Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
| Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland) | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Reformed |
| Polity | Presbyterian |
| Region | The Netherlands |
| Origin | 1892 |
| Separated from | Dutch Reformed Church (Dutch Nederlands Hervormde Kerk) |
| Separations | 1926 Gereformeerde Kerken in Hersteld Verband ("Reformed Churches in Restored Union") 1944 Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt) ("Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)") |
| Congregations | 857 at the time of merger |
| Members | 675,000 at the time of merger |
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland, abbreviated Gereformeerde kerk) was the second largest Protestant church in the Netherlands and one of the two major Reformed denominations along with the Dutch Reformed Church since 1892 until being merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 2004.
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands was founded in 1892 in a merger of two groups that had split off from the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk):
The other part of the CGKN that stayed out of this union remains independent; it was renamed to "Christian Reformed Churches" in 1947.
Abraham Kuyper was the most important leader of the movement, and under his leadership the gereformeerden became a separate so-called "pillar" in Dutch society, next to the hervormden and the Roman Catholics. Part of the gereformeerde pillar were for example the Vrije Universiteit and the Anti Revolutionary Party, a political party now part of the Christian Democratic Appeal.
Since its founding in 1892, two groups have separated from the GKN (Gereformeerde Kerk Nederland). The first split was in 1926, over a conflict about the literal interpretation of the Bible. The orthodox majority of the church concluded from the story of Adam and Eve that the serpent had been given the power of speech. The members of the more liberal wing of the church viewed the story as an allegory. After the Synod of Assen concluded that the story was a report on a factual and observable reality, the dissenters formed the Gereformeerde Kerken in Hersteld Verband. In 1971/1972, the GKN retracted the conclusion of the Synod of 1926.
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