In 1823, there appeared in The Netherlands, a pamphlet which caused an immediate uproar throughout the country. The title of this brochure was Objections against the Spirit of the Age (Bezwaren tegen de Geest der Eeuw). In it, the author, Isaac DaCosta, attacked everything that was held dear by the Liberal Establishment. The publication of this highly controversial pamphlet marked the beginning of what has come to be known as the Dutch Reveil.

The word reveil or "revival", according to Webster's Dictionary, means "the act or instance of reviving, or state of being revived". It presupposes a state of death or at least sleep or slumber. In the Christian context, revival is usually taken to mean either the bestowal of new life upon unregenerated sinners, or the restoration into spiritual vigor of believers who have become drowsy or fallen asleep. Revival is never man's, but always God's work. All true spiritual life, whether in the individual or in the community, in the church or in the nation, is by the Spirit of God.

Revivals are a remarkable phenomenon in church history. They have occurred in many countries, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. In fact, many people, when they hear the word "revival", think immediately of the mighty movements of the Spirit in Scotland and other parts of the British Isles, and in America. In recent years, "revivalism" has become almost synonymous with American fundamentalism and the charismatic movement. What is not generally known, however, is that there have also been revivals in such countries as Germany, France, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

Revivals, when they occur, often occur simultaneously or successively, and appear to take place as a result of a reaction against the spirit of the age. This was certainly true of the revivals which swept through Western Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Dutch Reveil (the French word for revival, meaning "awakening") can only be understood in the light of this larger framework of the religious and philosophical situation in post-Napoleonic Europe.

1.  The Situation in Europe⤒🔗

From 1789, the start of the French Revolution, until the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Europe had been riven by wars and revolutions. After the Battle of Waterloo, a reaction set in. Not only were Europeans tired of the devastating wars and the evils which always follow in their wake, but many were equally weary of the old rationalism that had so long dominated the intellectual scene, and which had, in fact, led to these revolutions and wars. The French Revolution was but the logical outcome of a philosophy which taught people not only to question everything the church stood for, but also to subject the Word of God to the scrutiny of human reason. Liberty, equality and fraternity led to anarchy and neo­paganism. Reason became the new god, popular consensus the norm for conduct, and the social contract or the constitution the mandate for government. The chaos that followed was checked only by the intervention of the strong man, Napoleon, who restored law and order, but at the expense of all personal freedom.

No wonder then, that after Waterloo many said: Never again! They called for a return to religion and piety. Europe's monarchs who had been seriously threatened by Napoleon's aggression, felt that their only hope lay in asserting both the divine right of kings and the authority of the church. In the year of Napoleon's final defeat, a congress was convened at Vienna by the European powers. Its purpose was not only to restore the old nations and boundaries of Europe to their original location and size, but also to divide among themselves certain territories previously belonging to France or under French influence. Thus, for example, the territory now known as Belgium, became part of The Netherlands.

At this Congress of Vienna, Czar Alexander I of Russia proposed that a Holy Alliance be formed "to control international relations by the sublime truths which the Holy Religion teaches'". The proposal was accepted and the Holy Alliance was duly signed by Czar Alexander, Emperor Francis I of Austria and King Wilhelm III of Prussia. It looked as if a new age of faith had dawned in Europe and that the Age of Reason had come to an end. But appearances can be deceiving. True, there was renewed interest in religion in many parts of Europe. But it was not necessarily the religion of the Bible that people were concerned about. As Alec Vidler says in his book, The Church in an Age of Revolution: 1789 to the Present Day, it "was not so much an age of faith as one of religious seriousness".

Men had come to realize that there was more to life than discovering the laws of nature with the help of Newtonian physics, arguing according to the principles of logic or even worshipping a God far removed from human affairs and practicing a religion within the bounds of human reason. The Enlightenment had appealed to the mind, but it had neglected the heart. Human emotions can only be suppressed or even starved so long, but then they put in their claims again. This is what happened in the early part of the nineteenth century. People began to demand that justice be done to the spiritual dimension of human nature.

Between 1815 and 1848, a series of popular religious awakenings arose throughout Europe. England, of course, had already experienced revival a century earlier, but now also on the continent the flame of vital religion spread across many lands. Not only in Protestant nations, such as Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, but also in Catholic France many were awakened.

