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Description
Members of the consistory of the First Reformed Church met with a committee of the Classis of Holland of which Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte presided as chair of the classis committee. The meeting concerned the matter of Free Masonry. Van Raalte clearly dominated the discussion. He is quoted to have said that membership "in the Free Masons is not a sufficient reason to excommunicate an individual. Synod would not approve such an action. There must be sins which flow forth from masonic membership, for example, transgression of the Ethical (Moral) Law (before excommunication can take place)." The discussion "was closed without resolution."
Date
10-11-1873
City
Holland, Michigan
Source
The original documents are held by Archives and Special Collections, Hope College Library.
Rights
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Recommended Citation
Van Raalte, A. C.; Schrader, J.; Buursma, William; and Buursma, Althea, "Members of the Consistory of the First Reformed Church Met with a Committee of the Classis of Holland of Which Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte Presided as Chair of the Classis Committee" (1873). Van Raalte Papers: 1870-1879. 174.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/vrp_1870s/174
Notes
In Dutch; translation by Rev. William and Althea Buursma, 2000.
Description of the document and reference to The Joint Archives of Holland [now called Hope College Archives and Special Collections] by Dr. Elton J. Bruins.
About the collection:
Elton J. Bruins, long-time professor in the Department of Religion at Hope College, spent years collecting documents by and about Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of Holland, Michigan and early patron of Hope College. Documents were gathered from dozens of public and private collections, making a nearly exhaustive collection of Van Raalte's writings and reflections. It is these documents that make up the "Van Raalte Papers."
Digitizing the Van Raalte papers was supported by the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. The project was done in partnership with Heritage Hall at Calvin University, which also digitized its Van Raalte collections.