The Vrijzinnige Geloofsgemeenschap NPB (English: ''Liberal Community of Faith NBP'') is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

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 ...

, a member of the Dutch Raad van Kerken (English: ''Council of Churches'') and the

International Association for Religious Freedom The International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) is a charitable organization that works for religious freedom around the world. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900, and is the oldest international group that promotes dialo ...

. NPB stands for Nederlandse Protestanten Bond (English: ''Netherlands Protestant Association''). RM512906 Weesp - Oudegracht 69

Structure

The NPB has the structure of an association and consists of sixty independent local communities (2004) that call themselves by the neutral word ''afdeling'' (English: ''section'').Hoekstra, E.G, Ipenburg, M.H. ''Handboek christelijk Nederland: kerken, gemeenten, samenkomsten en vergaderingen''. Kok 2008, p. 305

History

The Dutch Protestant Association NBP was established in 1870 by Cornelis Willem Opzoomer,

Cornelis Tiele Cornelis Petrus Tiele (16 December 183011 January 1902) was a Dutch theologian and scholar of religions. Life Tiele was born at Leiden. He was educated at Amsterdam, first studying at the Athenaeum Illustre, as the communal high school of the ...

and others. It came as a reaction of liberal Protestants to the ''Confessionele vereniging'' (English: ''The Confessional Association'') created in 1864 and Orthodox Protestantism. From the NBP came the ''Centrale Commissie voor het Vrijzinnig Protestantisme'' (English: ''Central Committee for Liberal Protestantism'') that established the

VPRO The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for , ) is a Dutch public broadcaster, which forms a part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Founded in 1926 as a liberal Protestant broadcasting organization, it gradually became more ...

(1926) and was involved in the ''Leidse Bijbelvertaling'' (English: ''The Leiden Translation of the Bible'') that was used by Dutch liberal Protestants for decades to follow (1914).

Profile and ideas

There can be significant differences between local communities constituting the association. Some are based upon religious humanism, some upon

Christian Universalism Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalis ...

and some upon

liberal Christianity Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism and Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by taking into consideration ...

. All liberal-minded people may become members of the association regardless of membership in other Christian denominations, whether they are baptized or not or adhere to a certain creed. In liberal Protestantism the Bible is not seen as the Word of God in a literal sense, but rather as a document - a collection of meaningful stories - witnessing to the love of God. It is also striven to connect faith with the insights of modern science and with rationality.

References

External links

Vrijzinnige Geloofsgemeenschap NPB

Christian denominations in the Netherlands 1870 establishments in the Netherlands {{Christian-denomination-stub