RELIGIOUS TURMOIL AND JAN'S MINISTRY IN THE NETHERLANDS
Reformed Church ministers were usually called dominie, although the
words pastoor, predikant, and minister were also used. The word
dominie is also spelled domine and dominee, and is pronounced dom-inee. This word is from the Latin dominus, used in the middle ages to
address learned men. The Netherlands insisted on a well-educated
clergy and the term dominie was used as a title of respect. The dominie
were highly respected, but modestly paid. It helped to have family
wealth if you were a dominie, otherwise one might need to earn
supplemental income from writing or giving lectures. Since European
politics and religion were closely intertwined, it was common for
powerful families to have ministers or religious leaders in their group.
Likewise, it was common for important people to move between
positions in the church and in the government. Dutch religious politics
played an important part in the future of the Poot family, so it is
worthwhile to digress into some religious history. (Religious politics is
very complex and often obscure. I hope the following discussion is not
too confusing or flawed.)
The Reformed Church was dominant in the northern and western
Netherlands, while the Catholics were dominant in the smaller southern
region and Belgium. The Reformed Church had its origins in the work of
John Calvin in France and Switzerland during the Reformation. Calvin's
principle beliefs were similar to Martin Luther's, although some specific
differences blocked early attempts to merge their churches. Calvin was
more of a philosopher than Luther, and though he wrote extensively, he
did not develop a complete church doctrine, as did Luther. The result is
that a considerable variety of protestant faiths grew out of diverse
interpretations of Calvin's teaching. In England his followers were
principally Presbyterians and Congregationalists. On the continent, they
were mostly called Reformed Churches. There were both the French
Reformed Church and Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands. This
is the result of the Catholic rulers of France persecuting and murdering
the Calvinists. The French Calvinists were known as "Huguenots", and
they fled to Holland, Great Britain, and America. (Huguenot means
literally "Hugues oath comrades". Hugues was a Reformation political
leader in Geneva in the early 1500's.) Eventually the French Reformed
Church merged with the Dutch Reformed Church and they became
known as The Reformed Church. It is interesting that far away in
America, Willem Frederick Poot would marry someone who was a
descendent of the Huguenots.
In the late 1700's, the Netherlands was severely weakened by wars and
the loss of most of its foreign territories to England. This made the
Netherlands an easy target for French conquest in 1795. Over the next
- Religious Turmoil - page 1 -
Berlicum and the Reformed Church
Map of Berlicum in the Menaldumadeel district of Friesland.
The Reformed Church in Berlicum
where Jan Poot was the Pastor.
twenty years the various French governments confiscated most of the
national church property and wealth, and imposed restrictions that
weakened the church.
When Napoleon fell, the royalty of Europe sought to reduce the risk of
democratic trends by restoring the Netherlands as a monarchy, and not
as the republic that had existed previously. When Willem I became King
of the Netherlands in 1815, he reinstated the Reformed Church as the
official state church, although other churches were permitted. In spite of
their traditional religious freedom, relatively few Dutch belonged to
anything but the Reformed Church or Catholic Church. The religious
factions such as Puritans, Baptists and Mennonites had generally
emigrated to America over the centuries.
Unfortunately, the new king had observed the operation of national
churches in England and Germany during his twenty year exile, yet had
little knowledge of how the Dutch Church previously operated. He
thought he could restore and improve the Reformed Church by
nationalizing it, and controlling it from a State Ministry of Religion. What
he failed to understand was that the Reformed Church was traditionally
controlled at the provincial level and not from a central national
authority. Each province had its own synod, and their policies were
varied because the local government, lay and clergy had significant
control. Now the organization of the church underwent a major change
into a centralized authority without significant lay input.
During the preceding centuries, the Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk)
had already liberalized and strayed from many of the principles
espoused by Calvin and the Protestant Reformation. This was the result
of many influences, including government politics, the teachings of
individual philosophers and theologians, mercantile interests, and the
religious beliefs of immigrants. The newly appointed rulers of the
church tended toward a rationalism that minimized or denied the deity
of Christ and rejected the value of the sacraments. They strongly
favored the unification of all Protestant faiths and merged the French
Reformed and Dutch Reformed churches. This sudden imposition of
major changes by the government was unacceptable to many. Strong
opposition leadership developed in Utrecht, but was subjected to heavy
punishments. In 1834 this "first separation" resulted in the formation of
an independent church, initially called the Free Reformed Church, but
soon renamed the Christian Reformed Church (Christelijke
Gereformeerde Kerk). Many churches, principally in the Groningen
province, joined and issued the "Act of Separation and Return". They
declared themselves to be true Reformed Churches and would return to
the national church when it returned to the teachings of Calvin.
