Klaas Hendrikse (September 1, 1947,

Groot-Ammers Groot-Ammers is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and is located about 13 km southeast of Gouda on the southside of the Lek River. In 2001, the town of Groot-Ammers had 2822 inh ...

– June 26, 2018,

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

) was a Dutch minister of the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

(PKN) who was known as ('the

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

pastor').

Life and career

Hendrikse grew up in a

non-religious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ration ...

family in the

Alblasserwaard The Alblasserwaard () is a polder in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is mainly known for the windmills of Kinderdijk, located near the village of Kinderdijk in the polder's northwestern part. History The first human inhabitant ...

; his father was a veterinary surgeon. He went to school in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

and studied at

Nyenrode Business University Nyenrode Business Universiteit (abbreviated as ''NBU''; ) is a Dutch business university and the only private higher education institution that has the university status in the Netherlands. Founded in 1946, it is located on a large estate in the ...

(1968–1971) and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

(1971–1972). Between 1972 and 1983, he worked for

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

. After becoming interested in religion, he studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

between 1977 and 1983, before becoming a preacher. He gained national attention as "the atheist pastor" after he stated in a number of newspapers, including ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...

'' and ''

Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

'', that he did not believe in God's literal existence but as something that "happens". Hendrikse described God as "a word for experience, or human experience" and said that Jesus may have never existed. His comments caused outrage both within and outside of the

(PKN). Hendrikse later said that he did not consider himself to be an atheist, but tried to stay close to atheism in his choice of words and away from the "jargon of the church". The PKN considered taking disciplinary action against Hendrikse, but dropped the case in 2009. PKN authorities stated that such a case would result in "a protracted discussion about the meanings of words that in the end will produce little clarity." Hendrikse said that he would "rather remain as a louse in the fur of the PKN" than leave and form his own religious community. Hendrikse's religious views were not considered extreme in a large part of the Netherlands; in the PKN and several other smaller denominations of the Netherlands, one in six

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

are either

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

or atheist. Hendrikse died in 2018.

Books

*''Believing in a God that does not exist: the manifesto of an atheist pastor'' (2007) *''God does not exist and Jesus is his son'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrikse, Klaas 1947 births 2018 deaths Dutch atheists Nontrinitarian Christians Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Religious naturalists People from Liesveld

Life and career

Books

See also

References