Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 04:2 (Fall 2022)
Article: A Storm Broke Loose: The Publication Of The Nashville Statement In The Netherlands
Author: Maarten Klaassen

Eikon 4.2 (Fall 2022) p. 50

A Storm Broke Loose:
The Publication Of The Nashville Statement In The Netherlands

Maarten Klaassen

Maarten Klaassen (Ph.D.) studied theology at Utrecht University, where he wrote his Master’s thesis on John Owen. His Ph.D. dissertation is on the doctrine of justification in the reformed tradition (Amsterdam, 2013). Klaasen has pastored three congregations in the Netherlands, and today he lectures for Bijbels Beraad m/n to equip churches, schools, and Christian organizations on biblical marriage and sexuality.

It seldom happens that theological statements make the news in a secular country such as the Netherlands.

However, in the first week of 2019 this is what happened. The Dutch translation of the Nashville Statement set off a metaphorical bomb — the national news devoted attention to the topic, politicians were shocked, the prime minister expressed his disapproval, there were demonstrations in Amsterdam and extra police security was warranted during the church services of the signatories. Days on end, the media devoted extra coverage. The Netherlands was shocked that there were still people who held these convictions and expressed them in this day and age. Even though there are still thousands of orthodox Christians in the Netherlands today, the outside world seems to

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be unacquainted with their convictions. The Nashville Statement changed this.

Background

The Netherlands is a progressive country with respect to the LGBT ideology, which even amongst Christians causes questions and confusion. Several churches have joined this progressive movement. For example, in 2018, 400 progressive theologians published an appeal in the newspapers for complete acceptance of gay marriage in the church. In response to such developments, it seemed a good idea to several other pastors to create a Dutch translation of the 2017 Nashville Statement, and to draw attention to this statement in the churches and call for adherence.

At the end of December 2018, the document was ready for publication. The text was published online in the first week of January, including the names of the signatories, among which was the name of the reformed politician Kees van der Staaij, a member of the House of Representatives. When this became public, it caused a lot of turbulence.

The press started to get involved and the initiators were bombarded with questions from the media and invitations from famous talk show hosts came flooding in. I, myself, was visited by a spokesperson of the national news channel NOS. The broadcast produced a wave of negative (and, I am happy to add, positive) reactions via email. Even CBMW’s president Denny Burk was interv...