burnt to death on the city square of Brussels. While they were in the flames they sang: BIBLE STUDY: FREE REFORMED CHURCH HISTORY (2) “O God, we praise Thee, we acknowledge Thee as Lord. Eternal Father, Thou art everywhere adored. The cherubim and seraphim their homage show Thee: O Thou Lord God LESSON 2: The in of hosts art holy, holy, holy! Both heaven and earth are filled with Thy majestic splendour To Thee all angels loud and the ceaseless praises render.”

BIBLE READING: 2 Peter 1: 15 – 21 The writings of Luther had great influence among the clergy of the Netherlands. However Luther also promoted submission to the gov- The 95 theses of Luther were known throughout within 4 ernment. The government of Holland was very anti-protestant. weeks. They were also known in surrounding countries. The books of Luther’s position on submission hindered the forming of a Protestant Luther were published in , Switzerland and in Antwerp, the Lutheran church in the Netherlands. Eventually, not the German re- Netherlands. These books were shipped to various other countries. formers, but the Swiss reformers had greater influence on the devel- Tradesmen would bring the books of Luther along on their business opments in the Netherlands. from Zurich and John trips. Calvin of were the two reformers who heavily influenced the Monks from various monasteries would be the first ones to read reformed cause in the Netherlands. these books. In this way the idea’s of Luther and his new views on Especially Calvin had great influence in the Netherlands, through Scripture entered the minds of the clergy. These books were quickly the theological academy which he had instituted in Geneva. Men from forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church. However people continued various parts of Europe studied there, and also various Dutch stu- to read them. Some monks were put to death for agreeing to the criti- dents attended Calvin’s academy. The result was that these young cisms of Luther against the Roman Catholic doctrines. men brought Calvin’s ideas home to the Netherlands. Calvin also sup- ported the institution of churches even against the will of the govern- ment. Thus, in spite of the opposition of the Roman Catholic king, the church in the Netherlands was formed according to the reformed prin- THE REFORMERS’ WRITINGS ciples taught by Calvin. ENTER HOLLAND

Books written by Luther were sold as early as 1518 in the city of WAR WITH SPAIN Antwerp. The monks of a monastery in Antwerp agreed completely with the ideas of Luther. The result was that the government disband- In the 16th century the Netherlands was under the dominion of the ed the monastery and the monks were taken prisoner or fled to Ger- Roman Catholic king of Spain. He was very much in favour of the Ro- many. Two monks, called Hendrik Voes and Jan van Essen were man Catholic religion. He hated the Protestants. The Dutch popula-

1 tion started to revolt against the king of Spain, Phillips II. The Spanish to Reformed Protestantism. The Reformed Church became the official king sent soldiers to Holland to subdue the country. The Roman state church in the Netherlands. Catholic inquisition tortured and killed thousands of people. Some think that about 20 to 30 thousand people were killed because of their faith. Ministers would preach in the open air since they were not permit- THE BELGIC CONFESSION ted to assemble in churches. Thousands of people would flock to such worship services. The government did nothing against this open Confessions were written to summarize the beliefs of the church. air preaching. The result was that the reformed leaders became bold- We still adhere to these confessions. We can mention the Belgic Con- er and requested the government’s permission to make use of church fession of Faith and the Heidelberg . buildings. The Confession of Faith was composed in 1559 and published in However the common people were no longer patient with the Ro- 1561 by Guido de Bres, a Flemish minister, who died as martyr in man Catholic Church. Around 1566, in many places in Holland, peo- 1567. In view of the severe persecutions of the enemies of the ple invaded the church buildings and smashed all the statues. The re- Gospel, this confession was intended, to be an open testimony of formed ministers did not condone this. The result was that the Span- what the Reformed Churches really believed. It was presented to King ish king was furious and sent an expedition army to Holland to crush Phillips II of Spain, who at that time was also the ruler over Holland the reformation and to re-establish the Roman Catholic Church. and Belgium. Philip II persecuted the Reformed people cruelly and by Then the War of Independence broke out which lasted from 1568 - means of this testimony the Reformed Church tried to persuade the 1648. In the first years of this war many Dutch cities declared that king to stop the persecutions. they would resist the king of Spain. The Dutch provinces joined forces In 1571 the first synod of the Reformed Churches in the Nether- and fought against the Spanish soldiers. lands already adopted it as a doctrinal standard. The Belgic Confes- The Dutch people received help from a German called William of sion deals with: Orange. He was born in 1533 in his ancestral castle in Dillenburg, Western Germany. Through inheritance he became the ruler of a cer- ∙ God, Scripture, Trinity, in articles 1-11 tain part of Southern France called Orange. Therefore he was called ∙ Man and creation, sin, election in 12-17 William of Orange. He also inherited the jurisdiction over certain parts ∙ The Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour in 18-21 of the Netherlands. He was very much opposed to the tyrannical poli- ∙ Salvation in 22-26 cy of king Phillips II of Spain towards Holland. William joined the Re- ∙ Church and sacraments, office bearers in 27-35 formed side and at his own expense raised an army that could fight ∙ Government and last judgment in 36-37 against the Spanish troops. He became the leader of the Dutch War of Independence. He was assassinated in 1584. His sons succeeded him. The present queen of the Netherlands is a descendant of this William of Orange. By God’s grace the Reformed side won and slowly but gradually the Netherlands became an independent nation which officially adhered

2 3. Why must the church show the light of God’s Word by con- THE fessions 4. How is God’s sovereignty displayed in a reformation? The Heidelberg Catechism originated in Heidelberg, a city in south- 5. In what way are we very privileged above many around us? ern Germany. It was composed by Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus, who were commissioned by the pious Prince Frederik III, who ruled over that part of Germany called the Palatinate. This god- fearing ruler requested the two theologians to write a manual for in- struction in the Christian doctrine. It made its first appearance in the beginning of the year 1563. A few years later, in 1566, Peter Da- thenus, a Flemish minister, published a rhymed version of the psalms for public worship in the Churches of the Netherlands, with the addi- tion of three liturgical forms, a few prayers, and also a translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. From the beginning the Heidelberg Cate- chism was very highly valued, and was adopted by various synods to serve as a doctrinal standard for the instruction of the youth. The Heidelberg Catechism has been translated into many lan- guages and is being used in different countries up to this present day. Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, South Africa and other countries in Africa and in Asia can be mentioned. The theme of the Heidelberg Catechism is “the only Comfort in life and death”. It can be divided into three parts:

∙ Lords Days 2-4 deal with the knowledge of sin and guilt ∙ Lords Days 5-31 deal with the knowledge of deliverance and grace ∙ Lords Days 32-52 deal with the life of gratitude.

QUESTIONS:

1. How were the disciples enabled to be witnesses of Christ? 2. To which events is Peter referring in verse 16?

3