Zwingli Study Since 1918

1950 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128
Author(s):  
Bard Thompson

This bibliographical review of works on Ulrich Zwingli is partial evidence of a quarter-century of considerable scholarly activity directed toward the history of the continental Reformed churches. At first glance, the memorial volumes commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Zurich Reformation (1519–1919) and of the Reformer's death at Kappel (1531–1931) would seem to account for the inordinate number of Zwingli studies since 1918; but an equal volume of scholarship devoted, without such promptings, to Martin Bucer, or the Weber Thesis, or the Reformation in the Netherlands confirms the trend toward intrested historical inquiry, stimulated perhaps by the return to the mainstream of Reformation thought.

2002 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Spoelstra

Does ecclesiastical religion fixate on the historical Jesus? In this article the question is posed whether the kingship of Jesus within modern Reformed ecclesiastical religious practice, and especially within the GKSA, is adequately recognized. It is argued that since Karl Barth, the practice of religion in Reformed churches has in essence focused mainly on the aspect of justification brought about by faith in the atonement on the cross. Another aspect also stressed in Barths’ theology, and still prevalent today, is his rejection of God’s so-called general revelation in creation and history. Since Barth a biblicistic trend has developed in which the kingship of the risen and glorified Christ has been overwhelmingly neglected. The result is that Jesus is mainly commemorated for his atonement in history and is not experienced as the living and reigning Christ in the present. Present-day faith and worship thus relate directly to the history of Jesus on earth, leaving the impression that no revelation has occurred during the past 2000 years. History has become an embarrassment to present-day preachers. It is asserted that the influence of rationalism and humanism on Reformed worship may have caused a lack of appreciation for the aspect of communion with the glorified Christ. In the GKSA the Lord’s Supper is a central event in congregational worship. The Formulary presents the sacrament as a meal to commemorate the death of Christ and does not adequately testify to His kingship here and now. It is apparent that the GKSA inherited many of Zwingli’s ideas from the Reformed churches in the Netherlands and did not fully grasp Calvin’s emphasis on actual communion with the living and reigning Christ.


1917 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 47-71
Author(s):  
Henry Elias Dosker

The subject is not of my own choosing. It was assigned to me by our Secretary, when he invited me last summer to write a paper for this meeting of the Society. The raeson for this request lies in the fact that, for the last dozen years, much of my spare time has been spent in special work on this engrossing subject, which is shrouded in much mystery. But we all know something about the great Anabaptist movement, which paralleled the history of the Reformation. We have all touched these Anabaptists in their life and labors, in the sixteenth century, in all Europe, but especially in Switzerland, upper Germany, and Holland. Crushed and practically wiped out everywhere else, they rooted themselves deeply in the soil of northeastern Germany and above all in the Low Countries. And thence, whenever persecution overwhelmed them, they crossed the channel and moved to England, where their history is closely interwoven with that of the Nonconformists in general and especially with the nascent history of the English Baptists.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaas-Willem de Jong

In this article, I present a project that recently emerged at the Protestant Theological University (PThU: NL Amsterdam-Groningen). It focuses on the classical reformed liturgy in the Netherlands, its texts, rituals and their history, especially in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The collection of these texts, passed on through generations, is known as, among others, The Liturgy. I demonstrate it has been observed since the middle of the 17th century that The Liturgy is not a collection of prayers and forms of which the extent and the texts can be clearly defined. Still, a critical edition of The Liturgy has not yet been produced. I argue that a critical edition with attention to its origins, its various releases, its reception in the Netherlands Reformed Church and its effects on other liturgies is needed for an in-depth study of the history of both the reformation period and the reformed liturgy. Subsequently, I outline the method to produce such an edition. Because of the complexity of the matter, each part – for example a form or a collection of prayers – needs to be studied separately. Nevertheless, for each part similar steps have to be taken in which the involved scholars can work together. The critical edition of a part can be published in its own right. The final result is a merging of the releases into a critical edition of The Liturgy as a whole.


1992 ◽  
Vol 48 (3/4) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Brown

Reinterpreting the paradigm concerning ‘Kollegialisme’ in order to understand the Afrikaans churches according to church law The Afrikaans term ‘Kollegialisme’ is used to convey criticism of the polity and history of the Afrikaans churches of Reformed persuasion. The well-known Dutch theologian, Abraham Kuyper, constructed this methodological paradigm. A philosophical concept originating within the German church was rendered contextually to communicate the development of the national church of the Netherlands. An analysis of the relevant sources indicates that what was implied was an understanding of the church in terms of a society (‘genootskap’). Accordingly, the polity and history of the Reformed churches needs to be reinterpreted.


1990 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. C. Van Wyk

P J Hoedemaker. ‘What I aim at, is the conservation of the church’ The birthday of the wellknown Dutch Reformed theologian P J Hoedemaker 150 years ago, was celebrated in the Netherlands during 1989. In his struggle against the formidable dr Abraham Kuyper, it became more and more evident that Hoedemaker was himself a very perspicacious, independent theologian. His dramatic struggle for the unity and the wholeness of the church against every schismatic action is really unique in the history of the church. The theological concepts of Hoedemaker strongly influenced the thoughts of Dutch theologians like Th L Haitjema and A A van Ruler, and consequently also a large number of South African theologians in the Dutch Reformed Churches.


Author(s):  
Herman J. Selderhuis

Abstract The Impact of Luther’s Reformation on the development of Church Law in the Netherlands. This essay describes how essential the specific history of the reformation in the Netherlands was for the developments of reformed church law in that country. The Dutch reformation was relatively late and was more Calvinistic than Lutheran. Calvin’s model of structuring the church, the essential effect of the refugee situation of many reformed believers and the fact that the revolt as well as the reformation were movements mainly ,from below‘, result in a church polity with the following characteristics: self-government of each individual congregation, active involvement of all church members, independence towards political authorities and a presbyterial-synodical church organisation. This church model was reached through a series of synodical meetings that started in the 1560ies and came to a conclusion at the Synod of Dordt in 1618/1619.


Author(s):  
Herman J. Selderhuis

AbstractThe Impact of Luther’s Reformation on the development of Church Law in the Netherlands. This essay describes how essential the specific history of the reformation in the Netherlands was for the developments of reformed church law in that country. The Dutch reformation was relatively late and was more Calvinistic than Lutheran. Calvin’s model of structuring the church, the essential effect of the refugee situation of many reformed believers and the fact that the revolt as well as the reformation were movements mainly ,from below‘, result in a church polity with the following characteristics: self-government of each individual congregation, active involvement of all church members, independence towards political authorities and a presbyterial-synodical church organisation. This church model was reached through a series of synodical meetings that started in the 1560ies and came to a conclusion at the Synod of Dordt in 1618/1619.


2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
Philip Benedict

Self-avowedly influenced by the postmodernist critique of nineteenth-century ‘positivism’, Jesse Spohnholz's ambitious and multiple prize-winning 2017 The Convent of Wesel: The Event that Never was and the Invention of Tradition speaks at once to the political and institutional history of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany, to the role of archiving practices in shaping historical understanding, and to the nature of historical study. This review offers both an extended synopsis and a critique of the book. While recognizing its considerable achievement, it questions its framing of its findings about the Reformation era with reference to the ‘confessionalization’ debate, its reliance on a prefabricated narrative about archives as instruments of power and marginalization, and its mischaracterizations of post-Rankean historical practice and theory. Implications of the book’s findings for further research into the politics and personalities of the Reformation in the Low Countries are also suggested.


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