National Synod Research Articles

NG Kerkorde 1998: Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk eenstemmig oor Skrif en Belydenis?

The church order of the Dutch Reformed Church of 1998: An expression of unity on the status of Scripture and Confessions? The Dutch Reformed Church claims to be a modern church in the Dutch Reformed tradition as seen in the historical line from the National Synod of Dordt of 1618–1619 to Dutch orientated reformed churches of today. In its church order accepted by the first General Synod of 1962, it accepted two articles namely article 1 and 2 which state that the Scriptures are the norm of the norms for this church and that the confessions used in this church’s historical line are a norm based on Scripture and regarded as the secondary norm. Meanwhile the General Synod took some decisions on the status and place of both the Scriptures and confessions in the Dutch Reformed Church while church order article 1 and 2 remained the same. This article investigates whether these viewpoints are in line with one another. Are the church order and decisions of the General Synod on the same page? It is clear that the General Synod through its church order and its statements supports itself. Through the church order and decisions of this assembly it sees Scripture as a book that points out God’s salvation of man and society with the authority of the Holy Spirit. The confessions concentrate on the Triune God and salvation and accept God as the King of life. It seems as if a core of thought on the issue carries the main arguments in these matters.Contribution: In revising its church order the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church of 1998 visited the stance of the Scriptures and the confessions in this church anew. By giving a reformed view on Scripture and the confessions and an evaluation as to whether this church order is in accordance with reformed principles and other decisions of the Synod on the same issues, this article assists and stimulates the debate and stance in this church.

The Making of the Dutch Form for Adult Baptism

Abstract The Liturgy of the Dutch Reformed Church came about in several steps from Petrus Dathenus’s 1566 edition of the Psalms to the National Synod of Dordt (1618–1619). During the Post-Acta sessions of Dordt in 1619, it was finally decided to draw up a form for baptism of adults (“de bejaerde”), in addition to the already existing form for infant baptism. This essay shows that the church in the Netherlands could not fall back on texts that were already in use elsewhere in Europe. Both the provincial synods of North- and South-Holland and that of Zeeland provided material that was incorporated into the new form, which gradually replaced the so-called “Corte ondersoeckinge” in the years after the Synod of Dordt.

Tot mijner gedachtenisse. Een vergelijking van de remonstrantse uitdelingswoorden bij het avondmaal met de gereformeerde

In 1640, the Remonstrants had liturgical forms for baptism and the Lord's Supper printed for the first time. This article takes a closer look at the words of administration at the Lord's Supper. In order to gain insight into the specific remonstrant position they are compared to the Reformed wording. This shows that the remonstrants placed particular emphasis on the Biblical justification of the wording used and on the connection with the London mother church and the first national synods in the Netherlands.

De klassiek gereformeerde Liturgie 1.0: Uitbreiding tot en verspreiding van het zevental liturgische formulieren door de nationale synode te ’s-Gravenhage 1586

The National Synod of the Reformed Churches was convened by the Earl of Leicester in The Hague in 1586 in a period of crisis. One of the Synod’s results was the Church Order, of which handwritten copies were sent to the provincial synods and classes. The synod’s second major work was on the liturgical formularies. While the ‘ceremonies’ in the Dathenus Psalter only contained three forms, Synod 1586 validated a shorter version of the formulary for baptism and composed four new ones. The present article studies how these new forms came on the agenda and how they were disseminated. Examples from the acts of provincial synods and a classis bring to light traces of the first impact of the ‘Liturgy of The Hague’, which brought the number of full liturgical formularies from three to seven, completing the upgrading of the reformed liturgy.

