the extended synod held in Utrecht on January 16–23, 1889. Kuyper subsequently stated (see the conclusion of Article 123 [p. 89] in the Acta) that the deputies had gone beyond their mandate and exceeded their authority when they submitted this draft act and that it therefore lacked any official status. See also Articles 124 and 128 (pp. 90, 91) of the Acta. Article 169 (pp. 108–114) contains the Synod’s amended version of the report that Kuyper had drawn up with the assistance of Rutgers concerning the admission of those with singular gifts to the preaching office (see 1889.01).
Letter to the editor prompted by a commentary in the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, no. 76, March 17, 1889. The commentary had remarked on the fact that a recent meeting of the Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Association (held in Dordrecht on March 15 and attended by 800 persons) had been closed. The paper asked why this meeting had not been open to the public as other meetings of the Anti-Revolutionary Party typically were. In this letter Kuyper replies that meetings of the Anti-Revolutionary Party at all levels are generally closed. He notes, however, that the electoral associations frequently hold public meetings during electoral contests, a practice that would certainly take place again in Dordrecht.
Seven numbered articles reprinted from De Standaard that appeared under the title Handenarbeid. These articles address the social question and focus in particular on the disproportionately bad situation of manual laborers. Kuyper argues that a code of labor law (cf. 1874.03 and 1879.04) should be drawn up that would regulate salaries, work hours, worker safety, health costs, retirement insurance, agreements about the right to strike, etc. The ideas and proposals of the Anti-Revolutionary Party are contrasted again and again with the policy proposals of the social democratic and the liberal schools of thought. Article IV provides a historical excursus about the system of guilds, from which Kuyper concludes that that system cannot provide any perspective on the present situation. Article V addresses the question whether it is desirable to have so-called chambers (or councils) of labor.
The inside of the back cover lists the seven articles and the dates of their publication in De Standaard. The primary articles on manual labor (I–VII) were published in alternating issues of De Standaard 18 (1889), no. 5188, February 8, 1889–no. 5200, February 22, 1889. Subtitles were added to the articles in their reprinted form. The brochure was very inexpensively priced and a substantial discount was made available to those who planned to distribute it freely as a tract.
An address delivered in Utrecht on May 3, 1889 at the opening of the tenth, extraordinary, Meeting of Deputies of the Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations (i.e., party convention). The ordinary meeting of deputies had been linked to periodic elections for the Second Chamber. At the meeting of deputies in 1888, however, it was agreed that henceforth interim, that is, extraordinary, meetings of deputies could also be convened.
The theme of the address, “not the liberty tree but the cross,” was furnished by the centenary of the French Revolution. The theme is a variant on Groen van Prinsterer’s adage, “the gospel against the Revolution.” Kuyper contrasts the destructive spirit of the French Revolution with the broad line running from Bilderdijk, Da Costa, and Groen van Prinsterer to the school struggle of his day. The importance of Christian schooling, he notes, led to the political struggle that gave rise to the Anti-Revolutionary Party, which recognizes that Calvinism also has political implications. The address concludes with an overview of the current political program of the Anti-Revolutionaries.
This was the tenth meeting of deputies and the first address to the deputies that appeared in print. Reports of the nine preceding addresses (originally published in De Standaard) are included in 1951.01. The edition was made available on the same day the address was delivered.
Sire! De deputatenvergadering, afgevaardigd door 250 antirevolutionaire kiesvereenigingen, acht zich gelukkig, dat zij de eerste grootere volksvergadering is, die na het heuglijk weeroptreden van Uwe Majesteit, om in eigen persoon het koninklijk gezag weer uit te oefenen, uit alle provinciën van Nederland saamkwam. Met geestdrift begroette zij de verrassend goede tijding, die aller hart met vreugde vervuld heeft. Zij dankt God den Heere, die Uwe Majesteit uit zoo zware ziekte weer oprichtte, en zij bidt het af, dat het aan Uwe Majesteit moge gegeven zijn, nog een reeks van jaren te regeeren over het Nederlandsche volk, dat zoo innig aan Uwe Majesteit en het huis van Oranje-Nassau verknocht is; en voor welks recht en vrijheden, op het voetspoor van den grooten Zwijger, nooit door iemand krachtiger is opgekomen, dan door de dynastie van Oranje. In het eeuwjaar der Fransche revolutie is het haar een voorrecht de betuiging van haar eerbied voor het koninklijk gezag en van haar onveranderlijke trouw aan Uw Huis voor Uwer Majesteits troon neder te leggen. De Heere onze God steune en sterke Uwe Majesteit; Hij zegene onze geëerbiedigde Koningin; en onze geliefde Prinses van Oranje blijve tot in lengte van dagen de hope van ons Vaderland. Het moderamen van de Deputatenvergadering voornoemd: A. Kuyper, voorzitter, A.F. de Savornin Lohman, assessor, B.J.L. de Geer van Jutphaas, assessor, T.A.J. van Asch van Wijck, secretaris, en H. Waller, penningmeester.
Telegram sent in the name of the meeting of deputies (see 1889.07) to King William III. The king had been so seriously ill during the past months that the Council of State had had to take over the official duties of the sovereign. The improvement to which the telegram alludes lasted only for a short duration. Queen Emma became regent on November 14, 1889. On May 12, 1889, however, the king (†1890) celebrated his fortieth royal jubilee. On the occasion of the jubilee, Kuyper also received a royal honor (Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion).
The text of this telegram has been altered in accordance with a correction printed in De Standaard, no. 5261, May 6, 1889.
The opening words at the eighth general meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (Dordrecht, June 26–27, 1889). Kuyper uses Revelation 14:12 as a consoling backdrop to his overview of the effects that the recent church struggle have had upon the Vrije Universiteit. In general, the effects were hard and bitter. The Vrije Universiteit lost valued trustees, professors, administrators, and supporters as a consequence of the Doleantie.
Kuyper’s response, in the form of an open letter, to an article that W.H. de Beaufort (1845–1918) had published in De Gids 53 (= series 4, vol. 7), part 2, June 1889 (pp. [552]–560). De Beaufort had poked fun at Kuyper’s address to the Meeting of Deputies of the Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations (see 1889.07). In this response Kuyper contends that the article’s ironic treatment of the delegates, its tirades, its faulty presentation of many items, and its insinuations—including the insinuation that Kuyper was only out to gain power—could not be left without rebuttal. Honor is tender. A bold and well-documented reply was necessary according to Kuyper (p. 6) since “I do, in fact, like the ‘pepper and salt tray’ on the political table.”
De Beaufort answered him with Tegen Dr. A. Kuyper. Een woord van zelfverdediging en nadere toelichting (Amsterdam: P.N. van Kampen & Zoon, 1889). Kuyper then continued the polemical exchange (see 1889.13).
While the first volume treats the work of the Holy Spirit for the church, the second and the third volumes offer a systematic treatment of the work of the Holy Spirit for the individual. The third volume deals in three chapters with the action of the Holy Spirit in sanctification, love, and prayer. It contains forty-three articles from De Heraut, no. 402, September 6, 1885–no. 445, July 4, 1886 and no. 578, January 20, 1889–no. 582, February 17, 1889.
For the final five articles (on the topic of prayer), Kuyper interrupted a series on the Heidelberg Catechism that he had already begun in De Heraut (see 1893.03). Subtitles were added to all forty-three reprinted articles. A keyword index (pp. 315–335) and an index of biblical texts (pp. 338–343) were added to this final volume. The three volumes of Het werk van den Heiligen Geest were not available separately (but see SA.01).
Dutch edition of Calvin’s Institutes based on the seventeenth-century translation by Willem Corsman (1590–1644). For information on the preface and postscript, see 1887.29. The changes and corrections that Kuyper made to Corsman’s translation were intended to provide contemporary Dutch readers with a reliable and readable edition of Calvin’s masterwork. Kuyper did not try to modernize the language, however. He wanted as much as possible to preserve the powerful rhetoric of the seventeenth-century Dutch.
