Chair on Church History
Erik de Boer (born 1957) has held the Chair of Church History since 2016. He focuses his attention mainly on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in which the Reformation shaped church and society in Europe and in the Low Countries. Previously, he taught New Testament Greek and patristic Greek and Latin (2008-2011) and associate professor of Church History (2011-2015). He was also Extraordinary Professor of History of the Reformation at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2008-2018) and Patristics at Free State University in Bloemfontein South Africa (2010-2015). In 2009, he received an honorary professorship from the Sárspataki Reformtátus Teológiai Akadémia in Hungary for his work in Calvin research.
The theme of the 2018-2023 research program was “Religious Life and Ecclesial Practice: Europe and the Netherlands (16-18th century). Of particular note was that newer historiography speaks of ‘reformations’ in plural.
Visiting professor is Dr. Rudolph (R.M.) Britz, professor emeritus of church history at Free State University, Bloemfontein, South Africa, with the program ‘The impact of religious and ecclesial practice in the shaping of societies in Dutch colonial settings’ (2019-present).
Research from the Chair of Church History takes place within the Centre for Dutch Reformation Studies. This is part of the Neocalvinism Research Institute. Connecting factor is the chair’s study of the work of John Calvin and the recently established edition project Calvin’s Reforming Correspondence. That is under the direction of Dr. J.C. Klok.