Confessing Responsibility for the Evils of Apartheid: The Dutch Reformed Church in the 1980s

ABSTRACT The Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) in South Africa during and before the apartheid years was long seen as an obstacle to social change. Occasional critical Afrikaner voices in the 1960s and early 1970s were firmly silenced by church authorities. After 1976, scattered clerical dissent was more clearly asserted, but at the national synod of 1982 it was abjured and critics were removed from positions of authority. At the 1986 synod, however, in a complete turnaround, church policy was radically reformed and former dissenters were returned to positions of clerical authority. As a result, in 1990, Professor Jonker of the theological faculty at Stellenbosch University was able publicly to confess his deep regret about his and his church’s responsibility for the manifest evils of apartheid. This paper provides a social and intellectual history of how such transformation was brought about, its personal costs and its ultimate limitations.

Synode, Katholikentage und die protestantische Minderheit im langen 19. Jahrhundert in Ungarn

Abstract The study explores how Catholic prelates, priests and politicians evaluated the connections of their Church with the Protestants. It investigates the documents of the last national synod of Hungary (1822), the provincial synod of Kalocsa (1863), and the regional and national Catholic Congresses (1893–1913). In the first part of the century, some intellectuals aimed to create a union between Catholics and Protestants to strengthen the Hungarian nation, and their ideas had some influence even on the preparation work on the synods of the period. At the end of the century, the question of the mixed marriages overshadowed the relations between the denominations, but the Catholic leaders of the People’s Party tried to preserve the opportunity of the political cooperation with the Protestants.

Teologies nagedink oor W.J. Snyman as ekumeniese teoloog

Although Snyman was not an active publisher and his written heritage not impressive, one could argue that what he did publish, especially when his contribution on synodical level is considered, makes him one on the most influencial theologians, and especially ecclesiologians in the GKSA during the 20th century. In the first place, one could refer to his contribution with regard to the relation between the so-called ‘younger’ and ‘older’ churches in the GKSA. It was because of the insights of Snyman that the first General Synod of the Reformed Churches in Southern Africa met in 1965, after the ‘older’ Synod of the Reformed Churches in South Africa took that decision in 1964. This Synod, however, came to an end in 1992, but revived in 2009 with full status. Secondly, it was on the inisiative of Snyman that the intermediate commission of the three Afrikaans churches started communicating, because the Synod of the GKSA repeatedly decided that church disunity was sinful. Thirdly, Snyman stimulated the origin of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod (RES - later called Council) in 1946, because he was convinced that the unity of Reformed churches cannot be stopped by oceans. Snyman wanted this RES to function as synod , taking binding decisions and not only giving advice which should later be rectified by the different national synods. Although he rejected the volkskerk model and replaced it with a volkerekerk model, he was criticised that his ecclesiology was not free from volks elements. A second point of criticism was that he did not consider (enough) that church unity does not start from the ‘top’ (the synod), but from the ‘bottom’ (the local congregation). This last criticism was the main reason for the termination of the first General Synod in 1992. Judged within the context of his time, which was typified by radical political and church apartheid and viewed against the background of the separation model, which was dominant in the GKSA before 1950, we should really appreciate the ecclesiological contribution of Snyman. It was an effort to ground ecclesiology on Scripture and on Christ, in order to transform the church of Christ to be a servant in the coming of the kingdom of God in South Africa.

Missio Dei perspectives in the Canons of Dort

Reformed churches around the world are commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dordtrecht in the Netherlands and its global impact. The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordtrecht, formally titled The decision of the Synod of Dort on the five main points of doctrine in dispute in the Netherlands , is the judgement of the National Synod about the five points of the Remonstrants held in the Dutch city of Dordtrecht in 1618–1619. Before and after the Synod of Dort the complaint has often been raised that the Reformed doctrines of predestination and election have produced churches and Christians who have very limited passion or no zeal at all for the church’s call to missions. People who hold negative ideas about reformed spirituality often used the derogative of the ‘frozen chosen’ to express the idea that the Reformed faith inevitably suffocates vital spirituality, evangelistic outreach, church planting, and missions. The claim is made that this alleged neglect is caused by the Reformed doctrine of election. A sentiment exists among some missiologists that confessionally Reformed believers are not enthusiastic about sharing the gospel of Christ with those who are strangers to the gospel of Christ and Christianity. But is this true of the Canons of Dort, that was one of the main outcomes of the Synod of Dort? Some researchers even express the opinion that the Canons being produced by this Synod of Dort have the most outspoken mission statements of the three reformed confessions. This article endeavours to open a window on the synod’s deliberations with the Remonstrants to highlight missional perspectives when the background and main emphases of the canons are examined. Special attention on how biblical piety, missional spirituality and its implications for the missio Dei in practice may be observed in the history before after and during the Synod of Dort and in key sections in the Canons of Dort. The practical implications of these perspectives will also be considered.

