Synodale machteloosheid en mystieke vrijzinnigheid: Louis A. Bähler (1867-1941) en de Gereformeerde Bond

Samenvatting

The publication of Buddhist mission: ‘Christian’ barbarism in Europe, translated by Louis Adriën Bähler (1867­1941), a Christian anarchist and pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church, led to the founding of the Reformed League in the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk). The classis censured Bähler, but Synod rehabilitated him and therefore the orthodox Reformed within the church charged that Synod’s actions revealed its powerlessness to maintain doctrinal discipline. Bähler’s Buddhist leanings have drawn much attention. This article places Bähler’s sympathy for pietism and mysticism in the broader context of his theology, one characterized by a spiritualization and moralization of the Gospel.