This edition features a portrait of Calvin facing the title page. The portrait is an engraving by F. Knolle (1807–1877), which was modeled after the painting Ad Archetypum Genevense by Theophil Schuler (1821–1878). Curiously, Kuyper did not choose the portrait in the Corsman edition of 1650—a copperplate engraving by Claes Jansz. Visscher (1586–1652) that depicted Calvin standing in his study, leafing through a copy of his Institutio. Instead, he opted for the stern depiction of Calvin’s upper-body profile by Schuller/Knolle, which was probably taken from Corpus Reformatorum. Volumen XXIX, Ioannis Calvini Opera quae supersunt omni. Ediderunt Guilielmus Baum, Eduardus Cunitz, Eduardus Reuss, Volumen I (Brunsvigae, 1863).
In an unusual move and with Kuyper’s agreement, the publisher reduced the sale price of this edition three months after the final (twentieth) installment was published. To compete with an announced smaller and far less expensive edition, the price dropped by almost half to ƒ4.50 for an unbound copy and ƒ6.50 for a bound copy. An advertisement that announced this sudden and drastic drop in price directed those who had purchased the edition at the original price to Matthew 20:1–16.
Open letter to Het Vaderland. This liberal newspaper from The Hague had asserted that Kuyper did not know how to respond to the reply of W.H. de Beaufort (see 1889.10) and therefore remained silent. The paper underscored De Beaufort’s assertion that Kuyper had made many inaccurate remarks and added that he was therefore untrustworthy and also shallow. Although Kuyper had been rather satisfied with De Beaufort’s answer and willing to give his opponent the last word, this commentary forced him to return to the debate.
In this heavily documented reply Kuyper parries point after point (concerning, among other things, his ideas on public schools, higher education, the role of government, the goal of Anti-Revolutionary Party politics, and Groen van Prinsterer) with such force that the charge of inaccuracy is turned back against De Beaufort.
Kuyper opened the 1889–1890 academic year at the Vrije Universiteit with this lecture on September 18. Since 1880 124 students had been registered in the album discipulorum. Among the three faculties the theological faculty was by far the largest.
This lecture deals with the essence and the art of true study, looking at the students’ university years from the perspective of their future occupations and positions. The decisive point of the lecture is that study, as much as any activity after graduation, takes place to honor God. Kuyper explains that he has chosen “Scolastica” as his title because it stands for the res publica litterarum, that is, for the sovereign sphere of scholarship in society that exists both within and without the university. Those whom God has by his grace formed into scholars have an inviolable position within society arising from the divine call to scholarship.
The edition has a classical aura because of the bordered pages and because the title was printed in red gothic lettering on a heavy-stock gray paper cover.
A collection of seven devotions about the Sabbath (never before published) and fifty-two devotions for the Sabbath. The title is taken from Exodus 16:16–24. In the foreword, the author relates that the publication of these devotions for the Sabbath is intended to complement the four collections of devotions for Christian holidays in Dagen van Goede Boodschap [Days of good tidings] (see 1887.36). He also promises that a special study about the Sabbath shall be published soon (see 1890.04).
The first seven devotions treat the Sabbath (1) van God gegeven [as given by God], (2) door God verordend [as ordained by God], (3) door God geheiligd [as sanctified by God], (4) door God gezegend [as blessed by God], (5) door God gekeurd [as judged by God], (6) door God verzoend [as reconciled by God], and (7), van God vereeuwigd [as made eternal by God].
The fifty-two devotions, one for each Sunday of the year, are numbered in the collection. The devotions were originally published in De Heraut, no. 497, July 3, 1887–no. 597, June 2, 1889.
The planned introduction to this volume became too bulky and was accordingly published separately as the first part of a treatise on the Sabbath (see 1890.04).
1890
Editorial on an influenza epidemic, taken from De Heraut, no. 632, February 2, 1890. For information concerning De Hope, see 1885.06.
The Tractaat van den Sabbath is a more scholarly counterpart to 1889.15. Kuyper notes that practically all political parties champion the cause of giving Sundays off, but he contends that taking a day off from work is totally different from sanctifying the Sabbath. In this treatise, he defends that thesis. The first part (nine chapters, pp. [7]–75) deals with the history of the Sabbath. The second part (twelve chapters, pp. [79]–163) inquires into the meaning of the Sabbath. The final chapter puts forward fifty-six theses that, taken together, provide a succinct overview of the content and upshot of the monograph. Finally, a translation of a portion of Calvin’s commentary on Genesis 2:3 is provided.
It was originally Kuyper’s plan to include this treatise as the introduction to 1889.15. The treatise grew too large, however, forcing him to rework it for separate publication (cf. De Heraut, no. 621, November 17, 1889). In part of the print run, the numbers for pages 39 and 41 were reversed. This mistake was corrected in the rest of the print run.
Kuyper was the first of six speakers at the 1890 Mission Congress of the Dutch Reformed Churches. Here he sets out in twenty-seven theses (pp. 2–10) the primary lines along which he thinks missionary work should be developed. At the heart of these theses is a new principle, namely, that the work of mission should no longer be turned over to missionary societies but should be carried out by the church, that is, by every local church (cf. 1871.14 and 1893.02).
The twenty-seven theses are arranged in four series: (1) “dogmatic theses” (theses I–VIII); (2) “mission in the strict sense, i.e., among the still unbaptized” (theses IX–XVII); (3) “methodological theses” (theses XVIII–XXII); and (4) “on the missionary office” (theses XXIII–XXVII). At the conference Kuyper and F.L. Rutgers gave a brief extemporaneous explanation of each thesis and opened the floor to discussion after each series of theses. A report on these oral remarks and interchanges is included in this publication.
Kuyper characterized his contribution as a lecture in dogmatics/church order (cf. De Heraut, no. 633, February 9, 1890). The republication of this item exactly fifty years later (see 1940.01), with a foreword by J.H. Bavinck (1895–1964), attests to the fundamental and enduring significance of this principled articulation of the work of missions. The theses were also printed in De Heraut, no. 632, February 2, 1890, and in De Heidenbode, New Series, no. 8, March 1890, pp. 90–91.
The Mission Congress took place at the request of the (first) provisional synod (cf. 1888.10, art. 86) and was called to order by the Delegates for Mission and the Mission Congress. Kuyper was one of four advisors to the members of the congress. The synod praised the printed Acta of the Mission Congress as “a highly valuable manual.” The Advisory Committee on Mission had 3,000 bound copies of the Acta printed (cf. 1890.14, art. 34) so that the price could be kept at only ƒ0.50 per copy. Copies were sold not only directly by the publisher (508 copies; HUA 92, no. 73), but also by the deputies, who sold copies to church members via a circular letter (HUA 743, no. 111).
This collection of parliamentary addresses was published in order to correct the historical record, which the press and even contemporary members of the Second Chamber had distorted, about what Kuyper had said during his first period as a member of Parliament. It reprints nearly all his parliamentary speeches from the parliamentary sessions 1873–1874, 1874–1875, and 1875–1876, as well as several interpellations.
The twenty-nine chapters of the book, which treat many issues of principle, are divided into six rubrics:
- 1. The colonial question (chapters 1–10, which include Kuyper’s speeches from 1881.06 and also section 254 on the colonial question from “Our program” [see 1879.04 and 1888.14])
- 2. The social question (chapters 11–18)
- 3. The electoral question (chapter 19)
- 4. The education question (chapters 20–25)
- 5. The church question (chapters 26–28)
- 6. The relations between parties (chapter 29)
The collection also includes the date on which the speeches were originally given and page references to the volumes of the Report of the Acts of the Second Chamber of the States-General, from which the speeches were reprinted. For the reprinted material see 1874.03, 1874.08, 1875.04, 1875.08, and 1881.06.
Report of a brief introduction to the matter of finding proper church relations for the faculty of theology. This introduction was delivered at the ninth annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles at Dordrecht on June 29, 1889.
The introduction begins by proposing a resolution. Kuyper proposes that, given the nature of a faculty of theology and also the developments among church groups that are returning to the old confession and the old church order, the time has come to request cooperation between the synods of the Christian Reformed Church and of the Dutch Reformed Churches. He asks whether the synods: (1) would like to provide counsel about the appointments, suspensions, and dismissals of professors in the faculty of theology; (2) would be willing to provide sound advice about theological education, if requested; and (3) would like to make known their observations about the instruction being provided, if they saw reason to do so.
