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book reviews
Karel Blei
Oepke Noordmans: Theologian of the Holy Spirit, translated by Allan J. Janssen,
The Historical Series of the Reformed Church in America 78 (Grand Rapids, mi:
Eerdmans, 2013). xiii + 181 pp. $26.00 paperback
This book is a rich and careful introduction into the theology of one of the foremost Dutch theologians of the 20th century. It encompasses Oepke Noord- mans’s life, work, and thought, and illustrates it by many quotations from his writings. Part of the richness of the volume is the fact that Karel Blei is the author. Blei is a prolific ecumenical thinker and writer in the Netherlands, who has a full grasp of theological affairs, which formed and changed the European Christian agenda during the last century.
Oepke Noordmans (1871–1956) was in the first place a pastor, a servant of the church. He never taught at University, though he was invited several times to apply for a chair. He truly displayed faithful loyalty to the Dutch Reformed Church, while at the same time showed a piercing theological mind-set; though a little eccentric from time to time. Anyhow, Noordmans’s legacy is impres- sive (over 5000 pages Verzamelde werken), especially in and through those whom he pastored and lectured, those whose contemporary debater he was, and those who studied him then and now. Studying Noordmans one may be struck by the apt perceptions and the prophetic relevance of Noordmans’ insights.
Blei characterizes Noordmans as an “ethical” theologian coming from a Réveil background. The Ethical Movement consisted of major thinkers, such as J.H. Gunning and J.J.P. Valeton Jr., who perceived truth as being only ethical. They maintained, that truth was not identical to Bible verses or to ecclesial confessions. Truth was an existential commitment to humane morality. As such the ethical party transcended the lively contrasts between the modernists and the confessionalists in the early 20th century. According to Noordmans, the church should go beyond the superficial boundaries set by critical modernity and orthodox naivety.
While pastoring several churches, Noordmans developed his basic theolog- ical convictions as a way of showing the Church a truthful and accessible path to respond to its responsibilities amidst dire circumstances during the interbel- lum (the years from World War i to World War ii). Noordmans became critical about the ethical position he formerly advocated. Here the influence of Karl Barth was manifest in his thinking. The idea of crisis emerged dominantly. The concept of unity of life ruled too strongly in ethical theology. “This accent is inclined to forget that judgment is laid against human life as well, and that the gospel concerns itself with just that” (58).
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/15700747-03701003
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From there Noordmans developed his own style of reasoning and express- ing, pointing to the centrality of God’s wish for re-creation. In 1934 Noordmans wrote his book titled Herschepping in which he introduces the notion of cre- ation as a critical concept. According to Noordmans creating is dividing, seen biblically, as when God created heaven and earth, He separated light and dark- ness, the waters above and below, the sea and the land, the animals and human- ity, Adam and Eve. In the cross creation as dividing reality reaches its climax. Creation is judgment, and Jesus’ incarnate life ends the continuous story of God’s creation-in-judgment. Creation is not repaired or somewhat ‘fixed’ after sin, but the Holy Spirit recreates life by pronouncing judgment upon creation, and by reviving the Son of God who was condemned to die a martyr’s death.
The idea of the Spirit dividing and judging was pivotal in Noordmans’s the- ology. With regard to church politics the Spirit operates in exactly the same manner. Noordmans was highly involved in preparing proposals by appointed committees to reorganize the Dutch Reformed Church in the late twenties and the early thirties. For Noordmans nothing less than a complete renewal of the church was needed. The church could no longer be satisfied with just a restora- tion of the organizational form from earlier centuries. The church should in the first place be reminded of its vertical life and vocation. Noordmans had an awareness of a “higher dimension” of the church (93), a so-called “vertical understanding of the church” (Gunning).
In order to come to a new understanding of the church’s life and role in the world, the church should reflect on its eschatological character again, and dare to question its presbyterial system. Noordmans envisioned an apostolic- presbyterial church order (Episcopal, after an Anglican model), with the forma- tion of house churches, and keen interest for discipline and missionary effort. Unfortunately the issue of church renewal was so controversial, that most of Noordmans’s proposals and ideas were rejected. At the end of the roaring thir- ties he practically stood alone (118).
For Noordmans questions of church order were also questions of faith (com- pare lex orandi, lex credendi). Liturgy should not be viewed as opposed to the work of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit (charismata) certainly do not prohibit the instalment of ecclesial offices, not at all. In his pre-war discussions with the Liturgical Movement (G. van der Leeuw and other ethical thinkers) Noordmans emphasized the necessity of clear incarnational thinking. Incarnation meant that Jesus “has followed us in our fall” (123) The Spirit continues to bring Jesus to the world and to the church by preaching and teaching, not by beautiful forms, songs, and flowery creation. Liturgy and incarnation both enter the brokenness of life. Hence, the incarnation does not extend itself in full-fledged liturgy of the church, but in simplified worship through Word and sacrament. These are the
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means by which the Spirit of God defines world and humanity—yes even the church—as weak, broken, and sinful.
After the war several compilations of Noordmans’s writings were published, among which also his well-known Gestalte en Geest (1955). The Spirit judges and shatters every gestalt of creation, including Jesus Christ. As such the Spirit is the decisive action of God, God’s providence then and now.
Henk Bakker
Professor of History, Identity, and Theology of the Baptist Faith, vu University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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