HOLLAND. I. Protestant Churches. 1. The Reformed Church. 2. The Christian Reformed Church. 3. The Lutheran Church. 4. Baptists. b. Remonetrsnts.
II. The Roman Catholic Church.
III. The Janeaniet Church. IV. The Jews.The kingdom of Holland (or the Netherlands), on the western border of Continental Europe, has an area of 12,650 square miles and a population (1905) of 5,591,701, of whom about three-fifths are Protestants. The conversion of the Netherlands was begun under Dagobert I. (628-838), continued by Willibrord (q.v.), and completed by Charlemagne toward the end of the eighth century. The inhabitants now enjoy full religious liberty. The adherents of the several sects have equal civil and religious rights and privileges, and enjoy complete freedom of administration in everything refitting to their religion and its exercise. The several religious bodies, save the Christian Reformed Church, and a new body called "The Reformed Churches" (1892), which refuse such aid, are subsidized by the state. In the northeastern parts of the country Protestantism prevails, in the southern parts Roman Catholicism, while in the central parts both these forms are fairly well represented. During the last century there has been a slow but steady increase of Protestants and Jews, and a corresponding decrease of Roman Catholics.
I. Protestant Churches.-1. The Reformed Church (DTederlanwh Hervormde Herkgenoot~ohap): This body took its rise at the beginning of the Reformation. Its doctrines and polity began to be formulated as early as 1566, and after passing through successive revisions took a form at the Synod of Dort (1619), which lasted with unimportant changes for a couple of centuries. It was not, however, until the Pesos of Westphalia (1648) that the Reformed religion became the recognized religion of the country. Its adherents constituted the national church. In the interval between 1795 and 1818 the national church suffered greatly from lack of support. All income from the state was cut off, and the clergy were reduced to the greatest straits. When William I. became king in 1818 he called a general synod (the first since the Synod of Dort is 1819) and offered to support the Church if it would accept a constitution modified to suit his views. The Church yielded, and the older strictly Presbyterian form of government was greatly modified and made bureaucratic. General synods have been held yearly since 1816, but they consist of less than twenty members; and in all the higher church assemblies administrative boards direct all ecclesiastical affairs. This change in the government then met with no opposition except from the classic of Amsterdam, the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth volumes of whose minutes (1790-1818) are filled with memorials, protests, and petitions relating to the changes then occurring in the government of the Church. The constitution, finally accepted in 1816, is still the basis of the existing church-order, since it gave shape to "The General Regulations of the Reformed Church" made in 1852. But, while these latter gave to that body greater independence than was possessed by the articles of 1816, it was still hampered by many conditions. These conditions were annulled in 1870. In 1857, under the influence of the Liberals and the Romanista, the government banished religious instruction from the schools; and in 1876 it changed the theological faculties in the universities into faculties of comparative religion; but funds were granted to the National Synod for special theological instruction. But, when rationalists secured these professorships, the orthodox party established a Free Reformed University at Amsterdam in 1880. The same party has secured free schools all over Holland in which Evangelical religion is taught.
The Reformed Church embraces a large portion of the Reformed elements in the country, including the Walloons, the English Presbyterians, and the Scotch congregations. The congregations are divided into forty-four classes (or presbyteries), and these are subdivided into 148 smaller groups, called rings, or circuits, for convenient conferences. There are ten provincial synods, and s Walloon Commission. There is one general synod, which consists of only nineteen members, thirteen of whom are ministers, and six are elders. The choice of these is made by the provincial synods, the members of the latter being elected by the classes. The classical assemblies are the characteristic feature of the organism of the Church. They
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meet yearly for the election of officers and the consideration of such topics as are presented to them by the synod. While in the other assemblies the ministers are twice as many as the elders, the classes are composed of all the ministers within the bounds and an elder from each congregation. The local congregations are governed by their consistories, consisting of an equal number of elders and deacons. Since 1867 the members of the consistory have been chosen by a college of representatives, the latter being chosen by the whole body of adult members, except those supported by the poor funds. It is this participation of the members in the elections which has brought the Church back to orthodoxy. In 1898 the Church had 1,348 churches and 1,606 ministers. The Walloons or French congregations are mostly composed of the descendants of the refugees driven by persecution from France and Flanders; but as these gradually blended with the Netherlanders their numbers decreased. While in 1815 they had thirty-five churches and forty-seven ministers, in 1898 they had only sixteen churches and twenty four ministers. There have been in all between thirty and forty British Presbyterian churches in Holland and Belgium, not to speak of English Congregational and Episcopal churches and Quaker meetings. Of the Presbyterian churches only those of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Middelburg remain; and these, as well as the Walloon churches, are now included in the Reformed Church. The management of church property was directed for a time by decrees of William I., issued in 1819 and 1833, but these decrees were annulled in 1869. Since that time most of the congregations have placed themselves under a "Committee of Control," while the others are independent.
