A Man of the People the Life of Professor Geert Egberts Boer
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The Early Christian Reformed Church in Her Own Words--Volume 2 A Man of the People The Life of Professor Geert Egberts Boer by Geert E. Boer with G. K. Hemkes This page left blank intentionally The Early Christian Reformed Church in Her Own Words--Volume 2 Dr. Jan H. Boer, General Editor A Man of the People The Life of Professor Geert Egberts Boer Compiled from His Notes By Professor G. K. Hemkes Translated by Dr. Jan Harm Boer Frances A. Boer-Prins Publisher: Social Theology Vancouver BC 2018 The Early Christian Reformed Church in Her Own Words--Volume 2 Dr. Jan H. Boer, General Editor ---------------------- A Man of the People: The Life of Professor Geert Egberts Boer Copyright @2018, Jan H. Boer All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author, except for reviews or brief quotations. ISBN: 978-0-9940061-4-1 Original author: Geert Egberts Boer Compiler: G. K. Hemkes, from Boer notes Original Dutch title: Een Man des Volks: Het Leven van Prof. Geert Egberts Boer—Naar Aantekeningen Uit Zijn Dagboek. Available still at https://m.facebook.com/6815841748/posts/10156007456406749/Him? Original publisher: J. B. Hulst, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 1904 Translators and editors: Dr. Jan H. Boer & Frances A. Boer-Prins Publishing data: eBook 1. Publisher: Social Theology, Vancouver BC , Canada, 2018 Website < www.SocialTheology.com/boeriana.htm > 2018 2 Lulu—Online Self-Publishing Book & eBook Co. 2019 < www.lulu.com > For further information, contact translator at < [email protected]> Rev. G. E. Boer** Pastor of the Spring Street Christian Reformed Church None of us were present the day Rev. Geert Egberts Boer began his ministry as the founding faculty member of Calvin Seminary. Boer was appointed to this position in February, 1876, and was installed on March 15, 1876. While we were not present on that day, we do know that Rev. Boer turned to the five students present at the conclusion of his installation address and said: “I now stand in a special, specific relation to you. This tie will be drawn ever tighter in a communion of true faith; henceforth I hope to work at your training and development; to point out your needs according to the requirements of the times, to warn you of dangerous shoals upon which you could easily be shipwrecked, to teach you and to pray with and for you – this is the task that awaits us.” –Professor Geert Egberts Boer, March 15, 1876. At the end of his installation as the first ever Professor for the new theological school that we now know as Calvin Theological Seminary, Rev. Geert Egberts Boer spoke the words printed above to make a commitment to the five students that were at this special service. These words were read by me at the 2016 Calvin Seminary Convocation. Jul Medenblik, President of Calvin Theological Seminary http://www.calvinseminary.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017-Spring-Testament-final-.pdf https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071167574;view=1up;seq=1 DEDICATION This (auto)biography is dedicated to the “Author” and Subject of This Book Himself: Geert Egberts Boer First President of Calvin College & Seminary First Professor at the Above Cousin to Harm Jan Boer, Who Was the Great Great Uncle to Jan Harm Boer, the Translator. Notes from Translator: Though the Boer clan historically belonged to the peasantry in the Netherlands, they did spawn at least one prominent leader, who became one of the first pastors in the Christian Reformed Church in the USA and, in 1876, the first professor of what became Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI, which is scheduled to be re-classified as Calvin University in 2019. He was President of Calvin College from 1876- 1902. The name of this august ancestor was Geert Egberts Boer, born on March 1, 1832, in Roderwolde, Drenthe, the Netherlands. He was a cousin to Harm Jan Boer, my great grandfather. Close enough to be proud of him for his role in the Alma Mater of both my wife Fran and myself as well as of all three of our children and their spouses along with Fran’s sisters Jane and Trena and husband Francis along with many of Fran’s nephews and nieces. We are a Calvin clan—educational incest, if you like. I entered Calvin College 54 years after Geert Egberts died and graduated from the Seminary seven years later (1965). All of this is not to say that I have been a dedicated Calvin fan, though my respect for the place increases as I get older and Calvin leaves its pietistic heritage behind. (Jan Harm Boer and Frances