DNK: Documentatieblad voor de Nederlandse kerkgeschiedenis na 1800 - Volume 44, Issue 94, 2021

The focus of this article is on the actions of Reverend Frits Slomp, vicar of the Reformed Church in Heemse, during the economic depression of the 1930s, and his response to the rise of national socialism as a new political movement. During the depression many labourers in Heemse and Hardenberg lost their jobs. Reverend Slomp put a great deal of personal effort into helping these men and into trying to solve their social-economic problems. When in 1933 the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) came into power in Germany and the National Socialist Party (NSB) was gaining ground in the Netherlands, Reverend Slomp warned about the dangers of National Socialism.

Arnold Albert van Ruler (1908-1970) was one of the leading theologians in the Dutch Reformed Church in the second half of the twentieth century. After having worked as a minister in Kubaard (1933-1940) and Hilversum (1940-1947) he was professor at the University of Utrecht (1947-1970). Van Ruler had a special place in the Dutch theological landscape. The development of his views took the opposite direction of the mainstream of Dutch protestant theology, which can be illustrated with his reception of the theology of Karl Barth. Before the Second World War Van Ruler was a Barthian theologian; after the War he distanced himself from Barth. As a result of this, some of Van Ruler’s theological views were controversial. Van Ruler himself felt somewhat lonely and complained that he was neglected by his colleagues. On the morning of December 15, 1970, Van Ruler had his third heart attack and dead sitting at his writing desk.

In this contribution the reactions on Van Ruler’s death are documented. In many daily newspapers his death is mentioned and in several the significance of his work is described. During the months after his death in many ecclesiastical weekly’s and in theological journals in Memoriams were published. We find personal memories and praise for his style of theologising, which was experienced as sparkling and bright. Van Ruler’s colleagues recognised his originality. His views on theocracy, however, remained as controversial as they were during his lifetime.

My God also weds gays

The Remonstrantse Broederschap, a small liberal church, was the first church in the world that opened the wedding blessing for not-wedded couples. At the time they did so, in November 1986, that also meant: for homosexual and heterosexual couples. The process that led to this decision took a long time and was carefully structured and monitored. It went along two tracks: a discussion project in the local church communities and the realization of a new church order.

This decision to give a blessing ‘to all couples that promised in the midst of the congregation to share their lives in love and faithfulness’, fits into the liberal tradition of the Remonstrant faith. This is inspired by the humanist and the protestant Christian tradition, and characterizes itself by the appreciation of openness (to contemporary society, culture, science), freedom, tolerance and responsibility.

The search for collective responsibility and active tolerance, including taking a stand against discrimination (for instance of homosexuals) in public, as a church, caused internal disagreement. This disagreement seems to have its roots in a classic bourgeois decency culture on the one side and a more plural, progressive liberal culture on the other side.

In this article a collection of more than 2.200 letters written in 1944 is presented from Dutch protestant archives. They shed light on different experiences of people in the dogmatic and juridical conflict in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland), which led to the schism of the Vrijmaking (Liberation) of 1944, under the circumstances of World War II. This collection will be made publicly available at the Archief- en Documentatiecentrum voor de Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (ADC) in Kampen in the near future together with an analytical scheme to facilitate all kinds of research into this collection by theologians, historians, sociologists and linguists.