Contrary to Dutch tradition, King Willem I chose to persecute these
renegade churches and their followers. Laws were enforced that forbade
any meeting of over 20 people in a non-proscribed group. This was
- Religious Turmoil - page 2 -
intended to prohibit church services by the separatists. Social, legal, and
economic pressures were put upon the separatists. Fortunately, when
Willem II became king in 1840, he revoked these laws and released many
religious prisoners. The national church however, did not change its
practices. This first separation led to the emigration of Dutch separatists
to America in the period 1844-57 where they founded Pella, Iowa and
started several settlements in Michigan. Their major leaders were Van
Raalte and Scholte.
Years passed and religious conservatives felt the Dutch were too passive
in their religious beliefs, a result of the liberal, impersonal, and
centralized control of the church. Many believed a religious revival was
needed, and such a revival required the democratization of the church,
by giving more control to the lay people and to the local congregations.
During the 1860's and again in the 1880's occurred periods of Christian
Evangelism in Europe and America. There were many issues, but some
important principles were that salvation came from a personal
relationship with God, the importance of baptism and the sacraments,
and the need for local congregations to have greater self-control. The
evangelical movement appeared strongest in Friesland, Groningen
(between Friesland and Germany), and Deventer. Friesland had been
exposed to German missionaries and evangelists and seemed eager for a
more powerful and personal form of religious expression. The rural
population was more conservative than the urban cities to the south.
There were even a few German churches in Friesland out of the desire for
another choice in prayer. The religious activity in Deventer and
Groningen sprang from the efforts of local evangelical leaders and the
similar views of the older separatists. The Christian Reformed Church
operated a theological seminary in Kampen, west of Deventer, in the
Overijssel province. There was also major reform activity in Utrecht.
The evangelical movement flowed in two sympathetic streams - those
who wanted to stay in the Reformed Church but return it to its Calvinist
roots, and others who desired a complete break and often formed a
separatist church, or adopted the Baptist or, occasionally, Congregational
faiths. The reformers sought a return to the practice of baptizing
children accompanied by the parents' profession of faith. The separatists
generally believed in the need for adult baptism. Both believed strongly
in the historic creeds of the Reformed faith, which had been abandoned
by the national church.
Similar evangelical movements were occurring in England and America.
In America, Dwight Moody was one of the major leaders in the evangelic
movement. During the years 1881-1884 Moody and his close associate
Ira Sandkey toured Europe to help spread the word. They held meetings
of encouragement for preachers and also hoped that an aggressive
evangelism would bring more sinners to God.
- Religious Turmoil - page 3 -
Jan Poot was active in the evangelical movement, with his roots in
Deventer, and the preaching of his beliefs in a receptive Friesland. Two
of his close friends, Earl H. Alderburg Bentinck and Baron van Doorn van
Westkapelle were nationally prominent men who actively supported the
evangelic movement, particularly in Deventer. Jan Poot met with these
men many times.
The family of Baron van Doorn van Westcapelle was an important and
powerful family in the Netherlands. Abraham van Doorn was governor of
Zeeland 1808-1810. His son, Hendrick Jacob (H.J.) Baron van Doorn, was
also a governor, national treasurer, national vice president and was
Minister of State in 1841. There were two members of this family alive in
the late 1800's, and it would appear that one or both were friends of the
Poots. E.C.U. Baron van Doorn lived from 1799-1883. He had served as
agent for the pastor of Utrecht, was in the community council, and later
in the second chamber of parliament. E.C.U. was also minister of finance
for the national church and was governor of Utrecht for the period 18601880. W.F. Baron van Doorn was the son of H.J. Baron van Doorn, and
lived 1825-1893. After graduating in the law from Leiden University in
1848, he served as attendant to the king from 1849 until the king's
death in 1890.
