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 in ...
–
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 ...
, June 26, 2018) was a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
minister of the
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
The Protestant Church in the Netherlands ( nl, de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Calvinist and Lutheran.
It was founded on 1 May 2004 as the merger of the ...
who declared that he "believes in a God who does not exist." He was known in the Netherlands as ''de atheïstische dominee'' (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 or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and anti ...
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 inhabita ...
; his father was a veterinary surgeon. He went to school in
Gorinchem
Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...
and studied in
Nyenrode (1968-1971) and
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
(1971-1972). Between 1972 and 1983 he worked for
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...
. After becoming interested in religion, he studied theology at the
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...
between 1977 and 1983, before becoming a preacher.
He achieved national fame 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). ''Tr ...
'' and ''
Volkskrant
''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') 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-sized ...
'', that he did not believe in God's literal existence but as something that "happens." Klaas Hendrikse has described God as "a word for experience, or human experience" and said that
Jesus may have never existed.
His comments caused outrage both within the
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
The Protestant Church in the Netherlands ( nl, de Protestantse Kerk in Nederland, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, being both Calvinist and Lutheran.
It was founded on 1 May 2004 as the merger of the ...
(PKN) and outside. 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 at first taking disciplinary action against Hendrikse, but dropped the case in 2009. The authorities stated that such a case would merely result in "a protracted discussion about the meanings of words that in the end will produce little clarity." Hendrikse has 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
)
, 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 ...
. In the PKN, 42% of its members described themselves in 2007 as
non-theists. Furthermore, in the PKN and several other smaller denominations of the Netherlands, one in six clergy are either
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
or atheist.
Hendrikse died in 2018.
Trivia
Hendrikse features in the novel ''
Artush and Zaur
''Artush and Zaur'' () is a novel by Azerbaijani writer and journalist Ali Akbar (alias of Alakbar Aliyev) published in 2009. It narrates the love story of two fictional men: Artush Saroyan, an Armenian, and Zaur Jalilov, an Azerbaijani. The no ...
'', by
Ali Akbar, in which he performs a wedding ceremony for the homosexual protagonists.
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)
See also
*
Christian atheism
Christian atheism is a form of Christianity that rejects the theistic claims of Christianity, but draws its beliefs and practices from Jesus' life and teachings as recorded in the New Testament Gospels and other sources.
Christian atheism ta ...
*
Irreligion in the Netherlands
Irreligion in the Netherlands pertains to atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of irreligion in the Netherlands. Irreligion is the majority religious position in the country, and the Netherlands is one of the most irreligious countries in the worl ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrikse, Klaas
1947 births
2018 deaths
Christ myth theory proponents
Dutch atheists
Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands
Religious naturalists
People from Liesveld