The Covenant Doctrine of the “Fathers of the Secession” (2)

The Radical Departure of Pieters and Kreulen In 1861, two ministers, K.J. Pieters and J.R. Kreulen, introduced into the Dutch Reformed churches of the Secession of 1834 a doctrine of the covenant that was both new to these churches and a radical departure from the accepted doctrine of the "fathers of the Secession." The two preachers set forth their novel doctrine in a book titled Infant Baptism.¹ Banishing Election The purpose of the book, and the fundamental characteristic of the covenant...