In his commentary Kuyper contends that the theological faculty has to teach in accordance with the confession and that it therefore must have a relationship with the church that embraces that confession. For it is through the mediation of the Holy Spirit working in the church that the confession has come into being. The relationship in question must be sought with all Reformed churches because the Holy Spirit does not work exclusively in any particular group. The resolution was approved. See for earlier deliberation 1888.08.
A lecture held in Amsterdam on June 19, 1890 on the occasion of the tenth annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles. Kuyper intended to make clear his perspective on the much-discussed question whether theological faculties should exist at public universities.
After giving an exposition of the issues involved, Kuyper contends that for reasons of history, systematics, and principle there should not be theological faculties at public universities. Science is sovereign in its sphere and does not tolerate intrusion from the state any more than the church does. The events that followed the passing of the Higher Education Law of 1876 had made this point clear. The government has the responsibility to provide higher education with its material needs, but must respect the fact that God remains sovereign over the encyclopedia of the sciences. Only the Vrije Universiteit can be said to be organized in a pure and irreproachable way from the standpoint of its constitution, history, and scholarship. It is a sign of this purity that no one would raise the question whether the Vrije Universiteit should have a theological faculty.
An official letter from the Second Provisional Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches to the Christian Reformed Advisory Committee on Union (GAA 743). The letter expresses the synod’s regret both that the Christian Reformed Church has not considered the proposed unification of the churches sufficient cause to call a synod and that no news has been received from the advisory committee. The letter proposes that the three forms of unity and the 1619 Church Order of Dordt should be substituted for the draft act of fusion (see 1889.03, 1889.04, and 1891.09) as the basis for future merger discussions between the churches. The letter closes by urging both churches to move forward quickly with the merger. A postscript politely requests that the Advisory Committee on Union send the enclosed 400 copies of the letter to the consistories of the Christian Reformed churches.
Kuyper wrote this letter at the request of the synod (cf. 1890.14, art. 40). The letter was submitted and approved the day after the synod requested it. The synod then decided to send the letter to every consistory in both churches (cf. 1890.14, art. 55).
The first installment of the annotated Bible in more understandable Dutch, prepared by Kuyper along with H. Bavinck and F.L. Rutgers. The basis for this edition of the Bible was the revised edition of the Dutch Authorized Version, published in Amsterdam in 1657 by the widow of Paulus Aertsz van Ravesteyn. Although the original plan had been to publish one installment per month, this schedule proved too rigorous. Three installments were published in 1890. The thirty-fourth and final installment appeared in August 1895. Subscribers were offered the choice between the illustrated and the unillustrated edition.
The introduction begins by relating the origins and purpose of this practical interpretation of the Belgic Confession. An annotated and ostensibly exhaustive list of all previous interpretations of the Belgic Confession follows, showing that the number of such works is considerably smaller than is the case with the Heidelberg Catechism. Kuyper opines that a historical-dogmatic interpretation of the Belgic Confession should also be written. Finally, he sets out the difference between a catechism and a confession and also between the Bible and a confession.
The introductory remarks were written at the request of the publisher. The language and the spelling of the original edition from 1755 (vol. 1) and 1758 (vol. 2) have been left unchanged. The two volumes of the original edition have been combined in this edition. On page [1], a second title page has been included with the original title printed on it: Zions roem en sterkte, ofte verklaaring van de zeevenendertig artikelen der Nederlandsche Geloofsbelydenis. Vooraf gaat een historisch-berigt, nopens de belydenis en geloofshervorming in de Nederlanden door Arnoldus Rotterdam [Zion’s glory and strength, or the explanation of the thirty-seven articles of the Dutch Confession of Faith. Preceded by a historical report concerning the confession and the reformation of the faith in the Netherlands by Arnoldus Rotterdam]. Hence the added half-title Zions roem en sterkte [Zion’s glory and strength].
A new series (cf. 1887.09 and 1889.02) of “biblical character studies,” as Kuyper described these devotional sketches, which were published in the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode. During 1890, the following sketches appeared: the mother of us all (Eve); Adah and Zillah; Sarah; Hagar; Keturah; Rebecca; Deborah the nurse; Leah; Rachel; and Judith and Basemath.
The series Vrouwen uit de Heilige Schrift would eventually number fifty sketches of women from the Old Testament (first series) and thirty sketches of women from the New Testament (second series).
Kuyper was frequently asked to assess the ramifications of the Doleantie for church polity and governance from the perspective of the canonical principles formulated during from heyday of Calvinism. He wrote this study in response to such requests. He also included the Secession of 1834 in his inquiry because he wanted to stimulate the merger talks between the Dutch Reformed Churches and the Christian Reformed Church.
Kuyper deals with the subject in four main chapters. The first chapter deals with the origin, existence, and reformation of the institutional church. The second chapter treats the theme of reformation with respect to the institutional church. The third chapter discusses the consequences of both reformations (of 1834 and 1886) for canon law, civil law, and constitutional law. The fourth chapter addresses the unification of these churches. The final conclusion drawn from the inquiry affects both churches equally. Both churches are duty-bound to constitute common classical and synodical meetings.
Kuyper relates at the beginning of this monograph that he wrote it during a few free days before he had to start lecturing again at the Vrije Universiteit.
A report on the concluding remarks at the Second Provisional Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches, which took place in Leeuwarden on June 24–27, 1890. As the chairman of the synod Kuyper concluded the four sessions with a word of thanks and a warning that the Doleantie should steer clear, on the one hand, of separatism and, on the other, of the absolute, “Romanist” concept of the church. Kuyper ended his talk by calling upon the delegates to put their trust in God, since they had been driven into this ecclesiastical conflict not by calculations of risk, but by the Holy Spirit (art. 94, p. 95).
1891
The continuation of a series of devotions about women in the Bible. During 1891 the following sketches appeared in sequence: Dinah, Tamar, Asenath, Shiphra and Puah, Jochebed, the daughter of Pharaoh, Miriam, Zipporah, Rahab, Deborah, Jael, Jephthah’s daughter, Delilah, Naomi, Orpah, Ruth, Hannah, Ichabod’s mother, Manoah’s wife, Abigail, Michal, Bathsheba, the woman of Tekoah, the medium at Endor, the country woman of Bahurim, the real mother of the illegitimate child, Rizpah, Job’s wife, the queen of Sheba, Jeroboam’s wife, the widow of Zarephath, Jezebel, the Shunammite, a Jewish housemaid abroad, Athaliah, Jehosheba, Huldah, Noadiah, and Vashti.
The meditation on Daniel 9:4a in De Hope vol. 25, no. 15 was reprinted from De Heraut, no. 683, January 25, 1891. The meditation on Revelation 1:19 in De Hope vol. 25, no. 33, was reprinted from De Heraut, no. 650, June 8, 1890.
For information concerning De Hope, see 1885.06.
This brochure contains the provisional draft of the political platform of the Anti-Revolutionary Party, dated Amsterdam, March 23, 1891. The draft (see also 1940.03, pp. 20–21), which is signed by T.A.J. van Asch van Wijck, sets out the party line in nine points, which were to be followed in the campaign for the Second Chamber elections on June 9, 1891. It also charts the political course of the Anti-Revolutionary Party for the coming years. The final text would be settled upon at the meeting of delegates in Utrecht on May 12, 1891 (see 1891.05).
The brochure also reprints the nine explanatory lead articles (in ten chapters) that had recently been published in De Standaard as Onze gedragslijn I–IX. Subtitles have been added to these articles and the eighth article has been split into two parts. Originally published every other day, the articles relate to the following issues: “De grondwetsherziening” [Revision of the constitution] (De Standaard 20, no. 5844, March 30, 1891); “Voortgezette strijd tegen liberalistische tyrannie” [The continued struggle against liberal tyranny] (no. 5845, April 1, 1891); “Kiesrecht” [The franchise] (no. 5847, April 3, 1891); “Godsdienstvrede” [Religious peace] (no. 5849, April 6, 1891); “Onderwijs” [Education] (no. 5851, April 8, 1891); “Kamers van landbouw en arbeid” [The chambers of agriculture and labor] (no. 5853, April 10, 1891); “De schatkist” [The treasury] (no. 5855, April 13, 1891); “Tegen het militairisme” [Against militarism] and “Rechtspraak” [Jurisprudence] (no. 5857, April 15, 1891); and “Our colonies” [Our colonies] (no. 5859, April 17, 1891).
