In 1886, another major secession from the N.H.K. took place under the leadership of Abraham Kuyper. Known as the Doleantie (which means "mourning"), this movement was in protest of the increasing modernism of the state churches seen in the seminary and in the preaching. The reasons for this separation were quite similar to the original Secession of 1834 and were seen by many in that group as a vindication of that secession. In fact, in 1892 the seceding congregations united with a large number of the secessionists of 1834 to form the Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederlands (GKN). This merger had a tremendous impact on further growth of the CRCNA, since the new Dutch immigrants to the U.S. and Canada from the merged GKN felt a greater spiritual affinity for the CRC than for the RCA and were in fact formally encouraged by the GKN to join with the CRC on arrival in the U.S. rather than with the "corrupted" RCA.

The cultural activism and pluralism promoted by Kuyper also came to have prominent influence in the CRCNA, but it caused tension among those of a more pietistic persuasion which viewed separation from the world and the preeminence of the institutional church as the proper Reformed way. There came to be a new approach to the scriptures and preaching, an emphasis on the social program of the Kingdom of God to be realized on earth, which was quite distinct from what was more familiar to previous generations, e.g., an emphasis on the exposition of Scripture's logically consistent system of truth (doctrinal preaching) or on its moral imperatives (moralistic preaching underscoring feelings of guilt, the need for repentance and achievement of assurance). These tensions remain today, and these three main approaches to sermonizing (antithetical-activist, doctrinal and moralistic) will be found with differing weight, depending on the congregation and preacher, along with expository preaching.

Kuyper's Calvinism brought a new kind of vitality to the CRC which helped it considerably as it was forced to recognize its place in the U.S. and Canada. When forced out of isolation by a variety of factors, the CRC was able to discover and articulate its role as an "American" church. Kuyper's influence is so important to the further development of the CRC that some time should be spent considering the salient features of his thinking and programs and how these have come to expression in the CRC.

Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was the third child and first son of the Rev. & Mrs. J. F. Kuyper. His father was more or less orthodox, but not with strong convictions. Kuyper's first ten years were spent in the seaport town of Middleburg during the height of the emigration to America. Then his family moved to the university town of Leiden, where he was schooled in letters and theology. Leiden was the most liberal of the three state-run universities, which included the theological faculties for the training of the clergy. Leiden's professors boldly declared the bodily resurrection of Christ to be a myth and unessential to true faith.

During his studies, Kuyper undertook a study of the writings of the Polish reformer, John à Lasco. The writings were not easily available, but with some assistance Kuyper did complete his study. This study of à Lasco left a lasting impression on him, not so much because he was moved by what was taught but because Kuyper felt miraculous intervention in the way à Lasco's works became available to him, even though most believed these works had been permanently lost. In September of 1862, Kuyper received his doctorate in theology and took up his ministry with the view of Jesus as a noble martyr.

It was in his first pastorate that Kuyper became a man of Reformed and orthodox convictions, especially through the influence of a woman parishioner, Pietronella Baltus. Apparently of a strongly pietist and fiercely orthodox bent, she convinced Kuyper of the truth of eternal life and forgiveness of sins through faith in the atonement and belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Calvinism which remained strong among the unschooled parishioners in this church revived memories of things he had studied but not taken seriously. He recalled the teachings of Calvin and à Lasco regarding the church, which he came to love fiercely. As he reflected on the church as it existed in the Netherlands and as it ought to exist, he became more and more troubled and was overcome with a sense of mission towards its reformation.

Recall that with the Restoration of 1815, the Reformed Church had been reorganized as a ministry of the state. It was largely in reaction to this that the Secession of 1834 occurred. Many who did not secede still sensed problems with a church subject to state control. The state church encompassed a broad range of beliefs and theological persuasions, ranging from orthodox Reformed to outright modernist. Churches were governed locally (i.e. in each city or district) by a consistory composed of all the office-bearers (including the deacons), and this body was given the authority to fill vacancies in its own ranks. However, in 1852 King William III introduced a new constitution for the church which stated that the right to appoint elders and deacons and to call ministers resided not with the consistory but with the congregation (democratic principles were on the rise!). In 1867, the synod decreed that in congregations of less than 100 members, these matters would be decided by majority vote of the eligible members, while in congregations of more than 100, they would elect only the officers of consistory and an equal number of representatives who would act on the congregation's behalf in these matters. Kuyper felt strongly that, while the whole idea of a congregational meeting to elect spiritual leaders had no basis in Reformed polity, that nevertheless this was a far preferable situation to that which was followed since 1816 where leadership had been imposed by political authorities. He argued that as an emergency measure, the right of congregations to elect their own leaders was a necessary measure and said that this right should not be taken away by this new rule of synod.

