Servants of the Kingdom

Professionalization Among Ministers of the Nineteenth-Century Netherlands Reformed Church
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-90-04-18392-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 43, 482 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 907 g

Reihe: Brill's Series in Church History

Minister of the Word, shepherd and teacher—the titles of Dutch pastors exude authority and prestige. In the course of the nineteenth century, however, their social position was slowly undermined by the separation of church and state, the emancipation of Catholics and dissenters, and the rise of all sorts of secular “shepherds” and “teachers.” This work of historical sociology analyzes the development of the profession of pastor in the Netherlands Reformed Church, focusing on pastors’ changing relationships with the state, the universities, other professions, and their own congregants. It paints a surprising, lively, and often humorous picture of nineteenth-century ecclesiastical and religious life, and of the many areas of Dutch society and culture where pastors made their mark—in particular, the literary world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bos, David

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Protestantismus, evangelische und protestantische Kirchen Reformierte Kirchen, Calvinisten, presbyterianische Kirchen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

Historical Passages
Terminology
Sources
Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION

The Social Position of Pastors
Disagreements – Mixed Feelings – A Family Affair – Dimensions of Inequality –Differences in Development
Professions, Professionalism, and Professionalization
Professional Ties – Noble Motives – A New Complex – Strategic Action – Discussion
The Design of This Study

CHAPTER I: “FOR THE PULPIT AND CONGREGATION” – THE WORK OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY MINISTERS

Preaching
Worship
Rites of Passage
Birth – Marriage – Burial
“Religious Education”
The Lord’s Supper
Pastoral Care
Visitation of the Sick – Assisting the Condemned
A Sense of Social Calling
Poor Relief – Abstinence and Temperance – Sunday Schools
Conclusion

CHAPTER II: “OFFICIALS WITH THE TITLE OF PROPHET” – THE REFORMED CHURCH IN KING WILLIAM’S REALM

A Governing Elite
A Church Association
“Improvement of the Status of Preachers”
“A Circle of Reverend Men”
“Folly, Vanity, Damnation!”: Discontent with the Enlightenment
“Secessionism”
Conclusion

CHAPTER III: “THE LIGHT OF SCHOLARSHIP” – THEOLOGIANS, ACADEMIA, AND THE CHURCH

Digression: Higher Education for Dissenting Ministers
Theological Education: The Struggle for Control
“Uplifting” the Congregation: the Groningen School
The Flock Leading its Shepherds: Theologians versus the Laity
A Protestant nation?
“Personal Relations between Professors and the Reformed Church”
Professors at the Synod
Conclusion

CHAPTER IV: “THE YOUNG CLERIC” – THE LIFE OF A THEOLOGY STUDENT

Recruitment
“Bowing, Groveling, Fawning”: The Life of a Proponent
Theology on the Margins
A College of Their Own
A Map of Academy-Land
Theology Students Go to War
Theology Students and “the Corps”
Groningen – Leiden – Utrecht – Amsterdam
Aspects of Integration
The Senate – The Club – Good Morals – Feet on the Ground – Yearbook Committee
Frat Boys and Oinks
Conclusion

CHAPTER V: “THAT FELLOW WITH THE WHITE BOWTIE” – THEOLOGIANS IN DUTCH LITERARY LIFE

Pastor-professors
Cultural Capital
Formal Eloquence as Habitus
Received Standard Dutch
Theology Students as Romantics
“A Humoristic Revolution”
“How Do We Sound to Them?”: Theology and Practice
Pastor-poets
Conclusion

CHAPTER VI: “THE WORST OF THE FIVE” -- THE RISE OF THE YOUNG DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY

“A Divine Beginning”
Background
The Rise of the Young Doctor
Theological Societies
University Essay Competitions
In the Interest of Theology
A Scholar in the Manse
Eager Learners
Modern Theology: “Faith plus Chemistry”
Building on Scholarship
Academic Manners
Experts and Laypeople
Conclusion

CHAPTER VII: INEQUALITY AND FRATERNITY – THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE MINISTRY

Ministers-in-waiting
Seniority
Retirement
Pensions – Early Retirement
Career Alternatives
Secondary Education – Journalism – Outside the Church
Climbing the Career Ladder
City and Country
The Road to the City
A Hierarchy of Congregations
Pastors and Professors
Very Reverend Gentlemen
Publish or Perish
Conclusion

CHAPTER VIII: SERVANTS OF THE CONGREGATION? – REFORMED PASTORS IN RELATION TO THEIR FLOCKS

Historical Background
Abolition of Feudal Rights
“Called by God’s congregation, and hence by God himself”
Ethical Theology: “The Faith of the Congregation”
“The Dominion of the Bourgeoisie”: Church Elections
“The Right of the Congregations versus the Power of the Church”: Abraham Kuyper and the Neo-Calvinist Party
The Church and the Masses: Abraham Kuyper and the Neo-Calvinist Party (II)
God and Mammon
Theology Times Two
The End of the Great Church: Abraham Kuyper and the Neo-Calvinist Party (III)
Conclusion

CONCLUSIONS

GLOSSARY
Bilingual Glossary of Proper Names
List of Abbreviations

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

SOURCES AND LITERATURE

INDEX

Über Autor(innen)

David J. Bos, Ph.D. (1999) in Social Science, University of Amsterdam, is Lecturer in the History of Christianity at Utrecht University, and Lectuer in Sociology at the International School for Humanities and Social Sciences (Amsterdam).