From the beginning of the independence of Holland the ministers were generally trained at the state universities, where theological faculties were constituted for that purpose; yet a course in the universities was not obligatory. The law of 1877 released the faculty from the duty of teaching the theology of the confessions, while in each university two professors, nominated by the synod of the Reformed Church, are charged with the duty of lecturing on dogmatic and practical theology. During the entire period of the Dutch Republic the classic of Amsterdam was the great agency of Holland, and largely of all Continental Europe, for carrying on mission work among twenty colonies as well as among the heathen. Her deputati ad res externs, as exhibited by their minutes and correspondence, show an amount of work in this line almost appalling. But neither foreign nor domestic missions are now carried on by the Church or its officers, as such; yet the subject of missions has grown in interest during recent years. Besides the Moravian Society, which has long labored in the West Indies, there was for many years only the Netherlands Missionary Society, founded in 1797. But in 1881 no less than ten missionary societies existed for sending missionaries to non-Christian countries. There is also one society laboring especially among the Jews. The number of the church members in the Dutch missions is about 100,000. They have 200 schools attended by about 14,000
scholars. The public schools of Holland are now confessionless, but there are hundreds of private parochial schools supported by Protestants or Roman Catholics. Two considerable associations have been formed, one in 1860 and another in 1877, to support and extend such schools. Evangelistic work is carried on by several associations of believers. Activity in this direction, as well as other philanthropic work, for example, work for homeless children, for fallen women, for the blind, etc., is ever on the increase; but the desirable cooperation of all the religious bodies is yet wanting.
2. The Christian Reformed Church (Christelifke Ciereformeerde gerken): At the general synod of 1816 (see above) a slight, though important, change in the subscription form for candidates gave occasion for a great controversy. The question arose whether the standards of doctrine were authoritative because they agreed with the Word of God, or so far as they agreed therewith. The synod of 1835 gave the right to every candidate to decide this for himself. This, it was believed, gave liberty for the introduction of all manner of error, as well as for its propagation. Royal mandates also often interfered with the internal affairs of the Church. The "New Regulations" adopted in 1816 and the administrative committees then formed controlled everything. With the deposition of one of the Evangelical ministers; De Cock, because he would not conform in certain matters, a crisis came in 1834, and the Evangelical party came into conflict with the authorities, and a secession was resolved upon. The movement was supported by Da Costa and Groen van Prinsterer, although they never left the old Church. It was embarrassed, however, by an ancient law, forbidding the assembling together of more than twenty persons, outside the recognized churches, for public worship. In 1836 a royal decree, repeated in 1841, confirmed this law, yet it pointed out a way by which new congregations could be legally constituted. The seceders organized the Christian Reformed Church, declaring that they did not wish to secede from the Church, but only from the bureaucratic administrative committee. Large multitudes soon joined them. In 1836 their first synodical meeting was held. Revivals followed the purer preaching of the Word, and new churches were organized; but many fines and imprisonments followed. The result was that emigration was determined upon by several pastors with their entire flocks. These began to come to America about 1846, settling in Michigan and other States of the Middle West. After half a century these pilgrim Dutch churches, partly under their own name and partly under the Reformed Church in America, now number about 400 (see Reformed Churches). New decrees in Holland, in 1849, 1852, 1868, abrogated all restrictions. The separated churches at length secured a legal standing, except that they received no support from the state. These churches adhere to the doctrine and discipline of the Synod of Dort, and thus stand in agreement with the Reformed Church in America. Their general synod meets triennially. In 1854 they established their theological school at Kampen; and in 1879 arrangements were also made for higher education by the founding of
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In 1892 a union was effected between the Synod of " The Christian Reformed Church "-with the exception of a small protesting body-and a certain Provisional Synod of "Dutch Reformed Churches," known as the "Doleerende Kerken," originating in 1886, and claiming to be the successors in doctrine of the Synod of Dort of 1619. These united bodies style themselves the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (" de Gereformeerde Kerken in.Nederland "). They have more than 700 churches and represent one-tenth of the entire population. This knew body at once gave Notice to all other Reformed or Presbyterian churches, in all lands, of its formartion, its doctrine and polity, and invited correspondence and exchange of delegates. The Reformed Church in America at once entered into correspondence with this body, and appoints delegates regularly to its triennial general synods.