Kuyper was now called to a pastorate in conservative Utrecht, whose city-wide church counted 35,000 members. It was administered by one large consistory with 11 ministers who preached by rotation in different sanctuaries each week. Kuyper began to agitate against the authority of synod, starting with an attack on the practice of church visiting. In the Reformed Church this annual visitation by officers from other churches appointed by the synod was a way of assuring proper administration and spiritual unity among the churches (This is still practiced in the CRC today.). But Kuyper and the Utrecht consistory refused to cooperate with what had become perfunctory "visits" (by questionnaire) and proclaimed that there was in fact no longer spiritual unity in the church. Then in 1867 the first elections of consistory by local congregations took place. To the shock of almost all, liberal and conservative alike, most country and some city churches (notably Amsterdam) failed to reelect liberal ministers, elders and deacons, but chose instead for those who were orthodox in conviction!

Meanwhile, Kuyper became active in politics (joining the anti- revolutionary party of Groen Van Prinsterer) and journalism (becoming co- editor of De Heraut). Then in 1870 he was called to help pastor the Amsterdam Church. Because of his formidable rhetorical skills and his willingness to use these whether in pulpit, lecture or press, Kuyper made a name for himself and became a target for the liberal elements of the church. The Amsterdam consistory became polarized as orthodox elders and deacons submitted a declaration that they would no longer participate in worship services conducted by the liberal ministers or confirm their catechumens. The situation in Amsterdam and elsewhere became even more polarized when the synod in 1870 issued a declaration that it was permissible to baptize "unto faith, hope and love" or some other "fitting phrase" rather than in the name of the Triune God.

Kuyper continued as a minister of the Amsterdam congregation until 1874, when he was elected a member of parliament. He had also been editing the daily newspaper of his political party even while being a minister. This illustrates what has come to be called "Kuyperian thinking." The Scriptures shed light not only on the problems of salvation and eternity but also on every area of daily life. God is sovereign over all "spheres of life," and his Word must be applied in all areas of life from religion to politics to education for people to experience the fullness of God's blessing. Kuyper refused to limit the idea of "calling" to the ministry of the Word. Kuyper argued that the Calvinistic understanding of God's sovereignty was the major factor in the progress of the political institutions of Europe and the New World and was the cause for the blessings of liberty being experienced. Kuyper analyzed different schools and ways of thinking according to their "world-and- life-views" and the basic principles which underlie these as faith commitments. In this way he became the father of Reformed apologetics. In 1880, during his early tenure in Parliament, Kuyper and his friends founded the Free University of Amsterdam, a school to be founded upon and run according to Calvinistic principles, and not by the state. Kuyper and his party held that all schools should be thus run, and especially argued that the government had no business running the theological schools.

The synod meeting in 1883 acted to delete the requirement that candidates promise to preach the Word in accordance with the doctrine contained in the Three Forms of Unity (the Formula of Subscription), requiring instead that they promise to promote the interests of the kingdom of God and of the state church. The Amsterdam consistory responded to this by calling a conference at which registrants had to sign their agreement to the Three Forms of Unity. At this conference, those in attendance agreed to admit none to the ministry except those who would also so subscribe. They further decided that, should opposition to recognition of Christ as King of the Church come from their consistories, then bound by conscience they would no longer recognize those consistories' authority. Instead, they would proceed to elect their own consistory, not to secede from that church, but to express their grief and duty to conscience and as a way to call those opposed to repentance.

Eventually, Kuyper and 74 others were suspended and deposed from their offices in the Amsterdam Church (Kuyper was serving as elder) for insubordination and refusing to provide documents enabling profession of faith by liberal members ("catechized" by liberal ministers) despite being ordered to do so by the authorities. This took place in 1886, and therefore this secession and reform movement is known as the Reformation of 1886. 7,000 members of the Amsterdam Church decided to recognize the 75 deposed office-bearers as their true consistory and issued a statement declaring that they considered themselves the historic Reformed Church of the Netherlands, having cast off the "yoke of 1816" (referring to William's giving over control of the church to the state). Many other churches throughout the country, some prior to Amsterdam and many later, took similar actions. Another conference was called in 1887, representing about 200 congregations and 100,000 believers.