A plea for the honour of God: Gisbertus Voetius’ mission proposals at the National Synod of Dordrecht and his mission theory

This article searches for the dynamic in human terms that produced today’s global church. It will focus on the role and the vision of Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676), the father of the Reformed science of missions. As a significant representative of early modern Reformed theology, Voetius set his seal on the mission paragraph in the decisions of the National Synod of Dordrecht, held in 1618–1619 in one of the oldest cities in the then young republic of the Netherlands. In addition is the far-reaching influence of his mission principles in Reformed missions. The focus in this study is on Voetius’ missiology which, as we will see, is that, in the whole discipline of his theology and mission ideas, the honour of God was his highest aim.

Between Paris and Geneva: Some Remarks on the Approval of the Gallican Confession (May 1559)

Abstract This article analyses the approval of the Gallican Confession during the so-called first national synod of the French Reformed churches, held in Paris in May 1559. The established consensus is that Calvin had a starring role in the adoption of the Confession by the pastors assembled in Paris. The latter are believed to have modified and promulgated the Gallican Confession based on a draft that the former had authored and sent to the synod. This paper will test the hypothesis that Calvin never sent any draft to Paris for approval in May 1559 and that a 1557 Parisian document—the letter-confession Au Roy—was used as the basis for the text of the Gallican Confession. We will also show that in May 1559 Calvin was not opposed to the promulgation of a confession of faith, but to its untimely disclosure and/or publication in print. This article offers a different interpretation of the relationship between Geneva and the brethren assembled in Paris at this crucial stage, and suggests that the categories of agreement/disagreement between Calvin and some French pastors, normally applied to this event, might not be appropriate.

Die status en plek van die Drie Formuliere van Eenheid in twee Suid-Afrikaanse gereformeerde kerke

The status and real position of the Three Formulas of Unity in two South African Reformed Churches. The Three Formulas of Unity, which was accepted by the National Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) as confessions of faith, formulating the common faith of the Dutch Reformed Church, were also accepted by churches in other parts of the world. Two of them are the Dutch Reformed Church and Reformed Churches in South Africa. The Synod of Dordt regarded the formulation of core issues of faith in the Three Formulas as in accordance with Scripture. By doing so, they did not proclaim that every word and sign in the Formulas were according to Scripture, but the doctrine or faith as formulated. The Dutch Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches both indicate that they accept this viewpoint regarding the Three Formulas. In the case of the former, however, it sometimes lacks the using of the Formulas consequently in the life of the church.

Impact amid absence: The Synod of Dordt and the French Huguenots

This contribution investigates the reasons behind the absence of delegates from the French Reformed (Huguenot) churches at the Synod of Dordt, setting the reasons for their absence in the broader political and religious context of the times. I argue that the connections between the French Reformed church and the Synod of Dordt were significant both before and after the synod met, but that the Huguenots had a rather different project in mind (religious reconciliation among Reformed Protestants and even possibly between Reformed and Lutheran Christians) when they considered the possibility of an international gathering of Reformed theologians. Although the Huguenot delegates were not present at Dordt and therefore could not directly affect the course of the synod’s meeting, their alternate vision for the meeting still persisted even via correspondence during the gathering. At the same time, the synod itself had an impact on the Huguenot church, given that the Canons of Dordt were ratified by the French national synods already by 1620.

