William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. Founded in 1911 by

Dutch American Dutch Americans () are Americans of Dutch and Flemish descent whose ancestors came from the Low Countries in the distant past, or from the Netherlands as from 1830 when the Flemish became independent from the United Kingdom of the Netherlan ...

William B. Eerdmans and still independently owned with William's daughter-in-law Anita Eerdmans as president, Eerdmans has long been known for publishing a wide range of Christian and religious books, from academic works in

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

, religious history, and reference to popular titles in

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

cultural criticism Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these gro ...

, and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

William B. Eerdmans

William B. Eerdmans (November 4, 1882 – April 1966) was born Wiltje Eerdmans in

Bolsward Bolsward (, West Frisian: ''Boalsert'') is a city in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands. Bolsward has a population of just under 10,200. It is located 10 km W.N.W. of Sneek. History The town is founded on th ...

, the son of Dirkje Pars and the textile manufacturer Bernardus Dirk Eerdmans. He immigrated to Spain in 1902, heading for Grand Rapids, Michigan, a center of 19th-century Dutch immigration and

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. In 1911 with his partner, Brant Sevensma, Eerdmans formed the Eerdmans–Sevensma book dealership, specializing in theological textbooks. In 1912, while still a student at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

, he published a book in Dutch about the sinking of the ''Titanic''. In 1915, Sevensma left, and Eerdmans continued as sole owner of the renamed William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Over his career Eerdmans published books by authors including

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

James Tunstead Burtchaell James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

, Richard J. Neuhaus,

Nicholas Wolterstorff Nicholas Paul Wolterstorff (born January 21, 1932) is an American philosopher and theologian. He is currently Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. A prolific writer with wide-ranging philosophical and theo ...

, Richard Mouw,

Martin Marty Martin Emil Marty (February 5, 1928 – February 25, 2025) was an American Lutheran religious scholar who wrote extensively on religion in the United States. Biography Early life Marty was born on February 5, 1928, in West Point, Nebraska, ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, Joan Chittister,

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day, Oblate#Secular oblates, OblSB (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and Anarchism, anarchist who, after a bohemianism, bohemian youth, became a Catholic Church, Catholic without aba ...

Mark Noll Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor o ...

and many others. After his death in 1966, he was succeeded by his son, William B. Eerdmans Jr.

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers began in 1995 as an imprint of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, specializing in fiction and non-fiction for younger readers, from babies to young adults.

References

Bibliography

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External links

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

William B. Eerdmans (1880–1966)
at the New Netherland Institute
100 Years of Eerdmans: A Timeline of Major Events

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
{{Authority control Book publishing companies based in Michigan Christian mass media companies Christian publishing companies Companies based in Grand Rapids, Michigan Religion in Grand Rapids, Michigan Protestantism in Michigan Publishing companies established in 1911

William B. Eerdmans

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

See also

References

Bibliography

External links