The Bentinck (ben'-tingk) family was and still is a very important family in
Europe. They were ancient nobility and became prominent as Barons of
the Gelderland province by the 1300's. In the 1680's a Bentinck aided
Prince William of Orange to become King William III of England, and
became second in power only to the King. In the 1830's a Bentinck ruled
India, reformed its government, eradicated the Thuggee radicals (source
of the word "thug"), and banned the burning of widows ("settee").
Bentincks were notable generals and commanders in numerous European
wars, World War I, and WWII, as well as governors and prime ministers in
both England and the Netherlands. Today they hold titles of Baron and
Baroness in the Netherlands, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, and in
Britain hold titles of Duke of Portland, Earl, Lord, Governor, Count and
Sir. They are active today in international affairs, include ambassadors to
England and the Vatican, and attendant to Queen Beatrix. They are also
prominent in cultural and historical organizations. They have extensive
land and wealth. They are celebrated in carvings in the front of the
Netherlands national church in Amsterdam and in statues and
monuments in Britain. They are claimed in the bloodlines of Martin
Luther, the Prince of Wales, and the German monarchy. One was the
Archdeacon of Westminster in England. A .A. Baron Bentinck was
Minister of State for the Netherlands in 1848. B.H. Bentinck was a
previous governor of the Overijssel province where Jan Poot was born.
The Dutch title "Graaf" is translated to mean "Count" or "Earl", and
religious history records a Graaf H. A. Bentinck who was almost certainly
the close friend of the Poots.
- Religious Turmoil - page 4 -
RELIGIOUS TURMOIL
Abraham Kuyper was a major leader of
religious and social reform in the
Netherlands. He lead the “doleantie” or
second separation from the national church in
1886. He sought a return to original
Protestant principles.
Dom Kerk (Cathedral Church) is a famous
landmark in Utrecht. Built from 1321-1380, it
is the tallest church in the Netherlands.
When the center nave was torn away by a
hurricane in 1674, the tower was left
separated. Dom Toren is 350 feet high, the
tallest structure in Utrecht. The remaining
church connects to three churches, cloisters,
a convent, and conference facilities.
Utrecht was a center for independent
religious activity. Jan Poot and his son Willem
attended a national conference here with the
prominent Earl of Bentinck.
The Bentinck family is honored by this
display in Nieuwe Kerk, the national
cathedral in Amsterdam. The “New
Church” was built in 1406.
In the years after the First Separation, several churches had individually
broken away from the national church over various disputes. In 1881
many of these congregations chose to band together under the name of
the Free Evangelic Church (Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten). Jan Poot
joined this group of churches. His move from Berlikum to Oude Leije
may have coincided with this formal break from the national church.
In 1881, Jan Poot published a 47 page book titled "Romans Nine"
("Romeinen Negen"), about the hotly debated theological concepts
expressed in that book and chapter of the New Testament. A second
edition was published in 1887 in Leeuwarden. One of the perennial
unresolved religious issues is whether people are saved by divine
election (predestination) or by faith (human action). A second
unresolved issue raised in Romans is the nature of the covenant of
salvation from God to Man. If God had extended his grace to include
both Jews and Gentiles, did it mean that all the people of earth could be
saved (common grace) or only those preselected/predestined (the elect)
by God?
Jan Poot contributed to the publication of a new periodical to promote the
evangelical principles. This magazine included contributions from ministers
in the national church as well as from the separated churches. The first
issue was published in 1880 and publication continued until 1887. This
was titled "Het Eeuwige Leven" ("The Eternal Life") and P. Huet was the
editor. Pieter Huet had been a nationally prominent conservative
theologian since about 1861. Huet was also well known for his volumes of
poetry. Huet lived 1827-1895, and is referred to as both Pieter and Pierre,
but most often by the initial "P". Huet was born in Dutch South Africa and
educated in the Netherlands. Presumably, Pierre was his birth name and
Pieter his adopted Dutch name.
A committee of ministers prepared the contents and worked to spread the
new evangelism. The committee consisted of: J.W. Poot of Oude Leije (FR),
H.E. Faure, J.G. Smitt of Amsterdam (NH), A. Bahler of Groningen (GR), Van
Paassen of Kapelle (ZL), J. van der Hoek of Westerlee (GR), M. Mooij of
Franeker (FR), A. Mooij of Wemeldinge (ZL), J. van Peetegem of Veendam
(GR), J. Horn of Sneek (FR), and J. de Hart of Hengelo (OV?). Huet and Faure
both came from South Africa and had attended university in Holland.