A review of the brochure De beoefening der rechtswetenschap aan Staatsacademie of Vrije Universiteit [The study of law at a state academy or at the Free University] (Amsterdam: A. Fernhout, 1891), reprinted from De Heraut, no. 684, February 1, 1891. The brochure made a plea for a Christian approach to scholarship, above all in jurisprudence. Kuyper wrote very favorably about this publication because of its author’s support for the Vrije Universiteit. His review does not mention that the anonymous author (Tiemen de Vries, 1865–1935, a student at the Vrije Universiteit from 1884 to 1892 who received his law degree in 1899 [cf. 1892.02, 1896.23, and 1911.04]) objected to the fact that students from the Vrije Universiteit had to take their examinations and defend their dissertations at other universities in order to receive legal recognition of their degrees (cf. 1892.22 and 1892.23). This state of affairs changed when the Vrije Universiteit received the effectus civilis, i.e., the legal standing to grant university degrees (see 1905.04).
De Vries’ second brochure, which reprinted this commentary along with a number of other reviews, emphasized even more strongly his objections to the requirement that exams be taken at state and municipal universities (“the places of temptation”). Kuyper showed much less enthusiasm for the second brochure (cf. De Heraut, no. 695, April 19, 1891).
The opening speech at the Meeting of Deputies of the Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations on May 12, 1891. The speech was delivered with an eye toward the upcoming elections (see 1891.03). In it Kuyper sets the stage by reading from Revelation 19. He then calls upon the deputies to act with conviction in the spirit of Christian democracy. The anticipation of the Lord’s second coming—Maranatha—provides the horizon for thinking about short-term political possibilities. On the one hand, this perspective unmasks the anti-Christian character of the electoral platforms of other political groups. On the other, it unites Christians across all confessional lines in the spirit of democratic action. The shift, characteristic of the present age, away from the ideals and intellectual achievements of individuals and toward the needs of social life is advantageous to the struggle for Christian democracy. For, as Kuyper notes, “if anything is social then it is the Christian religion.” The speech ends with a poem by Isaac da Costa (see 1897.16).
Kuyper’s speech was particularly well received by the approximately seven hundred deputies at the meeting. The published edition of the speech was already available on the day following its delivery.
A printed copy of this address has also been preserved in oversized format (35cm.), with twenty-four numbered pages, printed on one side only (cf. 1909.27).
The cheap edition used lower-quality paper. The pagination is identical to 1891.05. The edition was intended for bulk purchase by the local electoral associations on behalf of their members and for free distribution.
Kuyper wrote this article for The Presbyterian and Reformed Review at the invitation of its editor, B.B. Warfield (1851–1921). He chose to speak about a contemporary controversy brewing over a Reformed church in the classis of Brunswick, New Jersey that had proposed revising the Westminster Confession (1648). The article puts forward a Calvinist perspective on confessional revision (cf. the preface to 1891.10).
In order to make clear the “specific tendency” of Calvinism, Kuyper frames his article by posing and answering four questions about the preconditions for responsible revision of confessional standards. The fourth of these questions asks, “To what conditions is the revision of these symbols, in the case of a progressive development of Calvinism, to be bound?” Referring to 1879.11 in his answer to this question, Kuyper identifies four preconditions that any proposed revision must satisfy—preconditions that, in his opinion, provide sufficient reason to provisionally suspend discussions about making any such revisions. First, any revision must not be a reaction against the principles of Calvinism, but a richer unfolding of those principles. Second, this unfolding must have made such universal progress in the churches that the revision does not mean that the one half obtrudes its opinion on the other half. Third, Calvinist theology must have made sufficient progress to serve the churches in formulating such development. Fourth and finally, in foreign churches of Reformed confession similar convictions must have led to similar results.
The article was translated by Professor Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949), born in Heerenveen, the Netherlands and professor of systematic and exegetical theology (1888–1893) at the Theological School at Grand Rapids, subsequently professor of Biblical theology (1893–1932) at Princeton Theological Seminary. Vos also contributed to the translation of 1898.15.
In De Heraut, no. 714, August 30, 1891, Kuyper gave an evaluation of the report of the commission that had conceived the changes and expansions to the Westminster Confession. In both of the next two issues of De Heraut, he further explored the details of the matter.
The first installment of the republication of the catechesis of Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676) as recorded and published by the Rev. Cornelius van Poudroyen (†1662). In his introduction (pp. [5]–22), Kuyper discusses the significance of Voetius, upon whose work Poudroyen based his edition, and also gives several tips for the proper use of the catechesis. He also emphatically seeks to counteract the negative image that many people have formed in reference to this book.
Kuyper had a twofold goal in mind when publishing this edition: to chase away the fog obscuring the confessions in numerous Reformed circles and to advance basic knowledge of the faith. He hoped that the church would again stand as a pillar and bulwark of the truth.
A facsimile of the title page of the 1662 edition is included after the introduction. The inclusion of the title page makes it clear that Kuyper gave (again, see 1890.11) a different title to this new edition. On the back side of the facsimile, two of Voetius’ brief ‘notices to the reader’ are printed, belonging to the first (1659) and the fourth (1662) edition, respectively. In his remarks about the fourth edition, Voetius requests that any future reprints follow this edition. The fourth edition was printed by the Dordrecht printer, Jacob Braat, on behalf of Abraham Andriessz, book dealer at Dordrecht (1662: [16], 800, [7] pp.).
According to the publisher’s announcement, the complete work would be published in sixteen installments and a new installment would be published every week.
Two appendices out of five attached to the report of the commission charged with consultation and recommendation on the merger proposal on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Churches and the Christian Reformed Church. Appendix A contains a request to the Christian Reformed deputies for additional information about several points in the proposal from their synod. The Synod of the Christian Reformed Church had put aside the draft act of fusion (see 1889.04 and 1890.09) and proposed to carry forth deliberations on the basis of the confessional standards and the Church Order of Dordt. A copy of the request is written in the hand of F.L. Rutgers and signed “A. Kuyper” (HUA 55/230).
Appendix C contains the elated response to the reply received from the Christian Reformed deputies. The response seeks greater detail and specificity by posing three follow-up questions to the deputies’ reply. The item concludes by giving assurances that the commission would do its utmost “to further the matter of the union as earnestly as possible” in its report to the synod. A copy of this response is written in the hand of Kuyper and signed “Kuyper” (HUA 55/230).
Both items are signed by Kuyper, who was not only the chairman of the third provisional synod (The Hague, 1891), but also a member of the aforementioned commission. The consultations between the commission and the deputies for the Christian Reformed Synod were carried out in writing. After the synod had approved the commission’s report and received it together with an accompanying letter (dated September 15, 1891) and several appendices, the report was sent to all the consistories.
Subsequently appendices A and C were published in several church newsletters—for example, in De Geldersche Kerkbode 4 (1891/1892), no. 137, September 19, 1891 (app. A) and no. 138, September 26, 1891 (app. C).
In the preface Kuyper writes that he has decided to publish the article in its original Dutch version because the question of confessional revision will increasingly be regarded as a subject of critical importance for “our churches.”
Kuyper delivered four speeches as chairman of the Third Provisional Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches: (1) A heartfelt and historically framed word of welcome to the Rev. Theod. J. Meyer, delegate of the Presbyterian Church of England (pp. 11–12); (2) an address to the delegation from the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church, which was in attendance to answer questions about its merger proposal (pp. [23]–26); (3) a second address to that delegation concerning the momentous fact that the Provisional Synod had accepted the merger proposal (pp. 93–95); and (4) a concluding speech cautioning delegates with the words “thankful, but not yet satisfied.” The final speech advises the delegates not to become complacent until every living member of the body of Christ—whether in their circle or under the synodical hierarchy of the Dutch Reformed Church or under the Roman Catholic hierarchy—coexists in a unified church and celebrates the Lord’s Supper together (pp. 132–133).
The appendices of 1891.09 are included in the proceedings (together with the report of the commission charged with consultation and recommendation on the merger proposal put forward by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church) on pages 84–87 and 89–90.
