Refo500

In light of Reformation Day this week, and the forthcoming anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, we want to take a minute to share with you the work one organization is doing to bring lay people, pastors, and scholars all around the world together to discuss the Reformation, its impact, and its future. That organization is Refo500.

What is Refo500?

On the platform all kinds of partners from all over the world work together, to offer a program for a wide audience and to show the relevance of the reformation. Refo500 participants include Protestant and Catholic organizations, universities, seminaries, museums and so on. The platform is open to every organisation that agrees with the goal of Refo500.

Director

Dr. Herman J. Selderhuis serves as the director of Refo500. He is the Scientific curator Johannes a Lasco Library Emden and Professor of Church History and Church Polity at the Theological University Apeldoorn. He is the author of several books including John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life, Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms, and (as editor) Calvin: Saint or Sinner? The following interview was originally featured on the ActonInstitute website.

Vision and mission and goal

The Reformation, a movement of renewal and change, is relevant for the past, the present, and the future. Its significance and influence in several spheres has been undisputedly great, beginning in 1517.

Refo500 makes connections between items from the time of the Reformation and our time. It helps people to understand the meaning of the Reformation, to discover the relevance of the Reformation, and to see and experience the influence of the Reformation in several spheres. It pursues this exciting venture in a contemporary and fresh manner, with an open attitude towards the past and the present, towards church, culture, and society.

Refo500’s goal is taking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant reformation in 2017 as a starting point, to focus attention upon the reformations of the sixteenth century and their relevance, with emphasis upon such areas as history, theology, religion, politics, society and culture.

Upcoming Events

The Legacy of the Reformation Tour Come with Witte Travel on a journey from 11-19 July 2013 through the heritage of the Netherlands and Germany with special emphasis on the Heidelberg Catechism.

I Am With Body and Soul Johannes Blomenkamp composed a spiritual on question/answer 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism, entitled: ‘I am with body and soul’. He dedicated the spiritual to Hans-Georg Ulrichs, pastor in Heidelberg. You can download the sheetmusic from this website and also watch a video.

Reformation and Rationality On October 19, 2012 it is exactly 500 years ago that Martin Luther received his doctorate at the Leucorea University in Wittenberg. The LEUCOREA Foundation takes this jubilee as an occasion to organize a Refo500-conference on ‘Reformation and Rationality’.

International Conference on ‘Protestantism, Knowledge, and the World of Science’ 29-30 November 2012, an international conference will take place at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, on Protestantism, Knowledge, and the World of Science: Chapters from the History of Europe’s and Hungary’s Higher Education from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century. The conference will be opened by Herman Selderhuis, director of Refo500, and one of the keynote speakers is mr. Jan Peter Balkenende, former prime minister of the Netherlands.

Vernacular Bible and Religious Reform The Catholic University of Leuven organizes with a number of other institutions an international conference about ‘Vernacular Bible and Religious Reform’. The conference will take place in Leuven November 29th – December 1st 2012.

The Irenic Calvinism of Daniel Kalaj (d. 1681) New in the Refo500 Academic Studies Series of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: The Irenic Calvinism of Daniel Kalaj (d. 1681), A Study in the History and Theology of the Polish-Lithuanian Reformation.

The Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism for today Westminster Seminary California invites for its annual conference ‘The whole Armor of God: The Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism for today’ on January 18-19, 2013. This conference will explore the importance and relevance of two Reformed confessions, the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, in connection to the Armor of God in Ephesians 6.

Conference ‘Your Only Comfort’, January 18-19, 2013, Hamilton On January 18-19, 2013, a conference will be held at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism and exploring how this confession can continue to serve the church for generations to come.

CfP Third RefoRC Conference 2013 Berlin Berlin is home of the Third RefoRC Conference 2013, to be held May 16–18, 2013 and hosted by the Interdisciplinary Centre ‘Middle Ages – Renaissance – Early Modern Period’. You are invited to register and to submit short paper proposals.

Call for Papers International Conference ‘The Spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism’ June 21-22nd 2013, an international conference will take place in Apeldoorn on ‘The Spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism’. The conference will be hosted by the Theological University Apeldoorn. Short paper proposals can be submitted until January 2013. You can find the program in the new flyer on our website.