Women Deacons in the Maronite Church

The study investigates the inclusion of women deacons in the canons of the National Synod of Mount Lebanon of 1736, which formalized Latinization of the Maronite Church, providing for codification of its particular law. The canons were approved in forma specifica by Pope Clement XII and have never been modified or overruled, thereby giving evidence of the liceity of ordaining women deacons in the Catholic Church.

Die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en die aanvaarding van sy belydenisskrifte

The Dutch Reformed Church and the content of the acceptance of its confessions In its acceptance of six confessions, the more general confessions from the early church namely the Apostolicum and the Confessions of Nicea and Athanasius as well as the Three Formulas of Unity from the Dutch Reformation, the Dutch Reformed Church follows the footsteps of the National Synod of Dordrecht in 1618-1619. It accepts the formulation or wording of faith in these documents. This wording has authority because (quia) it is according to Scripture. The same church also acknowledges the need for a Scriptural rehearsal of the confessions if needed. By using this basis for the acceptance of the confessions it takes into account the aim and purpose of these documents namely to formulate faith according to Scripture.

L’Organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France (1557–1563). Synodes provinciaux et autres documents ed. by Philip Benedict, Nicolas Fornerod (review)

Reviewed by: L’Organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France (1557–1563). Synodes provinciaux et autres documents ed. by Philip Benedict, Nicolas Fornerod Brian Sandberg L’Organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France (1557–1563). Synodes provinciaux et autres documents. Edited by Philip Benedict and Nicolas Fornerod. [Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance, N° DIV; Archives des Églises Réformées de France, N° III.] (Geneva: Librairie Droz. 2012. Pp. cxxx, 362. €106,00. ISBN 978-2-600-01603-2.) Studying the spread of the Reformation in sixteenth-century France has always been difficult due to the fragmented documentary record and muted historical memory of French Protestantism. The persecution, forced conversion, and expulsions of French Calvinists during the religious wars, the dragonnades, and the Revocation led to the dispersal and destruction of their temples and their documents during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. [End Page 349] L’Organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France (1557–1563) assembles a remarkable group of documents from the Reformed church in France at its apogee. Protestant worship had been illegal in France since the 1530s, forcing religious dissidents to flee or go underground. By the 1550s, however, communities of believers began to abandon their clandestine prayer meetings and openly worship in cleansed local churches or newly founded Reformed temples under the protection of convinced nobles. Jean Calvin published French-language texts and sent Reformed ministers into France from Geneva to further the evangelical movement. The number of Reformed congregations grew from a mere six in 1555 to an astounding 816 by 1562—only seven years later. This rapid growth excited curious religious seekers, alarmed Catholic observers, and contributed to the outbreak of religious warfare in 1562. Edited by Philip Benedict and Nicolas Fornerod, the collection publishes transcriptions of four main types of documents from this formative period of the Reformed churches in France: acts of provincial synods, records of Reformed churches, registers of local consistories, and related documents. Some of these documents have been published previously, but in disparate volumes and specialized journals. Collectively, these documents offer a fascinating institutional history of the early French Reformed churches. This critical edition provides a lengthy introduction and ample footnotes to contextualize the sources. Benedict and Fornerod emphasize the organization of a network of Reformed churches and provincial synods across France, which spread Calvinist doctrine and practice. The introduction analyzes the rapid formation of the complex system of national synods, provincial synods, colloques, churches, and consistories, extending the analysis of Benedict’s Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism (New Haven, 2002). The editors also examine the liturgy and discipline employed by the French Reformed churches. Finally, the introduction provides an analytic narrative of Reformed political activism from the political crisis in 1560 to the outbreak of the religious wars in 1562, as the deputies of Reformed churches and synods sought permission to worship publicly, to build temples, and to present their confession to the king. The documents offer a collective portrait of the early Reformed church institutions in France—revealing an often divided and contentious community of ministers and lay leaders. The records of the national and provincial synods are filled with doctrinal debates, disciplinary disputes, and moral anxieties. This evidence reminds historians that Calvinist churches and congregations were not simply subject to the moral policing of their local consistories but also immersed in broader regional and national communities of Reformed believers. As humanities digitization projects proceed rapidly, many of the documents published here will undoubtedly soon be available online—and several of them already are. The main contribution of this volume is to collate and present a coherent group of interrelated documents on the organization of the French Reformed churches in a copiously sourced critical edition that will be useful for specialized [End Page 350] researchers working on the spread of Calvinism. The Reformed synodal system organized in France in the mid-sixteenth century would soon become the model for Reformed communities in Scotland, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. The editors’ valuable work should thus facilitate future historical research on the French Reformation, the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion, and...