2.  The Reveil in Switzerland←⤒🔗

The most important of these revivals, from the point of view of our subject, is the one that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, there was practically nothing left in Geneva of the Reformed faith as taught by John Calvin some three hundred years before. There was still a Reformed Church and a Reformed Academy in the famous city, but students were taught a natural religion rather than the revealed religion of the Bible. In fact, the Bible was not even used in the classroom except for one hour a week of Hebrew lessons. The New Testament was completely neglected. Yet God had not removed the candlestick of divine truth entirely. There was in Geneva, in addition to the Reformed Churches, also a small Brethren congregation organized by Count Zinzendorf in 1741. It was in this fellowship that the spark of true religion was preserved and eventually this spark was blown into a flame of revival.

Some students at the Academy, sensing that what they were getting from their professors was woefully inadequate, felt drawn to these Moravian Brethren with their warm piety. They started to attend their meetings, and though they did not join the Brethren, a Society of Friends was organized for the purpose of mutual instruction and edification. Though strongly opposed by the established Church – students who frequented these meetings were barred from the ministry in the Reformed Church – the movement grew.

In 1816, a man came to Geneva who was to make a tremendous contribution to the coming Reveil. His name was Robert Haldane, a native of Scotland. Born into a wealthy family, Haldane was converted in 1795 and resolved to devote his life, talents and fortune to the Christian cause. Together with his brother, James, he engaged in evangelism in his native country and saw many conversions. After about twenty years of this kind of work, Haldane felt led to visit the continent of Europe and to preach the Gospel there. He first went to Paris, but not finding an open door there, he followed the advice of friends and travelled to Geneva. There he came in contact with the Society of Friends. After speaking with these young students about spiritual matters, it soon became apparent to Haldane that despite their earnestness in reli­gion, they were still sadly lacking in Scriptural knowledge in general, and the way of salvation in particular. The great doctrine of justification by faith was as yet a hidden truth to them.

Haldane decided to teach them these things. On February 6, 1817 he met for the first time with eight students in his room, and started his famous lectures on the Epistle of Romans. Soon the number of visitors grew, until some thirty students sat regularly at his feet drinking in the water of life. A whole new world of ideas opened up for these men, most of whom had never so much as read this key epistle of Paul. Haldane was not only an able expositor, but also a man of deep faith and conviction, and as he unfolded, step by step, the great doctrines of grace as revealed in Romans, the Holy Spirit not only enlightened the minds of these budding theologians, but also touched their hearts, bringing them to a personal and saving knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Soon a revival of true religion took place in the city of Calvin and its impact was felt far beyond its borders. It first spread to the neighbouring old Huguenot parts of France, carried there by Haldane and his disciples. From there the Awakening, like a spreading flame, also reached the Low Countries.

3.  The Political and Religious Situation circa 1800←⤒🔗

By the end of the eighteenth century the Netherlands was in a state of decline both politically and religiously. The French Revolution had been hailed by "enlightened" Dutchmen as the dawning of a new age which would be characterized by democracy and tolerance. Increasingly the populace became critical of and eventually also hostile to the House of Orange, which in its view represented the old order. Consequently, when the French invaded Holland in 1795 there was only token resistance. Most people were prepared to accept the new regime and they forced their Stadtholder, William the Fifth, to go into exile. That same year a new state, the Batavian Republic, was established on the ideals of the French Revolution: fraternity, equality, liberty, and the sovereignty of the people.

This change in the political order brought in its wake grave consequences for the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. The immediate result was that all connections between church and state were severed on the grounds that ''the idea of an established Calvinistic church was in radical conflict with the equalitarian ideals of the revolution" (John H. Bratt, The Rise and Development of Calvinism, p. 89).

This loss of favoured status of the church brought with it loss of financial support from the state. This meant great hardship for ministers who could no longer count on receiving their salaries on a regular basis.

The Batavian Republic, however, was rather short-lived. In 1810 Napoleon became Emperor of France with full power over the nation and all the territories controlled by France. Napoleon, believing in a strong centralized government, abolished the Batavian Republic and incorporated it into his realm. By this time the Dutch treasury was depleted and the change in government did nothing to improve the situation. Napoleon, ever in need of money to finance his wars, continued to plunder Holland until it became a very poor nation.