An address given on November 9, 1891 at the opening of the Social Congress (Amsterdam, November 9–12, 1891). The speech was delivered in De Werkende stand. The congress itself took place in Frascati. (The so-called “Bible readings” also took place in both buildings—see 1886.14). At the request of the Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium” (see 1880.11), the congress had been called together by the Central Committee of the Anti-Revolutionary Electoral Associations.
The central question at stake in the address was how confessors of Christ should respond to the social needs of the era. Kuyper made it clear that there is an indissoluble connection between the social question and the Christian faith. The purpose of this speech was to clarify the complex set of issues that make up the social question. He called upon laborers to become conscious of the issues and to take appropriate action since labor relations would be undergoing significant shifts in the future. An extensive series of notes comprises the second half of this edition (pp. [47]–77). The notes, which make numerous references to contemporary literature, were clearly intended to promote additional study of the social question.
The origins of the congress lay in Patrimonium’s acceptance of Kuyper’s proposal at their meeting on November 10, 1890 to call together a Christian social congress with the purpose of creating a framework for addressing the social question nationally—and especially among union members. Kuyper was an honorary member of Patrimonium, chairman of the organizing committee for the congress, and also chairman of the Social Congress itself.
On May 15, 1891 the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, which dealt with the condition of the working classes, was published and became the basis for Roman Catholic social action.
An edition with smaller typeface and shorn of notes. Free copies of this edition were provided to members of the Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium,” who also received free admission to the congress. Although this edition was not originally intended for sale, the remaining copies of this print run were (according to an advertisement in De Standaard) subsequently put on the market in May 1892 by Amsterdam book merchant J.C. Westering, who offered a volume discount, as follows: twenty-five copies for ƒ1; fifty copies for ƒ1.75; and one hundred copies for ƒ3.25.
A collection of forty-four devotions about the sacraments (ten devotions), baptism (ten devotions), public confession (twelve devotions), and the Lord’s Supper (twelve devotions). The title is taken from Isaiah 55:13: “Instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.”
The four series of devotions were reprinted from De Heraut, as follows: (1) Van het heilig sacrament [About the holy sacrament], from no. 661, August 24, 1890–no. 670, October 26, 1890; (2) Van den heiligen Doop [About holy baptism], from no. 671, November 2, 1890–no. 680, January 4, 1891; (3) Van de openbare belijdenis [About public confession], from no. 681, January 11, 1891–no. 692, March 29, 1891; and (4) Van het heilig Avondmaal [About the Lord’s Supper], from no. 693, April 5, 1891–no. 696, April 26, 1891 and no. 698, May 10, 1891–no. 705, June 28, 1891. Subtitles were added to all the devotions.
Although Kuyper wrote in the foreword that he hoped that the third series in the collection would be read not after but before confirmands made their public confession, this book was for many years the traditional gift given by consistories, families, and friends to celebrate public confession. The book was reprinted more than eight times in a variety of lovely editions and cheap editions (last printing, see 1938.01).
In May 1891, J.A. Wormser announced that the second edition of “Ons program” had sold out. It was decided to publish the next printing in twelve installments of thirty-six to forty-eight pages each at the price of ƒ0.30 per installment. The publisher stated in the initial advertisements and prospectus that this printing would be completed by the end of 1891. An advertisement in March 1892 announced the publication of the fourth installment. An advertisement in October of the same year announced the tenth installment. Was the project held up to collect additional subscribers? Kuyper emphasized in De Standaard, no. 6355, November 25, 1892, “that it [i.e., section 3 in the first installment] had already been printed a year ago.” In any event, for reasons as yet unclear, the complete third printing was ready a year later than announced. Perhaps the delay was a side effect of the electoral defeat of June 1891, when the Anti-Revolutionary Party lost eight of its twenty-eight seats in Parliament.
Student notes from the dogmatic lectures that Kuyper gave at the Vrije Universiteit in 1883/1884 on the doctrine of creation. The lectures are printed in italics. The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891. In 1899/1900, Kuyper gave an entirely new treatment of this locus (see 1900.32).
When taking their examinations students were expected to have studied all the lectures delivered up to that moment. New students therefore found it necessary to borrow or copy the lecture notes of students from previous years. The quality of these notes, however, was not always high. In order to solve this problem Kuyper asked the directors of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles to have his lectures on dogmatics printed at their expense. The lectures would then be made available (at close to cost) exclusively to theology students at the Vrije Universiteit.
Among other things, Kuyper also stipulated (KA 286, 1) the following:
- – Six lectures on dogmatics from the period 1880–1883 would not be printed.
- – The first set of lectures printed would be the Locus de creatione.
- – The lectures would be printed in italics.
- – It would be indicated above every page whether the notes were from one or several students.
- – The format would be equivalent to the editions of the Bibliotheca Reformata (see 1882.07).
- – The print run would be 300 copies.
- – The cost of this edition would amount to approximately ƒ25.- per 16 printed pages.
- – The purchaser would not be permitted to sell his copies.
After reaching this agreement with the publisher, Kuyper always appointed a note-taker for every lecture series. The notes would be published as soon as possible after the conclusion of his lectures on each locus. Students were given stipends for inspecting the galley proofs.
A disclaimer on the front cover as well as above every page of the printed lecture notes indicated that this was a publication of student notes. Kuyper did not authorize these printed notes of his lectures. All printed sets of lecture notes were numbered and delivered with the name of the owner filled in. Among those who took the lecture notes that became the basis of the printed loci were H.H. Kuyper (KA 286.45), who had enrolled as a theology student in 1883 and who defended his doctorate in theology in 1891, and J. de Jong (see 1893.10), who defended his doctorate in theology in 1911. The galley proofs for 1891.18–1891.23 were corrected (KA 286.3) by the students A.G. Honig (1864–1940; enrolled, 1884), who defended his doctorate in theology in 1892, J.J. Miedema (1869–1936; enrolled, 1887), and J. Koning (1866–1906; enrolled, 1887).
Information about the publishers, printers, proofreaders, and date of publication has been reconstructed with the use of the account book for 1890–1902 of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (AVU).
By January 1891, six lecture series had been printed (1891.18–1891.23). The price of the printed lectures nearly doubled due to Kuyper’s overzealousness and his underestimating of the printing costs. The printing schedule was also slowed until a less expensive printer could be found (see 1891.24). The first six publications of the loci were likely made available to students in February or March 1891.
In 1907 a summary was published of the contents of the twenty-one parts in which the loci had been printed (Inhoudsopgaven der Loci [Amsterdam: H.A. van Bottenburg 1907, 89, [2] pp.]; see app. 1.05). This table of contents was not put on the market, but it was available (for ƒ3.-) from the student H. Hasper Jr. (1886–1974). Cf. De Heraut, no. 1554, October 13, 1907.
Student notes from dogmatic lectures on angelology, delivered at the Vrije Universiteit in 1883/1884. The lectures deal with the names, existence, and nature of the angels. They further discuss the relations between angels and human beings, the relations between angels and Christ, and the ministry by and to the angels. The nine sections each begin with a paragraph in Latin.
The lectures are printed in italics (see 1891.18). The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891.
Student notes from dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit in 1883/1884 on the material world. This is the second part of the Locus de creaturis (dealing with heaven and earth, stars and planets, and the animal and plant kingdoms). The three sections each begin with a paragraph in Latin.
The notes are printed in italics (see 1891.18). The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891.
Student notes from dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit in 1884/1885 on humanity in light of God’s will and purpose. Only the first and the fourteenth section begin with a paragraph in Latin.
The notes are printed in italics (see 1891.18). The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891.
First part of the student notes from dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit from 1881 to 1888 on the doctrine of the Scriptures. This part contains the lecture material up to the second half of the first semester of the 1885/1886 academic year and deals with the existence (essentia), the necessity (necessitas), and the authority (auctoritas) of Scripture.
Only chapters 1 (De Sacrae Scripturae essentia) and 2 (De necessitate Sacrae Scripturae) begin with a paragraph in Latin. The dating of the lectures in parts 1 and 2 was derived from a preserved set of lecture notes by P.J. Wijmenga (1858–1913; enrolled, 1882).
The notes are printed in italics (see 1891.18). The phrase college-dictaat van een der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891.
First part of the student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit from 1885 to 1888 on the subject of Christology. This part contains the material dealt with during the academic year 1885/1886. After the introduction there are two main chapters about the names of the redeemer (chapter II) and the person of the mediator (chapter III).