Die kerkreg en kerkregering van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Sendingkerk (1881-1915)

The church polity and church governance of the Dutch Reformed Mission(1881-1915)One can discern five church polity principles in this article to adjudicate the churchpolity and church governance of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (DRMC):1. The autonomy of the local church,2. The character of the denominational ties,3. The character of the power of the major assemblies,4. The power to discipline church officials,5. The right to appeal with regarding to the decisions of the major assemblies,This article deals cursorily with the church polity development of the DutchReformed Mission Church (1881-1915). The foundational grounds and main notionson Doleantie Church polity are being drawn upon in this article. The Doleantie didnot try to develop a new church polity system, but is rather a regression to a systemof church polity as enacted by the National Synod of Dordrecht (1618-1619). TheDoleantie church polity (oud kerkrecht) impacted the church polity and the churchgovernance of the DRMC.

Imperial Nexus and National Anglican Identity: The Australian 1911–12 Legal Nexus Opinions Revisited

ABSTRACTThe legal Opinion of eminent English Counsel on the legal nexus of the Australian Anglican colonial dioceses to their Mother Church in England was delivered on 20 June 1911. It provoked a decade of debate in diocesan, provincial and national synods that revealed how leading Australian Anglicans identified themselves before and after World War One. Great diversity appears among the responses of bishops, clergy and laity. Both enthusiasm for change and wariness of it were confined to no one region or diocese. Lay understandings and participation in these debates, along with churchmanship anxieties and long traditions of colonial diocesan independence, were among important factors that governed the Australian Anglicans' long march towards constitutional autonomy in 1962. Lambeth archives, printed Synod Reports, Australian secular and religious press reports are quarried to reconstruct these images of a diverse and uncertain pre-1921 Australian Anglican identity.

De la restauration du régime synodal dans les Églises réformées à l’époque contemporaine

Séverine Pacteau-de-Luze shows here that the presbyterian-synodal form of government adopted by the French reformed churches from their foundation, has never functioned without difficulties. It is supposed that these difficulties came from the mistrust of the royal authorities under the Ancien Régime, which outlawed national synods from 1659. This ban was confirmed by the “Articles Organiques” attached to the Concordat. In recent history, although synods were authorised, their workings were still problematic. Such was the case, at the national synod of 1872 : not only was it impossible to find a doctrinal agreement between evangelicals and liberals, but worse, the churches divided into two rival national unions, which considerably weakened their impact. Even though government by synod was restored by the reunification of the Eglise Réformée de France in 1938, it only became a reality after 1945, and not without its teeing problems up to the sixties.