8. The Lutheran Church: The Reformation in Holland started simultaneously with, but independently of, the Lutheran Reformation in Germany; but Lutherans soon penetrated also into Holland. This form of Protestantism, however, was always of minor importance in that country. The first congregation was at Woerden, which adopted the Augsburg Confession in 1566. In 1605 a union was effected among seven Lutheran ministers, who agreed on a system of faith and a liturgy. This union developed by 1612 into the so-called "Lutheran Brotherhood," which held conventions once in five years. The last Lutheran synod under the Republic met in 1696. In 1818 King William I. gave a new organization to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This was modified in 1855 and again in 1859, so as to render the Church independent of all state control. Since 1819 their synod has held annual meetings, consisting of fifteen members, eight of whom are ministers. Each local church is governed by a consistory. At first their ministers were all educated in Germany, but in 1816 a Lutheran seminary was founded in Amsterdam. Like all other Protestant bodies, this church was affected, more or less, by the rationalism of the period. A reaction began about 1791, and a rupture occurred between the rationalists and those who insisted on returning to the old confessions and liturgy. An "Old Lutheran Church" finally obtained legal standing in 1835, and further legal confirmation in 1866. Its affairs are directed by an assembly of seventeen members, nine of whom must be ministers. Candidates for the ministry were at first instructed in different schools in Amsterdam, but since 1877 in the University of Amsterdam, where a Lutheran minister teaches theology. The sharp differences between the two bodies gradually subsided, and in 1874 they were reunited. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is divided into the seven districts of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Haarlem, Groningen, and Hertogenbosch, and numbers at present forty-nine congregations and nine mission congregations, with sixty-one active ministers. The
V.-21seminary of this body is connected with the University of Amsterdam. The Revived (Hersteld) Evangelical Lutheran Church has at present eight congregations with eleven active pastors. All these congregations are free to call their pastors and are independent in government. There are also churches styled the Evangelical Brotherhood at Zeist and Haarlem, and German Evangelical churches at The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.
4. Baptists: This body is often called Mennonites from Menno Simons (q.v.). They rejected infant baptism. For a time they had no central organization, and hence several divisions existed among them, but these were harmonized in 1650. Doctrinal differences subsequently sprang up. The orthodox took the name of Zonists, and the liberals that of Lamists. The names were derived from the armorial bearings of their respective localities; but in 1801 the two divisions reunited. One special feature of this Church is its confessional freedom. There is no common standard of doctrine. Whoever makes a sincere confession of sin, and promises to lead a righteous life, is admitted to membership, without regard to his views of the person and work of Christ. As a rule, only regularly educated persons enter the ministry, but there is also. a class of "exhorters." In 1811 a General Society was formed for the encouragement of theological education and for the support of the ministry among the poorer congregations. At the same time they enlarged the curriculum of their seminary, which was founded in 1731. They had in 1898 116 congregations. All the congregations have perfect freedom in calling ministers and are independent in government. See Mennonites. [There are in the Netherlands several Baptist churches of the Anglo-American type.
A. H. N.]6. Remonstrants: This body, dating from about 1618, in regulations revised in 1879 set forth the aim of the body to be "to further the Christian life on the basis of the Gospel, while at the same time holding fast to freedom and toleration." The control of the body is vested in an assembly which meets annually. It is composed of the professors, all the ministers, delegates from the congregations, and a few others. A permanent committee of five members executes the resolutions of the assembly, and supervises the administration. But this body is gradually declining. The Church of Rotterdam is their principal church, having about 600 memklers. They have freedom in making calls and are independent in government. See REmoNsTRANTS.
II. The Roman Catholic Church: At the time of the Reformation the Netherlands belonged to the bishopric of Utrecht. In 1559 this was made an archbishopric. After the death of Ferdinand Schenk van Toutenberg in 1580, the last archbishop, the ecclesiastical affairs of Holland were administered by apostolic vicars. From 1717 onward papal legates took control. They were called vice-superiors and dwelt at Cologne or Brussels. Since 1840 Dutch ecclesiastical affairs have been under a papal internuncio at The Hague, and three apostolic vicars, located at Hertogenbosch, Breda, and Limbursch. The overthrow of the State Church in 1796 led to renewed activity among the Romanists. The
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Ill. The Jansenist Church: For an account of this body the reader is referred to the article Jansenist Church In Holland.
