REFORMED COVENANTED PRESBYTERIANS.
See Presbyterians, VIII., 10.
REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH.
I. In the Netherlands.
Events Prior to the Synod of Emden (§ 1).
The Synod of Emden (§ 2).
Results of Expulsion of the Spanish (§ 3).
Struggles Between Reformed and Roman Catholics (§ 4).
Final Organization (§ 5). II. In America.
1. The Background.
2. First Period, 1628-64.
3. Second Period, 1664-1708. Results of English Conquest (§ 1). Attempts .to Impose Anglican
Church (§ 2).
4. Third Period, 1708-47.
5. Fourth Period, 1747-92.
6. Fifth Period, the Independent
American Church, 1792-1909. The Constitution (§ 1). Ecclesiastical Bodies; New Growth
(§2). Educational Institutions (§ 3).
7. The True Reformed Church. III. In South Africa.
1. Dutch Reformed Church in Cape
Colony.
2. Dutch Reformed Church in the
Orange Free State.
3. United Dutch Reformed Church in
Transvaal.
4. Dutch Reformed Church of Natal.
5. Reformed Church in South Africa.
6. " Hervormde " Church of Trans-
vaal.
I. In the Netherlands: The establishment of the
Reformed Church in the Netherlands was gradually
brought about despite every effort of the Roman
Catholic Church to prevent it. Though for a time
it seemed that sacramentarians and
i. Events Anabaptists were destined to gain con- Prior to the trol, before long Reformed tenets made
Synod of headway, ■ and the triumph of Calvin-
Emden. ism was assured. This was the condition of affairs as early as 1567, when the duke of Alva was sent to the Netherlands for the extirpation of heresy. The stern measures adopted by -him rendered even secret assemblies of the Protestants full of peril, and the exodus of adherents of the new doctrines rapidly increased. England and France afforded harbors to the refugees, but their chief centers were the important cities of Em-
den, Wesel, Cologne, Aachen, Frankenthal, and Frankfort. The need of organization was strongly felt, and in 1571 the foundation was laid for a definite ecclesiastical system by the synod held at Emden, which marks the beginning of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. But before this, by the creation of consistories there had been expressed the conviction that the members of each local body formed an organic whole, and provincial synods were established to bring the churches in different localities into closer union. This was perceived to be inadequate, and there developed a desire for more definite organization and for a formal statement of the unity in doctrine already prevailing. On Nov. 3, 1568, about forty preachers and elders met at Wesel, apparently under the presidency of Petrus Dathenus, to draw up a tentative church
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Reformed Church Reformed (Dutch) Church
order. This informal assembly, to receive official recognition, must necessarily be followed by a synod of duly qualified delegates of the various congregations, empowered to draft rules and regulations binding on the entire Dutch Reformed body. In the actual realization of this synod— that held at Emden — the leader was Marnix van St. Aldegonde (q.v.). Deeply impressed with the need of a general synod, he had devoted the period of his captivity in Germany (beginning with 1567) to the realization of his ideal. With this end in view, he seems to have written the open letter which, in 1570, was widely distributed, in the name of the congregations at Heidelberg and Frankenthal. The chief ideas advanced by Marnix in this letter were discussed at the Synod of Emden and became the bases of specific resolutions. In this letter Marnix invited the congregations to whom he wrote to delegate men to a conference to be held at Frankfort in Sept., 1570, which led up to the Synod of Emden, though a provisional synod was first held at Bedbur on July 4-5, 1571, attended by delegates from Germany and Brabant as well as from Julich. Here the definitive synod was resolved upon, and Gerard van Kuilenburg and Willem van Zuylen van Nijevelt were empowered to confer with the congregation at Emden, and after first securing the approval of the congregations at Wesel and Cleves, they also won the sanction of the Emden Reformed. The result was that the two delegates named, together with four others, were entrusted with the preparations for the general synod.
The committee thus formed chose Emden as the place and Oct. 1, 1571, as the date on which to convene. The only opposition to the synod came, curiously enough, from Holland. The grounds for these objections are unknown, but they appear to
have been regarded as trivial. The
2. The Walloon and Flemish congregations at
Synod of Cologne, on the other hand, appealed
Emden. to the prince of Orange to induce the
Dutch Reformed to send delegates to the synod; and the synod was attended by a number of Reformed pastors from Holland. Thus the first general synod of the Dutch Reformed Church was held at Emden on Oct 4-13, 1571. The president was Gaspar van der Heyden, preacher at Frankenthal; the vice-president, Jean Taffin, pastor of the Walloon congregation at Heidelberg; and the secretary, Joannes Polyander, pastor of the Walloon congregation at Emden. The attendance was twenty-nine, five of whom were elders. This synod laid the foundations of the Dutch Reformed Church. The delegates were fully aware that they had been called to prepare binding regulations, and that they were the authorized representatives of their church. Besides adopting three of the Wesel articles (the nineteenth, twentieth, and twentyfirst of the Emden articles), the synod utilized the French church order of 1559, the two often corresponding word for word. On the other hand, the Emden acts can not be considered a mere amplification of the French church order. The acts of this synod are distinctly Calvinistic, and the organization which they propose is presbyterial and synodal. The sole bond of union between churches is
consensus in doctrine; fellowship is desired with the churches of other lands, provided they are Reformed in doctrine. The standards adopted were the Belgic Confession and the French; the Geneva Catechism was to be used in French congregations, and the Heidelberg Catechism in the Dutch, though churches employing any other corresponding catechism might retain it. The administration was to be conducted by consistories, classes, synods, and national synods. Of these, only the consistories were to be permanent, the members of the other bodies being chosen for each assembly. Each church or congregation was to have a consistory, consisting of preachers, elders, and deacons, and the consistory was to meet at least weekly. Every three or six months a classis " of several neighboring churches " was to meet; and synods were to be held annually of the congregations in Germany and East Frisia, of the English congregations, and of the Dutch congregations. About every two years a national synod " of all the Belgic churches together " was to be held. Each congregation, while independent, formed part of an organic whole, being subject successively to the classis, the synod, and the general synod, in each of which it was represented by delegates chosen either directly or indirectly. The synod arranged for classes in the various countries and prepared a number of regulations governing the internal administration of the Reformed congregations, as on the calling of pastors, the choice of elders and deacons, and the length of their terms, baptism, the Lord's Supper, marriage, discipline, and the like.
The next synod was to meet in the spring of 1572 in case the congregations in England should be willing and able to send deputies, otherwise it was to be postponed to the spring of the year following; and the Palatinate classis was authorized to convene it. It was, however, never held, for, though 3. Results the congregations in England apof Expul- proved, at least in general, the decisions sion of the of the Synod of Emden, and though Spanish, they desired to form classes and send delegates, they could not obtain the requisite consent of the English government. Nevertheless, deputies from England were present at the national synods of Dort (1578) and Middelburg (1581), and a conference was held at London on Aug. 28, 1599. The acts of the Emden Synod were adopted, so far as practicable, by the congregations in the Palatinate, Emden, Julich, and Berg, and by the classes of Cologne and Wesel. Gradually, however, these congregations lost their Dutch character, and their bond with the Dutch Reformed Church was dissolved. Within six months after this synod, determined resistance to Spain had begun, and the expulsion of the Spanish from city after city was followed by a corresponding increase in the number of Dutch Reformed churches. On July 15, 1572, the States General convened at Dort, and Marnix, as the representative of the prince of Orange, demanded equal rights for Roman Catholics and Reformed, provided the former abstained from all acts of disloyalty. In the following year, however, public worship was denied the Roman Catholics, the prince of Orange went over to the Reformed
Reformed (Dutch) Church