The Fee Tail and the Common Recovery in Medieval England 1176–1502 by Joseph Biancalana (review)

REVIEWS 206 to couch their objectives in terms that avoided references to rebellion against legitimate authority, even during times of military conflict with the monarchy. Roberts’s essay on Huguenot petitions, for example, argues that the Protestants’ use of legal means to handle their grievances was part of their strategy to legitimize themselves and portray themselves as loyal, law-abiding subjects of the crown. Protestant identity was also defined in reaction to Catholic polemics and was thus in part an external construct. There were competing narratives between Catholics and Huguenots that used historical references to the early Christian Church, Christian martyrology, and the Albigensian Crusades, and there was thus an important Catholic contribution to the development of Protestant identity . In the early stages comparisons of Protestant martyrs to the martyrs of the early Church were delicately articulated to avoid the possible comparisons of the French crown to Roman despots that might logically follow. On the other hand, the Catholic state sought to deny martyr status to the Huguenots by executing them like common criminals by hanging rather than burning them as heretics. Much of the institutional structure of the Protestant Church in France was likewise a response to external pressure. The essays by Mark Greengrass, Karin Maag, and Martin Dinges all show that much of the cohesiveness of French Protestantism was a result of the need for mutual support, poor relief, and the training of ministers in an environment that was often hostile. Such networks were both formal, ranging from local consistories to national synods, as well as universities for the training of ministers. But as the essay by Greengrass shows, could also be highly effective on an informal basis through personal letters and letters between communities. Mentzer and Spicer have gathered several very interesting essays that offer new insight into the history of the Reformation in France. These essays show that the Protestant Church in France was not a monolithic entity despite the presence of formal structures and a well-defined doctrine. Most of the work of Huguenot institutional structures dealt with local needs and concerns, and not issues of the national Church as a whole. Yet the shared experience of living in an increasingly hostile state also fostered a sense of unity among its members. Thus being Protestant in France was defined as much by the circumstances of living in a Catholic society as it was by adherence to a specific body of religious doctrine. Current events have given a renewed importance to the subtleties of how religion fits into individual and group identity. In a contemporary American society that is generally heterogeneous and secular, it is not always easy to understand the role of religion in how individuals sympathize with certain groups or nations. This gives works such as these a relevance that goes beyond the historical topics they describe. ERIC JOHNSON, History, UCLA Joseph Biancalana, The Fee Tail and the Common Recovery in Medieval England 1176–1502, Cambridge Studies in English Legal History, ed. J. H. Baker (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001) 498 pp. Joseph Biancalana’s long needed work on The Fee Tail and the Common Re- REVIEWS 207 covery expertly summarizes and explains the origins of fee tails, how they work, and why they continued to be used. He has fit his work nicely into the historiography of law, including both old and new historians of English law from Pollock , Plucknett, Milsom, and Maitland to Baker, Brand, Hudson, Holt, and Waugh among many other recognizable names. Biancalana takes a close look at laws and statues concerning fee tails and common recoveries and how they are actually put into practice. Each chapter of Biancalana’s integrated work could read as a separate essay, examining in depth chronological aspects or developments in the history of fee tails and the statutes, laws, and legal actions that spun off from the original intent such as: maritagium, De Donis, jointure, Quia Emptores, and most importantly , common recoveries. What little he could glean about popular opinion of these laws and changes is also included with the appropriate warnings about how far such findings should be trusted. Nearly every point and definitely all difficult issues, are illustrated in brief by an...

Religious Diversity and Everyday Ethics in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch City Kampen

In the century when heretics in the Netherlands were persecuted, the Dutch Revolt occurred, and events took place that ultimately led to the National Synod of Dordrecht (1618–19), religion and society were clearly interwoven. Research on this period is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach, such as the one used, to remarkable effect, in the recent studies on the cities of the Reformation (Städteforschung). In the Netherlands, the study of the Reformation in urban settings has also become an important field, one in which both church and “secular” historians have made valuable contributions. Historical work on the period after the Synod of Dordrecht displays, however, far less interest in the relationship between religion and society. Despite this shift in historical focus, religion remained a formative factor in the public life of the Dutch Republic long after 1620. The established church retained its central position in society and continued to influence the design and the development of Dutch culture. The religious community regarded its norms as the basis of civil society. The church wanted to create a social practice in which religion played an influential role in urban life and in the ethics of everyday living.