Ann Boer-Prins, Every Square Inch, vol. 1, p. 20. See www.SocialTheology.com/boeriana.htm. My brother Harry calls him our great great uncle in his footnote 440.) The book treats of some interesting historical details for those interested in West Michigan and Grand Rapids. There was the great flood that probably was the reason for engineering the cataracts of the Grand River out of existence as well as a fierce cyclone around the same time. That’s how we got a Grand Rapids without rapids, let alone grand rapids! Then there was the underground gypsum mine in the south of the city with its kilometers of underground tunnels that were turned into mushroom farms after the gypsum was depleted. And if you’re a graduate of either Calvin College or Calvin Theological Seminary or both, as I am, then it is interesting to follow the early historical development of their locations and facilities—five of them, beginning in downtown, then moving Franklin @ Madison SE, at the time a beautiful middle class community, but now more like a ghetto. Eventually, along with most of the CRC community, it moved to the tranquility of the East Beltline and does indeed seem like the proverbial “haven of rest.” Or, if you are/were a member of what is now First Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Grand Rapids, it is interesting to see how it developed from the time it was the only CRC congregation in town and Boer’s ministry in that church extended 35 miles around. It started in the centre of the city’s downtown and then moved into that same beautiful section of the South-East, where it is still located, but where it is now part of a ghetto community. And all of this compacted in a mere 128 pages. One chosen peculiarity of this book is that, though it is a translation from the original Dutch, in addition to their English translations, I have left the ancient versions of the many quoted versified Dutch Psalms alongside their English parallels. I even provide links to many of them, in so far as they are available, so readers can listen to these old melodies from which your spiritual ancestors, including Professor Boer, drew such emotional strength and inspiration—as do I even in this 21st century. One stylistic matter. The language level of the original Dutch version is very simple, probably because the notes on which it is based were not meant for publication. Also, probably, because of Boer’s simple background; he was not brought up in a sophisticated environment, though he did graduate from a full seminary in Kampen. I have chosen to retain the simple style in this translation. The language used is more Tutonic in vocabulary than it is rooted in the more complicated Romance side of English. Format of the book. The book is full of surprises. It was compiled by G. K. Hemkes from the private notes of Geert Boer. Most of the book is written in first person Boer, but quite frequently Hemkes intrudes with his own comments, not infrequently without indicating a transition. In most cases I have drawn your attention to it. In some cases, as translator I was left guessing, but did my best to cover up the difficulty or simply omitted the offending phrase or sentence. Paragraphs range from a few lines—not so unusual—to one five pages long. I took the liberty of combining some and dividing others into shorter paragraphs. Another peculiarity is that the chapter headings in the text do not align with the Table of Contents. So, we are indeed treating you to a unique book! One household matter. Each chapter heading includes an asterisk (*) to make it easier to move from chapter to chapter. Each photograph is accompanied by two asterisks (**), though, for technical reasons, sometimes a few spaces or a line removed. TABLE OF CONTENTS* Notes from Translator 16 1. Boer’s Parents, Childhood and Youth 22 2. Grenadier in Royal Service 24 3. Repentance and Transition to the Church of the Secession 26 4. Labour in the Region of Nienoord 29 5. Desire to Study—A Wavering Posture 30 6. Solution; Decisiveness 34 7. Studying at Kampen 37 8. From Kampen to Sappemeer 46 9. From Sappemeer to Niezijl 51 10. From Niezijl to Grand Rapids 56 11. The Scope of Our Work in Grand Rapids 62 12. The Scope of Our Work in Grand Rapids (continued) 67 Our House at 124 Lagrave Street 13. Sick in Zeeland 75 More Congregations; More Pastors 14. Family Trials 79 Work at School 15. Williams Street School Building 83 16. Our Theological School Building 87 Church and School Experiences Personal Trial A Journey to the East Coast A Journey to the Western United States An Evening that Witnesses to God’s Special Grace The Lord Provides when there Is Need 17.