Another Bright Spring Sunday after the Plague of 1656. The Nieuwe Kerk, Groningen, The Netherlands
Exactly four years after Adolph Louwens, Allard Aldringa, Johan Conders and Gerhard Swarte - 'Consules' of the 'Senatus populusque Groninganus' - put down the 'foundation stone' of the Nieuwe Kerk of Groningen, the Reverend Johannes Martinus (1603-1665) gave its inaugural sermon on June 7, 1664. The Nieuwe Kerk was the first church building in Groningen designed specifically for the 'new' reformed religion which replaced Catholicism in 1594 (after the so-called 'Reduction' - relatively bloodless - which brought Groningen into the orbit of the Union of Utrecht, forerunner of present-day The Netherlands).
This majestic building was 'erected, consecrated and dedicated' in the New Churchyard, which replaced the older one in the inner city. It was initially used especially for the victims of the plague which devastated Groningen in 1656. In that terrible Summer, Johannes Martinus had had to bury his wife, Eelkjen Geerts, his sons Gerhardus, Georgius and Johannes, and his sister-in-law who lived with them. He never swayed, though, from his duties. A prolific writer of theological books and pamphlets, a member of many church councils, a patron of orphans, a corrector of the printing errors in the new edition of the Bible in Dutch ('Statenbijbel'), he had noted how important it was for sound theology to have at hand a good Concordance of Holy Writ. To this end he enlisted his son-in-law, theologian Abraham Trommius (1633-1719); together they worked on that massive project. Trommius completed it 1685-1692, long after Martinus's death. It's been a highly useful book down through the centuries, and I myself as many earlier before the advent of computer searches have often consulted the sombre black tome.
But today on this bright afternoon no place for dire thoughts of death; only for commemoration of the feats of past citizens of Groningen, and gratefulness for the Blue Sky! and, Look! The shrubbery is greening already!
Another Bright Spring Sunday after the Plague of 1656. The Nieuwe Kerk, Groningen, The Netherlands
Exactly four years after Adolph Louwens, Allard Aldringa, Johan Conders and Gerhard Swarte - 'Consules' of the 'Senatus populusque Groninganus' - put down the 'foundation stone' of the Nieuwe Kerk of Groningen, the Reverend Johannes Martinus (1603-1665) gave its inaugural sermon on June 7, 1664. The Nieuwe Kerk was the first church building in Groningen designed specifically for the 'new' reformed religion which replaced Catholicism in 1594 (after the so-called 'Reduction' - relatively bloodless - which brought Groningen into the orbit of the Union of Utrecht, forerunner of present-day The Netherlands).
This majestic building was 'erected, consecrated and dedicated' in the New Churchyard, which replaced the older one in the inner city. It was initially used especially for the victims of the plague which devastated Groningen in 1656. In that terrible Summer, Johannes Martinus had had to bury his wife, Eelkjen Geerts, his sons Gerhardus, Georgius and Johannes, and his sister-in-law who lived with them. He never swayed, though, from his duties. A prolific writer of theological books and pamphlets, a member of many church councils, a patron of orphans, a corrector of the printing errors in the new edition of the Bible in Dutch ('Statenbijbel'), he had noted how important it was for sound theology to have at hand a good Concordance of Holy Writ. To this end he enlisted his son-in-law, theologian Abraham Trommius (1633-1719); together they worked on that massive project. Trommius completed it 1685-1692, long after Martinus's death. It's been a highly useful book down through the centuries, and I myself as many earlier before the advent of computer searches have often consulted the sombre black tome.
But today on this bright afternoon no place for dire thoughts of death; only for commemoration of the feats of past citizens of Groningen, and gratefulness for the Blue Sky! and, Look! The shrubbery is greening already!