The notes are printed in italics (see 1891.18). The phrase college-dictaat van een [sic] der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in February or March 1891.
Second part of the student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit from 1885 to 1888 on the subject of Christology. This part contains the material dealt with during the academic year 1886/1887 and treats Christ’s human nature (de natura humana) and the states of the mediator (de statibus mediatoris).
The notes are printed in italics up to page 48. On pages 49 and following, only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics. The phrase college-dictaat van een [sic] der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. The edition likely became available to students in June 1891.
The directors of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles decided during the typesetting of this item to find a less expensive printer for the lecture notes. The printer A. Fernhout offered to deliver the lecture notes for less than half of the price that Wormser charged. The stipulation that the lecture notes had to be printed in italics (see 1891.18) was dropped. From now on (to 1893.10) only the first page of each printed sheet (= sixteen pages) would be printed in italics. Fernhout’s print work began on page 49 of these lecture notes.
Second part of the student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit from 1881 to 1888 on the doctrine of Scripture. The lecture material from 1885–1887 (beginning with the second half of the first semester of the academic year 1885/1886) was published in this second portion. Kuyper finished lecturing on this locus on May 16, 1888. This volume deals with the inspiration (inspiratio), perspicuity (perspicuitas), and sufficiency (sufficientia) of Scripture.
A. Fernhout’s print work begins on page 33. In the portions printed by Fernhout, only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics (see 1891.24). The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. This edition likely became available to students in June 1891.
Student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit during the academic year 1885/1886 on the doctrine of sin. After dealing with the etymology of the word “sin,” Kuyper treats the question of sin in the angelic realm and in paradise. The lectures conclude with a section on the problem of free will.
The phrase college-dictaat van een [sic] der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each printed sheet (generally a quire of sixteen pages) is printed in italics. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24. The edition likely became available to students in August 1891.
Third part of the student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit from 1885 to 1888 on the subject of Christology. This third part contains the lecture material from the academic year 1887/1888 and deals with the offices of the mediator (de mediatoris officiis).
The phrase college-dictaat van een [sic] der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics, excepting the first quire. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24. The edition likely became available to students in August 1891.
Student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit during the academic year 1888/1889 on the doctrine of salvation (salus). After an excursus on Ritschl and an introduction to the locus, Kuyper deals with the topics of grace, justification, regeneration, calling, conversion, and faith.
The phrase college-dictaat van onderscheidene studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from several students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics, excepting the first quire. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24. The edition likely became available to students in September/October 1891.
Student notes from the dogmatic lectures given at the Vrije Universiteit during the academic year 1889/1890 on the sacraments. In these lectures, Kuyper first treats the sacraments in general and then deals with the sacrament of baptism, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and the history of sacramental dogma.
The phrase college-dictaat van van een der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics, excepting the first quire. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24. The printed notes likely became available to students in September/October 1891.
1892
The fiftieth and final sketch (on Esther) from the series on women of the Old Testament.
A confidential letter to the senate of the student body of the Vrije Universiteit. The letter was written in response to a critical article in the new student paper, Vox Corporis. Orgaan van het Studentencorps der Vrije Universiteit [Vox corporis. Mouthpiece of the student body of the Vrije Universiteit] 1 (1891), no. 1, December 1891, which was poorly received by the administration. Kuyper considered it his duty as rector to look out for the general interest of the Vrije Universiteit. In this letter he requests that the student senate propose to the student body that publication of Vox Corporis be discontinued. The article in question had contained a critical analysis of the address given by Prof. D.P.D. Fabius at the opening of classes. Fabius had spoken, among other things, about radicals looking “to bolt forward.” This comment was taken as being critical of students who opposed on principle having to take their examinations at state universities (cf. 1891.04). The writer of the article was Tiemen de Vries, editor of Vox Corporis and rector of the student body of the Vrije Universiteit. The publication of the paper was suspended at Kuyper’s request.
In July 1897 the students at the Vrije Universiteit would begin publishing a new paper: Gereformeerd Studentenblad. Orgaan van den Gereformeerden Studentenbond aan de Vrije Universiteit te Amsterdam [Reformed student paper. Mouthpiece of the Reformed Student Union at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam]. In the second issue of this paper, ten theses were published by the senate of the Vrije Universiteit concerning the question whether students at the Vrije Universiteit could take classes at other universities, particularly when they thought that such classes would positively influence the outcomes of their examinations, which they would have to take at those universities to receive official recognition of their degrees.
The first article gives a comparison of the annual finances of the Christian Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Church of Amsterdam and yields a set of “instructive figures.” The upcoming merger with the local Christian Reformed Congregation in Amsterdam made it necessary to become acquainted with all aspects of its congregational life, including its finances. In his second article, Kuyper considers how finances will affect the relations between the churches. He estimates that the congregation will have to raise about ƒ90.000 more annually to reach the financial level of the Christian Reformed Church.
An article about the failings of the system of house visitations. The primary causes of these failings are the greater value ascribed to visits by pastors in comparison to elders and the growing number of congregational members requiring visitations. Kuyper estimates that each of the six pastors in Amsterdam has about seventy days available per year for house visitations. The elders promise to visit the members of the congregation annually when taking their oath of office; for the forty elders to do so meant making three visitations weekly. The elders should make regular reports about the visits that they have made so that the pastors will be able easily to determine which households they should visit. Above all, the system of household visitation must be well supervised.
The article was also included in De Geldersche Kerkbode 5 (1892), no. 163, March 19, 1892.
The translator, Rev. J.H. De Vries (1859–1939), was born in Amsterdam, graduated from Rutgers College and New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and held pastorates in American Presbyterian and Protestant Episcopal churches. He became Kuyper’s authorized translator. This translation was read by the Rev. De Vries on November 10, 1891 before the American Institute of Christian Philosophy in Hamilton Hall, Columbia College, New York after De Vries had been elected to honorary membership in the institute (cf. De Heraut, no. 727, November 29, 1891). The notes have been left out of this publication.
The language and the spelling of the 1662 edition have been reprinted without change. Kuyper added notes here and there to explain or clarify terms. The edition was published in installments. For the introduction see 1891.08. The epilogue offers a few supplementary facts about the publication of Voetius’ individual lists of catechetical questions and makes reference to Voetius’ warning against using catechetical workbooks to teach biblical history (cf. 1883.09).
The publisher’s far-too-simple division of the book into two parts (the division between the two parts comes right in the middle of a chapter) caused Kuyper to remark that the publisher had acted as if he were cutting up cheese or peat.
The bound edition was made with two gray-green full cloth bindings with blind tooling on the front cover and the title printed in gold oblique. Kuyper expressed misgivings about the bindings in De Heraut, no. 742, March 13, 1892. He referred to the cloth bindings as “fantasy bindings, imitations of the bindings of light-hearted novels,” noting that the title had been printed askew, “as if it were a sort of Baedeker guide.” According to Kuyper, “the book demanded a binding that was serious in character, sober in style, with a classical appearance.” Shortly after he made these criticisms, the edition was offered in two volumes with leather bindings that were substantially identical to the leather binding of 1890.11.
A circular letter sent to Christian employers in the Netherlands with the purpose of recruiting membership in an employers’ association. During its third general session on April 10, 1891, the Social Congress (see 1891.14) accepted the conclusion of section 2, which called for the creation of an association of employers. The nearly three hundred employers who gathered during the congress at its invitation decided after that session to establish precisely such an association. This decision was put into effect on January 18, 1892 when, under Kuyper’s leadership, the Association of Dutch Employers was established. Rather soon the association’s name was enlarged by the addition “Boaz.” The association’s structure was changed in 1918 (see 1918.06).
The circular letter was not sent until the official minutes of the congress were ready to be published (see 1892.10). This allowed those receiving the recruitment letter to learn more about the origin of the association by reading the report of its proposed establishment in the minutes. The circular letter was signed by all the members of the (provisional) board of the association, but it was composed by Kuyper (see 1916.13).
The statutes of the association (pp. [11]–15) were also included as were the eleven basic principles formulated by the Social Congress. A separately printed enrollment form for membership in the Association of Dutch Employers (14cm.) was also included.
