Herman Hoeksema (13 March 1886 in

Hoogezand Hoogezand is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep chann ...

– 2 September 1965 in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

) was a Dutch Reformed theologian. Hoeksema served as a long time pastor of the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. In 1924 he refused to accept the three points of

common grace Common grace is a theological concept in Protestant Christianity, developed primarily in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Reformed/Calvinistic thought, referring to the grace of God that is either common to all humankind, or common to everyone w ...

as formulated which had then been declared official church dogma of the Christian Reformed Church, as an addition to its adopted creeds and confessions. The result of this controversy was that Hoeksema, and ministers George Ophoff, and Henry Danhof, were deposed by their respective classes before leaving the CRC with their congregations. These men then established the Protestant Reformed Churches. He also was professor of theology at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary in

Grandville, Michigan Grandville is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,378 at the 2010 census. Grandville is just southwest of the city of Grand Rapids and is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. It was first settled i ...

for 40 years.

Early life

Hoeksema was born in the province of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and immigrated to the US in 1904. He married Nellie Kuiper on June 7, 1914. The officiating minister was Prof. Louis Berkhof, who was the principal author of the Three points of Common Grace, and later the doctrinal opponent of Hoeksema. The marriage of Herman and Nellie produced 5 children: Joanna, Jeanette, Herman Jr., Homer, and Lois. After studying at

Calvin Theological Seminary Calvin Theological Seminary is a private Christian Reformed Church seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is closely tied to Calvin University, though each institution has its own board. History The seminary was founded in 1876 with the purp ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, he began his ministerial career in 14th St. Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan (1915-1920) and then accepted the call to serve the Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church of

(1920-1924/5) - by this time one of the largest Reformed congregations in the United States. In February 1918, Hoeksema refused to allow the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

in the sanctuary of 14th St Christian Reformed Church (Holland, MI) during

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogni ...

. This decision received strong opposition. In response the ''Michigan Tradesman'' printed that any preacher who barred the flag from his church had "forfeited the right to exist among decent people". He also led the debate, and the 1918 CRC Synod, in condemning the dispensational

premillennialism Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the Earth (the Second Coming) before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretat ...

of Rev. Harry Bultema of

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

who denied that Christ is King of his church. Hoeksema and his close colleague Henry Danhof also worked on behalf of the Seminary Curatorium in a study committee that led the 1922 CRC Synod to produce a report examining the teachings of Seminary Professor Ralph Janssen about Scripture and miracles, and subsequently decided that Janssen's views on Scriptures denied that Holy Writ was infallible and inspired in all it parts. At the end of his career he served in the dual role of pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan (1924/5 - 1965) and Professor of New Testament Studies and Reformed Dogmatics at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary.

Works

Hoeksema was editor of the Protestant Reformed Magazine, the "Standard Bearer". He also authored many books including: * ''Whosoever Will'', a negative critique of

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the '' ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

* ''Righteous by Faith Alone'', Herman Hoeksema's sermons on the book of

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

* ''Behold He cometh'', a commentary on the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...

* ''The Triple Knowledge'', the most extensive work in the English language on the

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg ...

* ''Reformed Dogmatics'', Herman Hoeksema considered this his major work and it is a frequently quoted writing in opposition to the "

covenant of works Covenant theology (also known as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an org ...

Theology

Herman Hoeksema was unique in his emphasis of the

Covenant of Grace Covenant theology (also known as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an orga ...

in that God's love for his chosen was an unconditional love of a friendship where the believers walked with God like

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Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...

, and

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...

, and were "friend of God". He believed that this covenant of friendship is not a unilateral or bilateral agreement and it does not contain conditions, requirements, or demands. Hoeksema's ''Reformed Dogmatics'' states The Covenant of Grace "is the relation of the most intimate communion of friendship in which God reflects His own covenant life in His relation to the creature, gives to that creature life, and causes him to taste and acknowledge the highest good and the overflowing fountain of all good."''Reformed Dogmatics'', H. Hoeksema, Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1973, p. 322 "To determine the idea of the covenant, it is better to note those passages of Scripture that speak of the relation between God and His covenant people. And then there can no doubt that the emphasis is not on the idea of an agreement, or pact, but rather that of a living relationship between God those whom He has chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord." Herman Hoeksema agreed with

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...

in his ''

Bondage of the Will ''On the Bondage of the Will'' ( lat, De Servo Arbitrio, literally, "On Un-free Will", or "Concerning Bound Choice"), by Martin Luther, argued that people can only achieve salvation or redemption through God, and could not choose between good and ...

'' that "merit" is an impious word when used concerning man's relation to God (including Adam's relationship to God), but not with Christ's relationship with God as taught concerning man in Luke 17:10, Jesus says, "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." "… First of all, there is the chief objection that this doctrine (The Covenant of Works) finds no support in Scripture. We do read of the probationary command, prohibiting man to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and of the penalty of death threatened in the case of disobedience. But nowhere do we find any proof in Scripture for the contention that God gave to Adam the promise of eternal life if he should obey that particular commandment of God. It is true, of course, that Adam would not have suffered the death penalty if he had obeyed. But this is quite different from saying that he would have attained to glory and immortality. This cannot be deduced or inferred from the penalty of death that was threatened. Adam might have lived everlastingly in his earthly state. He might have continued to eat of the tree of life and live forever; but everlasting earthly life is not the same as what Scripture means by eternal life. And that Adam would have attained to this higher level of heavenly glory, that there would have come a time in his life when he would have been translated, the Scriptures nowhere suggest. Besides, this giving of the probationary command and this threat of the penalty of death are no covenant or agreement, constitute no transaction between God and Adam…. In vain does one look in the Word of God for support of this theory of a covenant of works." "... it is quite impossible that man should merit a special reward with God. Obedience to God is an obligation. It certainly has its reward, for God is just and rewards the good with good. But obedience has its reward in itself: to obey the Lord our God is life and joy. Sin is misery and death. Life and joy there are in obedience. To keep the commandments of God and to serve Him is a privilege. But the covenant of works teaches that Adam could merit something more, something special, by obeying the command of the Lord.''Reformed Dogmatics'', H. Hoeksema, Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1973, p. 217-8

Bibliography

* Hoeksema, Gertrude, ''Therefore Have I Spoken: A Biography of Herman Hoeksema'', (1969) * Baskwell, P.J., ''Herman Hoeksema: A Theological Biography'', Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, (2006)

— available online in

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References

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