JW Poot may have been acquainted with the Mooij's as in-laws of the Poot
family. He also knew the Mooij's because they were active in the Free
Evangelic Church. Maarten Mooij apparently moved to Oude Leije to take
over the church there sometime after JW Poot left. Maarten's son, Arend
Theodoor Mooij, was born in Oude Leije in 1917. Arend grew up to become
a well- known writer and poet under the pseudonym A. Marja.
Similar to the American evangelists, this group sought to lead the nation's
youth away from sin and away from behaviors that were the "handmaidens
- Religious Turmoil - page 5 -
of sin." Instead of "drinking, vanity, and frivolous behavior", they wanted
children to follow "prayer, song, and mutual brotherhood" and become filled
with "the continual joy of heaven."
The public had a mixed reaction to this movement. Some embraced it with
enthusiasm, while others were suspicious of it. The Reformed Church
became increasingly divided, and some national conferences were held. As
already mentioned, some churches had declared their independence from
the national church. The more radical believers separated to form small
Baptist churches, even going so far as to incorporate new religious
communities. Those wishing to reform the Reformed Church became
increasingly frustrated. Many Dutch people found emigration to America a
solution. In America they could let distance give them their freedom, even
though many belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church in America that was
technically affiliated with the Netherlands national church.
The church in America had a long history. The first Reformed minister had
arrived in New Netherlands in 1628. Although the Reformed Church in
America was influenced by the events in Holland, it had evolved in its own
manner. It had its own history of separations and reunions. Given the
religious and political freedoms of America, the condition of the church was
more complex and less clearly defined than in the Netherlands. Separatist
churches existed, yet most Dutch, including many separatists, belonged to
the (Dutch) Reformed Church in America.
In the Netherlands, an important Dutch theologian and politician was
Abraham Kuyper, nicknamed "Abraham the Mighty." He withdrew from
political office to form the Free University of Amsterdam in 1880 to teach
Calvinist principles to ministers. This school is a major university today. Its
collections about religious history contain several references to J.W. Poot.
Kuyper's desire to bring change to the Reformed Church was unsuccessful.
Kuyper was ordered expelled from the church in December 1885, and in
1886 his appeal was rejected. In 1886-1889 some 200 congregations with
180,000 members broke from the national church to create the Free
Reformed Church. This "second separation" became known as the
"Doleantie", which means grief or anguish. Kuyper organized a merger of
the new and old separatist churches into the Gereformeerde Kerken in
1892. He returned to politics and protected the future of the new churches
with a political alliance between the Calvinist and Catholic parties. He was a
major political figure actively seeking both political and social reforms in
the Netherlands. Kuyper was relatively moderate and tolerant in his
religious beliefs, and felt that the national Reformed Church (Hervormde
Kerk) could be salvaged if the Bureau of Church Affairs was no longer
imposed upon it by the government. He also sought to make everyday life
focus more on living a Christian lifestyle.
- Religious Turmoil - page 6 -
Pastors of the Vrij Evangelische Gemeente
Oude Leije in its Sunday clothes for some community games. Rev. Poot appears
to be the distinguished man with family at the far center. Note how the people on
the left side are the best dressed and some on the right are wearing wooden
shoes. May be setting up bottles for the contest. Starting blocks are in the front.
Probably the Rev. Maarten Mooij and family about 1920 in Oude Leije.
The more extreme conservatives, such as F.M. Ten Hoor believed that the
Reformed Church had become a false church and only extreme measures
had any hope of making it into a Christian church. Ten Hoor moved to
America and became a forceful voice in the controversy over whether
members of popular oath bound societies, such as Freemasons, Odd
Fellows, and Knights of Labor should be denied church membership. He
also argued for a ban on the singing of hymns in church.
In the Netherlands, many social reforms were successful. However, many
blame the failure to reform the national church as one major reason for the
severe decline of the protestant religion there during the 20th century.
During that period it declined from overwhelming dominance to a minority
3rd place status after agnostics and Catholics.
Meanwhile, the ministers found themselves in a condition of turmoil. Some
had to change churches, some backed away from the reforms to stay with
the national church, and others left for America where evangelism was
strongly received. This is the atmosphere in which Jan Poot's ministry
proceeded.
- Religious Turmoil - page 7 -