In the new preface Kuyper lets it be known that, counting all the various printings, 40,000 copies of this book have already been distributed. As one benefit of this large-scale distribution he cites the fact that use of the Heidelberg Catechism itself is displacing use of catechetical workbooks. He also notes that Christian households can now more easily afford the Belgic Confession and the Five Articles against the Remonstrants. He recommends that families renew the practice of reading from the confessions on Sundays. Against the catechetical workbooks put together by individual pastors, he contends that such booklets undermine the students’ sense of the church, amplify pastors’ idiosyncrasies, and are far poorer than the Heidelberg Catechism in their phrasing and formulation. He also cites Voetius’ remarks about the problems afflicting such workbooks (cf. 1892.06).
First printing with continuous pagination.
For the opening address (pp. 38–69) of the Social Congress, see 1891.14. Kuyper was chairman of the congress, which convened in November 1891. These minutes also contain a report of his concluding address (pp. 129–133) in addition to his numerous procedural and administrative contributions. The sincere words of thanks offered to the chairman by H. Pierson (1834–1923), who praised the congress’s spirit of unity and solidarity, elicited the following heartfelt confession from Kuyper: “Nothing, nothing is more dreadful in the struggle for Christ’s honor than to have to hear that my person stands in the way of unity among brothers. No one but God alone knows how frequently I have contemplated in my soul whether it was not perhaps necessary that I should withdraw myself in order to promote unity.” Kuyper then said that he had enjoyed the fraternal encounters with attendees who in other respects were following different paths. These encounters encouraged him to continue his work (pp. 135–136).
It appears from the list of 570 participants that Kuyper’s spouse, Mrs. J.H. Kuyper-Schaay, one of his daughters, his daughter-in-law, and two of his sons also took part in the congress (p. 572).
As chairman of the Association for Primary Education on Reformed Principles in Amsterdam, Kuyper gave an address in the Keizersgrachtkerk on April 20, 1892 about the troubling financial situation of the association’s schools. If the financial health of the association was not quickly improved at least one of the schools would have to be closed. The gist of this appeal was printed and distributed from house to house throughout the community. The appeal clarified, analyzed, and gave concrete suggestions for improving the association’s financial situation.
Three appendices were printed after the appeal (two financial overviews and a report presenting data from the five schools). A subscription form (21cm.) for semiannual contributions on behalf of the schools of the association was printed separately and included with the appeal.
The Keizersgrachtkerk was the first church building constructed by the dolerenden in Amsterdam (see 1888.13); it still serves as a house of worship today. The first service was held on November 4, 1888. A school established by the association in February 1888 was located behind the church. Its entrance faced the Kerkstraat.
Kuyper wrote the first two articles in the first issue of the first volume of Boaz: The Monthly of the Association of Employers (cf. Anti Revolutionaire Staatkunde 6, 1930 p. 504). The brief opening article, “Boaz: The Name of our Monthly,” concludes with the following observation: “This wealthy man is depicted to us in the story of Ruth precisely as he relates to subordinates … Boaz is therefore the brief, the connotative, the scriptural title by which our monthly will become known to the public.”
“Boaz” was consequently put forward as the name of the employers’ association by Klaas Kater (1833–1916), who was the first chairman (1876–1899) of the Dutch Workingmen’s Union “Patrimonium.”
In this second article (cf. 1892.12), Kuyper gives an etymology of the words “patron” and “patronage,” concluding from his study that “merely the name patron … condemns all hardness, all lack of love, and all indifference toward the fate of those who serve you.”
In the second series of Women from the Holy Scriptures, Kuyper offers thirty character studies based on female figures from the New Testament. In 1892 the first sixteen of those studies appeared, as follows: Elizabeth; Mary in her humility; Mary, the mother of the Lord; Mary in her faith; Anna; Peter’s mother-in-law; Salome; the woman suffering from hemorrhages; Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of the Apostle; Mary of Bethany; Mary of Jerusalem; Mary of Rome; Martha; the Samaritan woman; and the Canaanite woman. The next sketches in this series were printed in the subsequent (i.e., the seventh) volume of the Amsterdamsche Kerkbode.
Report on the introduction to a debate held at the annual general meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles in Rotterdam on June 25, 1891. At issue in the debate was the advisability of appointing a professor in psychiatry while the Vrije Universiteit did not yet have a faculty of medicine. The need for trained Christian doctors and psychiatrists at the Veldwijk Psychiatric Institute in Ermelo prompted the debate.
The introduction begins with an excursus about the various theories of medical behavior, the orientation toward materialism in contemporary medical scholarship, and the responsibility that the Christian view of humanity imposes upon Christian medical scholarship. Kuyper then states that he will support the appointment of a professor in psychiatry provided that the scholar will both teach according to the spirit of Christianity and satisfy a few strict preconditions. He expresses doubt that a faculty of medicine can be established any time soon.
In 1907 the Vrije Universiteit received both a psychiatric clinic and a professorial chair in psychiatry and neurology—the beginning of its faculty of medicine—due to the efforts of the Association for Christian Treatment of the Mentally Ill in the Netherlands, of which the asylum Veldwijk in Ermelo (presently GGZ Centraal Veldwijk) was the first member (1886).
Letter from the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands together with a partial English translation on a bifolium (KA 180). On June 16, 1892, the Christian Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Churches united to form the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. The Dutch version of this letter announces the formation in Amsterdam on June 17, 1892 of the Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (see 1892.18), describing it as the “lawful successor to the universally recognized synod which assembled in Dordrecht in 1619.”
Subsequently, both versions relate that there are now seven hundred churches, comprising nearly one-tenth of the Dutch population, again living under the church order of 1619. The letter states that these Dutch churches wish henceforth to enter into correspondence with like-minded churches in Europe and beyond.
The letter concludes with the date and a signature line reading: “By order of the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands. The Deputati ad hoc …” The English translation, however, is undated and adds the names of W.H. Gispen and Dr. A. Kuyper (respectively, the first and the second chairman of the synod) beneath the signature line.
E voto Dordraceno (i.e., in agreement with the wish expressed at the Synod of Dordt) is the title of a four-part commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism (1563). In the preface Kuyper writes that he has derived the title from the foreign delegates’ heartfelt prayer at the Synod of Dordrecht (1618/1619) that Dutch pastors and theologians might persevere in their good confession, pass it on unhindered to subsequent generations, and preserve it from falsity until the return of Christ. The Dutch delegates solemnly pledged to do so. Kuyper thus also translated this title as “the pledge of Dordt” (cf. De Heraut, no. 702, June 7, 1891).
The commentary first appeared as a multi-year (1886–1894) series of articles in De Heraut. The articles in the first volume were reprinted from De Heraut, no. 457, September 26, 1886–no. 546, June 10, 1888. As with other such series, the weekly article series was interrupted only by biblical-theological essays during church holidays and by devotions during summer vacations.
From June to the middle of December 1891 readers of De Heraut could sign up for the four-volume set at half its normal price (the discount applied for a maximum of two copies) as a subscription premium. The first volumes of the sets received through this offer were identified by the addition of the phrase premie-exemplaar [premium copy] in the upper right-hand corner of the title page. Those who signed up for the offer were asked to add an additional ƒ0.75 to the quarterly subscription price of De Heraut for four years, in exchange for which they would receive a new volume of the commentary each July. Many were able to afford the set because of its comparatively low price and the payment plan. A note in De Heraut, no. 1003, March 14, 1897, indicates that there were 1,500 subscribers as of March 1897.
Kuyper was the owner of the edition. For the trade edition Wormser purchased its inventory from Kuyper for ƒ12 per set.
This first volume treats the first seventeen Lord’s Days of the Heidelberg Catechism. The text of the relevant section from the catechism is reprinted along with Kuyper’s commentary.
Along with several brief reports of presidential contributions toward the good order of the sessions of the fourth Provisional Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches the Acta also contain a historic and ecumenically minded address (pp. [151]–153) that Kuyper delivered in English to the Rev. H.D. Matthews, delegate of the Presbyterian Church of England and secretary of the Alliance of Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System. The Rev. Matthews also visited the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church, which was meeting simultaneously in Amsterdam.