The new church recognized the spiritual autonomy of local congregations who were bonded together by their unity of faith expressed in their beloved three confessions. Seizure of church buildings and property by the authorities of the state church was common. There was some violence. The Amsterdam Church was deprived of all its assets by decree of the Supreme Court ruling of 1888. These were given to the state church. The court declared that the reform-minded groups constituted a new denomination. In this way, formal ties to the NHK were cut and the new denomination was formed which called itself the Netherlands Gereformeerde Kerken (NGK). Many of the new congregations of this new denomination were found in communities where Christian Reformed were also present. Spiritually, these churches had the same orthodox, Reformed faith. Yet their concept of reform was different, and the CR groups already had a history of 50 years and their own theological school (in Kampen). Discussions were initiated, however, and formal unity between the 400 CRC congregations and the 300 NGK congregations took place in 1892 to form the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN). A small segment of the CRC declined to join the union and kept their old name (Note that "CRC" in the above refers to churches of that name in the Netherlands, not in the U.S.).

In 1896 the GKN synod met and adopted a new missions policy, stating that mission outreach was the responsibility of the churches and not of individuals or societies of volunteers. The policy states further that missionaries should be called by local churches and sent out by agencies of mission cooperation on a synodical level and that missionaries should be educated as ministers serving the home church and also have training in the social customs, religions and language of the people to whom they are sent. This policy prevails in the CRCNA today and represents the common thinking of most conservative, Reformed churches.

Kuyper's teaching in the Free University (systematic theology) continued to stress the sovereignty of God over all of life and to emphasize that the Word of God contains the ordinances for our personal, family, ecclesiastical, educational, political, industrial, commercial and cultural life. The Bible gives a comprehensive world-and-life view which we must learn and implement in all areas of life. Over against this are various world-and-life views of the world which stand opposed to and in antithetical relationship to the truth. This teaching is encapsulated in the famous Stone Lectures delivered at Princeton Seminary in 1898 ( available in Japanese). Kuyper expounded and developed the doctrine of "Common Grace," the grace of God which is not saving but which encompasses all mankind as its object for the restraining of evil and enables "civil righteousness" in the family, state, art, etc. Common Grace is the reason we do not destroy ourselves and the reason why there are elements of truth, justice and beauty in unregenerate actions, art and systems of thought.

Kuyper became Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1901, heading a coalition of Christian anti-revolutionaries and Catholics. Of his political achievements, perhaps the greatest were the raising of consciousness in issues of social justice and the granting of freedom of education according to parents' conscience. His zeal for free Christian schools is legendary, and by the anti-revolutionaries' efforts, state support by voucher was granted to these free, parent- or society-run schools. So Kuyper's impact is seen ecclesiastically in his leadership of church reformation, theologically in his development of the doctrine of common grace, and politically too in his leadership of the anti-revolutionary party and tenure as parliamentarian and Prime Minister.

It is hard to overestimate the impact that Abraham Kuyper had not only on the Reformed in the Netherlands but on the CRCNA as well. Throughout these years, the life of the CRC was still very much tied to the scene in Holland. Most ministers still came from there, trained in the school in Kampen and later also at the Free University. The CRC believers in North America still carried on life in the Dutch language, and because of their isolation, they in reality were more akin to the European scene than to the American scene. During the decade from 1885-1895, the membership of the CRC more than doubled (going from 21,156 to 47,349), much of this being immigrant growth. Kuyper's idea that all fundamental principles are religious, faith-commitments subjected to or in defiance of God's will, came to be the common understanding in the CRC as well as in other theologically conservative Reformed & Presbyterian groups. Words like "the antithesis" or "world-and-life-view" became an integral part of the vocabulary of scholar and farmer alike. The issues of missions, social justice, free schools, political pluriformity, and fierce confessionalism, were all defined by Kuyper and adopted virtually wholesale by the CRC believers in North America. The Masonic Lodge was viewed in this light as a bastion of humanism and revolutionary thought, antithetical to the Kingdom of God, and so this issue came back with force among immigrants who had joined the RCA, many of whom switched to the CRC when the RCA synod refused to condemn freemasonry.

Hollanders continued to immigrate to the U.S. and Canada. These were more likely to be well-informed and committed Calvinists of the Kuyperian variety, and their presence was an invigorating leaven to the isolated and still strongly pietistic CRC. At times this created friction, with the pietistic strain desiring moralistic/expository preaching which went along with their introspective spirituality, while the Kuyperians were more outward-looking and desired to be proactive in their new-found home and society. The preachers tended to belong to one camp or the other, mostly depending on which theological school they had attended! What they shared however was strong confessionalism and a commitment to the family as the basic unit of church and society.