We have already seen what this meant for the church's financial situation. But finances were not the only problem with which the Reformed Church had to wrestle. Spiritually the Church was also at a low ebb. The ideas of the French revolution naturally had also influenced many in the Church, especially the clergy. Even before the Revolution the Dutch universities had undergone the influence of Rationalism. Rationalistic ideas inevitably found their way into the pulpits of the land. This was intensified when still newer ideas came from France, as well as Germany and England. Churches where the pure Gospel could still be heard were becoming rare. But there were still many ordinary believers who were determined to get food for their souls, if not in the esta­blished church, then outside its walls. As John Bratt writes:

In the absence of orthodox preaching in the pulpit, orthodox believers sought to strengthen their faith in conventicles, religious meetings held in the homes of Christians and led by lay teachers. The lay exhorter again became an important person in the nurturing of spiritual life (Ibid., p.88).

It was among these common, humble believers that the Reformed faith was preserved and they passed on to posterity the true Biblical and experiential religion as laid down in our Confessions, especially the Canons of Dort.

This is not to say that there were no true ministers in the Reformed Church at all any more. But the few faithful men who still preached the Truth were in disrepute and fearful lest their loyalty to the Faith might result in their removal from office and thus in the loss of their already meagre income. Most of these men therefore laboured quietly, praying fervently for a revival of true Christianity, but not doing very much in a concrete way to promote such an awakening.

It was only when news of the great revival in Switzerland reached the Netherlands that a few prophets arose to spark a similar movement in their country.

The immediate cause for the call to Reveil (the French word for Revival and always used to describe this spiritual movement in the Netherlands) was the new situation which emerged when Holland regained its political independence. With the defeat of Napoleon in 1813 came the collapse of French authority, and the Netherlands once again became a sovereign state. William I, son of Stadtholder William V, who had been exiled in 1795, was brought back from England and became the head of a constitutional monarchy.

One of the first issues the new government had to deal with was to settle the problem of the relationship between church and state. King William "solved" this problem by re-establishing the Reformed Church as the State Church, placing it under the authority and supervision of the state. This change in status brought both positive and negative consequences for the Church. The positive result of the change was that the Church's financial problems were greatly alleviated. Ministers' salaries were paid out of the national treasury again and thus poverty among the clergy came to an end. King William took a personal interest in the plight of ministers and saw to it that they all received an adequate salary. He thus proved to be a real father for his people, and he soon endeared himself to Dutchmen for his kindness and generosity.

But there were also negative consequences. State aid for the Church, however needed and appreciated, did not come without strings attached. For all his compassion and generosity, "Father" William was a shrewd politician.

He re-guarded the Church more as a social than a divine institution, an institution which might prove very useful, but also potentially dangerous. For that reason, he thought, it should be kept under government control. In 1816 he signed into law a new Church Order prepared by a special commission appointed by the King. All the members of this commission were of a liberal and humanist persuasion and their bias was reflected in this new Church Order. As Bratt explains:

This order abolished the Presbyterian pattern of church government (destroying the local authority of the congregation) and introduced a centralised administrative, synodical system. The democratic character of the church from congregational level to synod being vested in administrative bodies which were responsible to the government (King William) (Ibid., p.91)

This central ruling body, appointed by the King, also determined what should be the doctrinal position of the Church. One of its first decisions concerned the confessions of the Church. The Canons of Dordt which had been an official statement of the Reformed Church since 1618-19, were set aside while the other two creedal statements the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, were retained as creedal formularies to which all candidates for the ministry were expected to subscribe.

The revised Form of Subscription, however provided a loop hole for those who had^-mental reservations about any point of doctrine as set forth by the creeds. All the candidate was required to do was promise "in good faith to accept and heartily believe the doctrine which is contained in the adopted forms of unity which agree with the Word of God". (Ibid.)

Thus room was made for different interpretations as to which doctrines in the creeds were judged to be in harmony with Scripture. One could either subscribe to the doctrinal standards because (quia) they conformed to God's Word, or in so far as (quatenus) they did. Those who interpreted the Form of Subscription in the former sense were Reformed in a strict sense, while those who favoured the latter interpretation tended to take a more liberal approach to doctrine.

The result of this new doctrinal freedom (leervrijheid) was that increasingly ministers of the liberal persuasion openly preached doctrines contrary to Scripture and the Confessions, and this in turn meant that discipline fell into complete disuse in many places. Spiritual life which had been at a low ebb for many years already was further weakened by the "prevalent notion that all citizens were regarded as members of the Dutch Reformed Church unless they belonged to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Mennonite, or Remonstrant (Arminian) churches". (P.Y. De Jong, The Christian Reformed Church, p.14)