IV. The Jews: The number of Jews in Holland was not large until Holland had gained her independence. They came principally from the Iberian Peninsula and Germany. After the Union of Utrecht in 1579 Jews of Spain and Portugal fled to Holland, became strong supporters of the House of Orange, and received from it corresponding protection. The Portuguese Jews in Holland were richer and more refined than the German Jews, but the latter were far more numerous. Between these two bodies there was at first but little intercourse; but the German Jews gradually increased in wealth and culture, while the Portuguese Jews in their affluence either stood still or retrograded. There were also some differences in their ritual and ceremonies, and in the pronunciation of the Hebrew language. These circumstances tended to prevent close relationship at first; but in 1814 a union was effected, and rabbinical vacancies were thenceforth filled from either nationality.
The German Jews incorporated their brethren, who were already settled in the Netherlands, with themselves, and subsequently many other Jewish refugees from eastern Europe. All these collectively now constitute the Netherlandish Israelite Society. The German Jews began to enter Holland in considerable numbers about 1615; and although they were never so highly esteemed nor had enjoyed such privileges as the Portuguese Jews, yet their congregation at Amsterdam, established in 1636, is the central congregation of Jews in Holland. Their petition in 1648 to be allowed to build a synagogue was at first refused. But their ranks were so largely increased during the two or three decades following that permission was granted them, and (in 1671) they erected a great synagogue in Amsterdam, which stands to this day. In this they are all united to form one great congregation. Political equality was not secured by them until 1796. The first decree for the management of their affairs was issued in 1808. This made one supreme consistory over all German Jews in Holland. When the country became a French province in 1813 this consistory was for a time subordinate to the central Jewish consistory at Paris; but in 1816 William I. appointed "A General Commission of Advice" for all Jews in the kingdom. A definite organization was not attained until 1870. The affairs of the Netherlandish Israelite Society are now in the hands of a central board, which meets annually, while a permanent
committee of three sitting in Amsterdam attends to current business. The Portuguese Jews were permitted to build a synagogue at Amsterdam as early as 1597. Others were soon built, including one at The lftague. Their school, established at Amsterdam in 1639, developed into a rabbinical seminary, and still exists. Since 1870 their affairs are managed by a central board. The society at The Hague has one rabbi, while that at Amsterdam has a college with three associates. In 1900 the number of Jews in Holland was 103,988. Of these, 64,748 were Holland Jews, 5,645 were Portuguese Jews.
Bibliography: General and statistical are: P. H. Wick steed, The Ecclesiastical Institutions of Holland, London, 1875; J. R. Gunning, Het Protestanache Nederland onzer Dapen, Groningen, 1889; M.. W. L. van Alphen, Nieuw Kerkehjk Handboek (annual). For the Protestants consult: G. Brandt, Hist. of the Reformation in and about the Low Countries, 4 vols., London, 1720; J. M. Neale, Hist. of the So-called Janwnist Church of Holland, ib. 1858 J. Knappert, De Nederlandeche Hervmmde Kerk, Leyden, 1883; M. G. Hausen, The Reformed Church in the Netherlands, New York, 1884; G. J. Vos, De tepenwoordipe inricting der Vaderlandache Kerk, Dort, 1884; D. van Pelt, A Church and her Martyrs, New York, 1889; J. L. Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, and History of the United Netherlands, in his Works 7 vols., New York, 1900; H. J. A. Copeens, Alpemeen Ovxzicht der Kerkgeschiedenis van Noord-Nederland, Utrecht 1902; Hvon' Hoffmann, Das Kirchenverfaseunperecht der niedrlSndiechen Reformierten bis 1618, Leipsic, 1902; J. Kuiper, Oeschiedenis van hit godedienatip en Kerkehjk Leven van hat Nederlandache Volk, Nijkerk, 1902-03; NederlandSche evangelisch protestantache Vereenipung, 1863-1808, The Hague, 1903; C. W. van Boetselser van Dubbeldam, De pereformeerde Kerken in Nederland en de Zending in Oost-India in de dapen der Ooshlndische compagnie, Utrecht, 1906; F. Nippold, Handbuch der neueden Kirchengeschichte, iv. 451-479, Berlin, 1901. For the Catholics and Old Catholics: De Oud-Katholieken in Nederland, The Hague, 1872; Bijdragen voar de geachiedenie der Roomach-Katholieks Kerk in Nederland, Rotterdam 1888; F. A. van Kerkhoff, Ben Terugblik op hit heretel der Hierarchic in Nederland, Vlaardingen, 1893; P. H. Albers, Geachiadenis van hot hratel der Hierarchic in do Nederlanden, 2 vols., Nijmegen, 1903-04; F. Nippold, ut sup., ii. 412-430.
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