Sárospataki Füzetek 21. (2017)

2017 / 2. szám - ARTICLES-STUDIEN - INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE SINCE THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION-INTERKULTURELLER DIALOG SEIT DER REFORMATION - Gosker, Margriet: Erős vár a mi Istenünk: 500 years of protestantism in the netherlands in ecumenical perspective

ARTICLES I STUDIEN

Магд riet Gosker

ERŐSVÁRA Ml ISTENÜNK: 500 YEARS OF PROTESTANTISM IN THE

NETHERLANDS

IN ECUMENICAL PERSPECTIVE

In 2015, when I started my work for the 500 years of Reformation in the Netherlands, I chose a double focus. On the one hand, I wanted to put the focus on the ecumenical perspectives of the ‘Reformation Year’ in the Netherlands, and on the other hand, I wanted to give special attention to the women of the Reformation,3 because these are the two big topics in my life as a theologian. In March 2017 we organised in the Netherlands an event on the theme Women of the Reformation, and in September we shall be organising several events on the theme Rome-Reformation. In this article, I focus on Luther, the importance of his work and the ecumenical perspectives of the ‘Reformation Year’ in the Netherlands. Is there willingness to reevaluate the Reformation in an ecumenical perspective? Can we celebrate 500 years of Protestantism?

Ecumenical commitment The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN) was born in May 2004. Three denominations: the Netherlands Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands haven been united as the result of a long process of unification, including a number of French-speaking Walloon congregations.4 The greater part of our church has a Calvinistic origin.5 The Evangelical Lutheran part of our church is relatively small.6

1 Hungarian translation of'A mighty fortress is our God'.

2 Rev. Harvey Richardson, Methodist minister in Britain, corrected my English. I thank him for his kind help.

3 M. Gosker:Vrouwen van het Protestantisme:Tegen- draads, Ouderlingenblad, 94, 2017/1081,10-13.

4 A. Plaisier - L. J. Koffeman (eds.): The Protestant Church in the Netherlands: Church Unity in the 2 V Century, Zürich/Berlin, Lit Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Wien, 2014,11-37.

5 M. van Veen: Een nieuwe tijd, een nieuwe kerk: De opkomst van het ,caivinisme' in de Lage Landen, Zoetermeer, Meinema, 2009.

6 M. van Veen: Luther en calvinistisch Nederland, Zoetermeer, Boekencentrum, 2017.

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