The Acta also contain a report of the closing remarks (p. 178) of this decisive synod, which saw the Dutch Reformed Churches and the Christian Reformed Church join together as the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands at its final session on June 16, 1892. The Acta of the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands were printed after the Acta of the Provisional Synod of the Dutch Reformed Churches with a separate title page but continuous pagination.
A report of Kuyper’s address (pp. 198–200) as the second chair is included in these Acta after a report of an address by the Rev. W.H. Gispen, the first chair. In his address (see also 1892.19, 1988.01, and Het Kerkblad. Officiëel orgaan van de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland 1 [1892/1893], no. 1, July 1, 1892, pp. 5–6), Kuyper takes the opportunity to correct a misleading analogy he once provided for the association of both churches. In his concluding words, Kuyper expresses his conviction that the Netherlands has received a calling from God “to save Calvinism from death,” a conviction that brings him to a visionary peroration.
The synod convened in the Keizersgrachtkerk in Amsterdam (cf. 1888.13).
Two appendices recording the deliberations between the Dutch Reformed and the Christian Reformed delegates regarding the unification of their churches (see 1891. 09). The proceedings of the General Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands are printed after those of the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church but with separate pagination (32 pp.). The report of Kuyper’s address on June 17, 1892 is printed on pages 9–11. Its text is identical to the text 1892.18, pages [198]–200.
Aan de leden der Patroonsvereeniging, die hem gisteren aan den maaltijd een blijk van hooggewaardeerde sympathie gaven, biedt de gewezen voorzitter van het Sociaal Congres zijn hartelijken dank; met de bede dat onze God en de God van onze broederen, die hun brood in het zweet huns aanschijns eten, patroons en werklieden steeds inniger in de vreeze zijns naams saamverbinde en zijn Goddelijken zegen schenken blijve aan wat in zwakheid, maar met geestdrift des geloofs, èn door het Sociaal Congres èn door de Patroonsvereeniging werd ondernomen. Kuyper.
On the first day of the two-day annual meeting of the Association of Dutch Employers “Boaz” (see 1892.07), which was held in Amsterdam on September 29 and 30, 1892, its directors and members sent a telegram to Kuyper attesting to their solidarity with him and wishing him well. The next day the meeting received this word of thanks by telegram in reply.
A lecture held at the transferal of the rectorship of the Vrije Universiteit to Prof. A.F. de Savornin Lohman. In the lecture Kuyper contends that the boundaries that God has fixed between the species in creation are being blurred. He then deals with the consequences for scientific practice of the blurring of these boundaries. The argument is developed in three sections. In the first part, Kuyper demonstrates that the blurring of the boundaries is a reality caused above all by pantheism, which has given birth to the theory of evolution. In the second part, he points to the dangers posed by the blurring of the boundaries in creation. In the third part, he indicates how these looming dangers may effectively be warded off. As a counterpoint to evolutionary thinking, Kuyper introduces the concept of palingenesis, which would come to play an important role in his Encyclopedia (1894).
The Annales Academiae follows the address. A note in the annals mentions that with the addition of twenty-two first-year students the total number of students had risen to ninety-seven. Finally, 184 notes (pp. 65–99) have been added to the lecture. The first thirteen notes deal with Friedrich W. Nietzsche (1844–1900). The lecture was published only a few days after it was delivered.
An open letter to A.F. de Savornin Lohman. The letter was published in response to a long letter to the editor written by De Savornin Lohman and printed in De Heraut, no. 772, October 9, 1892–no. 773, October 16, 1892. De Savornin Lohman had written his letter as a reply to four editorials published in De Heraut—which themselves had been written in response to a lecture that De Savornin Lohman had delivered at the twelfth annual meeting of the Association for Higher Education on Reformed Principles (Groningen, June 30, 1892).
Kuyper did not want to hide behind his editorial office and thus responded directly to the letter in De Heraut. De Savornin Lohman’s lecture had raised the question whether one should object to the practice of students at the Vrije Universiteit visiting “unbelieving” universities (see 1891.04). De Savornin Lohman did not oppose the practice but Kuyper did.
A second open letter, written in reply to De Savornin Lohman’s rejoinder in De Heraut, no. 775, October 30, 1892. With respect to the discussion about taking courses at “unbelieving” universities (which students at the Vrije Universiteit were doing because they would ultimately have to take their qualifying examinations at these institutions), Kuyper believed that significant pedagogical issues were at stake. By contrast, De Savornin Lohman was addressing the question from a methodological perspective. In this letter Kuyper states his opinion that “it is better to leave this matter for further consideration among the professors.”
An informative tract about cholera that emphasizes the importance of hygiene and also makes reference to several biblical notions. The tract states that the cholera epidemic in Hamburg, which claimed thousands of lives, was the consequence of the political failure of the civil authorities there. Cholera had returned to the Netherlands in 1892 after a nearly twenty-five year absence. De Standaard reported on the cholera epidemic nearly every day for months starting in July 1892.
The text of this tract was reprinted, with the addition of clarifying comments about the words “predisposition” and “quarantine,” from De Heraut, no. 770, September 25, 1892. According to the report of the sixteenth General Meeting of the Reformed Tract Society “Filippus” (est. 1878), there was also a second printing of this tract. Although the tracts of the Filippus Society were frequently reprinted and distributed for many years, this tract no longer appeared on its publication list after 1893. The eradication of the cholera epidemic might be the reason.
For the Reformed Tract Society “Filippus,” cf. 1904.21 and 1979.03.
The editors of De Hope (see 1885.06) relished the opportunity to republish an editorial on Freemasonry from De Heraut, no. 775, October 30, 1892. In a concluding note the editors of De Hope express full agreement with Kuyper’s point of view and offer their opinion on the subject of how the church should deal with members who also become members of Masonic lodges.
This printing represents a revision of the abridged edition of “Ons program” (see 1880.05), which was published in installments. Added to this printing were the “program of action” for the elections of 1888, an equivalent program for the 1891 elections, and a new section (section 3, “Program of Action”). The old section 3 was printed as section 4. Since the second edition had mistakenly skipped from section 3 to section 5, the addition of this new section would not have disrupted the division of the 328 sections were it not for the fact that a similar mistake was made in this edition, which skipped over section 18. The number of the paragraphs lined up again in both editions after section 325, which was mistakenly used twice in this printing.
The unpaged publisher’s list of writings by Dr. A. Kuyper, which was included at the end of the third edition, is updated in this edition and now numbers eighty-nine publications.
Student notes from the dogmatic lectures delivered at the Vrije Universiteit in 1890/ 1891 on eschatology—or, as Kuyper preferred to call the locus, “the consummation of the ages.” In these lectures he deals with, among other things, the condition of the dead before the return of Christ, the signs of the time, the second coming, the last judgment, the consummation of the ages, and heaven and hell.
The phrase college-dictaat van een der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24.
The correction of the printer’s proofs was probably carried out by two students of theology, H.C. van den Brink (1866–1947) and J. Koning (1866–1906), who were both enrolled at the Vrije Universiteit in 1887. The printed lecture notes were probably made available to students in April/May 1892.
Student notes from dogmatic lectures on ecclesiology delivered at the Vrije Universiteit during the academic year 1891/1892. After treating the etymology and the concept of “church,” Kuyper deals in twelve sections with aspects of ecclesiology and the essence of the church. In the final paragraph, he addresses the “authority and the governance” of the church (de ecclesia regimine).
The phrase college-dictaat van een der studenten (dogmatiek) [lecture notes from one of the students (dogmatics)] is printed at the top of every numbered page. Only the first page of each quire (sixteen pages) is printed in italics. For information about the typesetting, see 1891.18 and 1891.24.
The correction of the printer’s proofs was probably carried out by two students of theology, J.J. Miedema (see 1891.18) and P.A.E. Sillevis Smit (1867–1918, registered in 1888). The printed lecture notes were probably made available to students in August/September 1892.
1893
The continuation and conclusion of the second series of Vrouwen uit de H. Schrift. These final sketches concern: Pilate’s wife, Herodias, the repentant sinner, Caiaphas’ servant-girl, Sapphira, Rhoda, Dorcas or Tabitha, Lois, Eunice, Jezebel, Lydia, Prisca, Drusilla, Euodia, and Syntyche.
Report on the prefatory remarks to a debate held at the annual general meeting (June 30