THEODORUS VAN DER GROE (1705–1784)

Theodore VanderGroe (1705–1784) is one of the last and most well-known representatives of the Dutch “Nadere Reformatie” (Second Reformation). After attending grade school and a school for Latin, he studied theology at Leiden upon the request of his father who was also a minister. The two professors who influenced him most were the well-known Johannes a Marck (church history) and T.H. VanDenHonert (dogmatics).

VanderGroe became a candidate for the ministry in 1729. Due to the surplus of ministers at that time, he had to wait six months to receive a pastoral call. On March 19, 1730 he was installed as a preacher at Rijnsaterwoude, a small village in South Holland. During his first pastorate, he was converted powerfully by God at the age of thirty. Understandably, this work of the Spirit had a profound influence on his preaching. Death in Adam and life in Christ became his primary themes. As one biographer notes, “It rang throughout all his preaching: to count all but loss and dung save the knowledge of Christ. It is no wonder that this manner of preaching met with opposition.”

In 1740 VanderGroe accepted a pastoral call to Kralingen, where he preached faithfully and experientially the whole counsel of God for the remaining forty-four years of his life! He preached an unfettered gospel, but also warned against sin, worldliness, and divine judgment with unfettered liberty. He was truly a watchman on Zion’s walls, heralding forth law and gospel, breaking down the work of man and building up the work of God, separating saving faith from false forms of faith. By grace, he was enabled to live out his installation text, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

VanderGroe was forty-nine years old when he married Johanna Bicho (who was forty-five). During their married life, VanderGroe was often sick, being of a weak constitution. Often he wrote instructive letters from his sickbed to dear friends, which contained such experiential outpourings of heart as these: “With Lodenstein, I feel I am merely a dead dog before God. But I lean on Christ and am carried by Him. All my guilt lies reconciled and satisfied through Christ. I can not bring two words together to form a true prayer, but Christ is my all.”

It is remarkable that VanderGroe lived until 1784. He died in full faith, embracing the promises of God in Christ Jesus as his only expectation.

During his life, VanderGroe was a prolific writer. His two-volume Toetsteen der ware en valsche Genade (Touchstone of True and False Grace) and a three-volume exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism (Des Christens eenigen troost in leven en sterven of Verklaring van den Heidelbergsen Catechismus) are well-known in Dutch circles, as is his Beschrijvinge van het oprecht en ziel-zaligend Geloove (Description of True, Saving Faith). Sermon volumes, all of which were published posthumously, include among others: De genezing van de blinde Bartimeus (The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus); a two-volume set of forty-eight sermons on the sufferings of Christ (Acht-en-veertig Predikatien over het lijden van onzen Heere Jezus Christus); a volume of seventeen sermons on conversion (De Bekeering); and two volumes for Prayer Day containing thirty sermons in all (Verzameling van zestien Biddags-Predikatien; Veertien nagelatene Biddags-Predikatien). Two volumes of his letters (Brieven van Theodorus van der Groe) were first published posthumously in 1838 and appeared in one volume in 1984. His authorship of or contribution to the more than two thousand page Oude Orthodoxe Leer der Ware Gereformeerde Kerke (Old Orthodox Doctrine of the True Reformed Church) remains uncertain. He showed his support for the translation of English Puritans into Dutch by writing an extensive preface to George Hutcheson’s two-volume Practical Explanation of the Minor Prophets and his Explanation of the Book of job. He prefaced other works translated from English as well — for example, the works of the Erskines. Sadly, the only substantial writing of VanderGroe translated into English is a little booklet on the praying publican of Luke 18 (De gelijkenis van den Tollenaar).

Throughout his writings, VanderGroe emphasized the need for balanced and experiential application. He writes much about God’s dealings in the souls of His people, frequently using the balance of the Heidelberg Catechism as a guide. Hence much edifying material can be found in VanderGroe’s writings which provides invaluable guidance to true believers as they walk in paths of experiential misery, experiential deliverance, and experiential gratitude.

In the eighteenth century debate on whether assurance of faith is to be regarded as of the essence of faith, VanderGroe’s views emphasized strongly the need for assurance. He denied that faith was saving short of union with Christ. VanThuynen and Themmen supported his position. Brakel, Driessen, Groenewegen, and Lampe opposed it. Comrie offered a mediating position, agreeing with the former group by maintaining that confidence and assurance certianly belong to the essence of faith, while leaning toward the latter group when he taught that few true believers reach the level of full assurance in this life.

With the death of VanderGroe in 1784, the age of the “Nadere Reformatie,” which had already been in decline for nearly a century, drew to a close. Oh, may God yet take reasons out of Himself to revive us, to remember mercy in His wrath (Hab. 3:2), and to grant us a renewed Reformed reformation — biblically, doctrinally, experientially, and practically!

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