History


	the Remonstrant Church History		home webmaster

	The Remonstrant Church was founded in 1619 in Antwerp after the Remonstrant ministers had been denied further participation in the National Synod at Dordrecht. Their views were unacceptable to the majority at the Synod. Remonstrants owe their name to a document drawn up in 1610, the Remonstrance, a defence and testimonial in which 44 ministers set out their views on how belief in the sovereignty of God could be reconciled with human responsibility and free will. The chief contributor to thought on this question had been Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), and even today, the name 'Arminians' is better known abroad than 'Remonstrants'.

		Following Arminius, the Remonstrants made a powerful plea for recognition of a human share in the implementation of God's intentions towards man. God's greatness must not preclude the recognition of people as responsible beings. They also pleaded for the view that Christ came for all humanity (universalism), and called for multiformity and tolerance in the church. In this the Remonstrants represented a current in the Reformation that owed debts to Erasmus and the Renaissance. During and after the Enlightenment the Remonstrant Chrurch remained small. It was not until the end of the 19th century that it underwent remarkable growth; this was because, through its tradition of tolerance and openness to new ideas, the Remonstrant Chrurch was receptive to 'modernism'.

	Modernism was against belief based on authority and for the autonomy of human judgement, against the separation of God and the world and for harmony between them. It sought to bring together modem scientific knowledge and faith; scientific biblical criticism was needed.Development in the 20th century was characterized by a new feeling of community in the church. This found expression among other things in liturgical changes and in the formulation of a new statement of principle (1928) and a new profession of faith (1940). In addition, there was a profounder sense of social responsibility. Pacifism and the 'social question' gave rise to heated debate. After the Second World War, aside from matters of domestic restructuring, a great deal of attention was paid to global issues due in part to the ecumenical movement. In 1948 the Remonstrant Chrurch became a member of the World Council of Churches. For a church that wants to keep abreast of the times, such things as developmental cooperation, the international diaconate, racialism and the arms race are issues which demand attention.


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voor het laatst bijgewerkt: 29/05/2007