Our Church Order (Article 9)

The original article reads: "Novices (Nieuwelingen), priests, monks and others who have left some sect shall not be admitted to the ministry of the Church than with great care and caution after they have been well proved for a certain time." Let us first consider the original ruling in con­nection with the historical circumstance from which it rose. The word Novices in the ruling is evidently the signification of a class comprised of seceding priests, monks a'nd the others, in all likelihood...