Katholiek en daarom flexibel. De kerk in de Nederlandse Geloofsbelijdenis

Samenvatting

We try to find an explanation for the observation that the ecclesiological articles in the Confessio Belgica have lacked actualization in recent decades apart from polemical contexts. We have discovered that the ecclesiological sections have in general been received uncontested and almost self-evidently as part of the Reformed tradition. We have become aware that the external situations of most churches who use the CB as a confessional standard have changed, especially because they are no longer persecuted. I have focused on the sense of indignation and the accompanying belief that the false church can be and should be transformed into the true church, both of them underlying motivations for the Confessio Belgica. The relevance of the ecclesiology of the CB for the current cultural climate is situated on the level of the rediscovery of the value of the attributes of the church and of the role of ordained ministry in the renewal of the church.