Evangelische Omroep (EO, English: ''Evangelical Broadcasting'') is one of the twelve member-based broadcasting associations contributing to the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has as its mission to bring people into contact with

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

and its statement of faith is a form of

Evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

. EO is one of the few broadcasting associations in the '' pillarized'' Dutch broadcasting system to have remained totally faithful to its religious roots. For a long time every one of its programs made reference to God and to the Christian religion, although this is less often the case in the 21st century.

History

EO was founded in 1967 by

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

, mainly Free Church members who were disappointed with the other

Protestant 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 ...

broadcasting association, NCRV, for not putting more emphasis on its Christian inspiration. It is not known how effective EO has been in winning people for Christianity.

Television programs

* '' De Kist'' * '' Het Familiediner''

Controversies

Documentaries are often edited to reflect EO's

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...

convictions. While still being presented as a BBC documentary, ''

The Life of Mammals ''The Life of Mammals'' is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 20 November 2002. A study of the evolution and habits of the various mammal species, it was the four ...

'' series was edited to remove material incompatible with

young earth creationism Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...

, and

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

is regularly edited out of bought-in drama series. Broadcaster defends editing out evolution
Dutch news 2007 sept.

Creationism

The subject of creationism has sparked a number of EO-related controversies. In early 2009, a controversy arose over statements by a leading presenter and former director, Andries Knevel. He considered it possible for a religious person not to believe in the literal interpretation of the biblical

creation story A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...

(

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

1-2). Shortly afterwards Knevel apologized for the highly charged way in which he had made his statements and for the fact that his personal viewpoint could have been interpreted as the official viewpoint of EO.

Arie Boomsma

In 2009 Arie Boomsma, an EO television presenter was suspended for three months after appearing partially undressed in a magazine called ''L'Homo''. Later that year, EO planned to broadcast a new television show called ''Loopt een man over het water...'' ("A man walks over the water...") which Boomsma would present. In the show, non-Christian

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

s were to be asked to create short sketches about

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. The planned show caused so much uproar among EO members that it was cancelled. Soon afterwards Boomsma left EO and joined the Catholic broadcasting association

KRO KRO, or (Catholic Radio Broadcasting), was a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcast the bulk of its television output on the NPO 1 channel. KRO was also responsi ...

Decline in membership

As a result of these and other controversies, the number of subscribing EO members has declined. In March 2010, this led to a member initiative entitled ''Ik bid en blijf lid'' (''I pray and stay a member'') which called upon members of EO to retain their membership and pray that the association will continue to spread God's word in a way that remains true to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

References

External links

Official site
{{European Broadcasting Union Members Dutch public broadcasting organisations Christian media Netherlands Public Broadcasting Christian organizations established in 1967 Evangelical organizations established in the 20th century Dutch-language television networks Evangelical television networks Television channels and stations established in 1967