REFORMED CHURCHES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Dutch Gereformeerde Kerken In Nederland, second largest Protestant church in The Netherlands, organized in 1892 by a merger of the Christian Reformed Church and a group of Reformed churches that were followers of Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian and statesman. The Christian Reformed Church was organized by seceders who left The Netherlands Reformed Church (q.v.) in 1834 because of disagreements over church organization and religious orthodoxy. It adopted the name Christian Reformed Church in 1869. It generally held a strict interpretation of Reformed doctrine. Many members of this church migrated to America, where they became members of the Christian Reformed Church, a U.S. denomination. In The Netherlands a small group refused to accept the merger of 1892 and continued as the Christian Reformed Church. The followers of Abraham Kuyper were conservatives who left The Netherlands Reformed Church in 1886. They disagreed with the liberalism in that church that had caused controversies for several years. After the merger in 1892, the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands experienced growth and was influential in the country through political activities and its educational and publishing programs.