Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker
Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker (1839–1910) was a leading figure in the tumultuous late-19th to early-20th century Dutch politico-ecclesiastical landscape. Early life Born in 1839 into a Separated Reformed ("Afgescheiden Gereformeerde") church family – although his subsequent career would be conducted within the "Hervormd" national church – Hoedemaker spent his teen and early-college-age years in the United States, where his family moved in 1852. He studied theology for three years at the Congregationalist College in Chicago (again noteworthy considering his future ecclesiastical orientation), during which time he supported himself by preaching, for which, it was acknowledged on all sides, he had a gift. Hoedemaker returned to Europe in 1861 to complete his education, in 1867 graduating magna cum laude from Utrecht University with a doctorate in divinity, by virtue of a dissertation entitled Het Probleem der Vrijheid en het Theïstisch Godsbegrip [The Problem of Freedom and the Theistic Concept of God] (Amsterdam, H. Höveker, 1867). In the dedication he makes mention of a surprise figure, Ralph Waldo Emerson. First, he quotes him: Profounder, profounder mans [sic] spirit must dive, To his aye rolling orbit, no goal will arrive, The heavens which now draw him, with sweetness untold Once found, for new heavens he leaveth the old. after which follows the dedication proper: RALPH WALDO EMERSON, POET AND THINKER. FOR HIS KIND APPRECIATION OF MY BOYISH EFFORTS, AND THE IMPETUS HE HAS GIVEN TOWARDS MY STUDIES, AS WELL AS THE INFLUENCE HE HAS HAD ON MY MIND, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. Hoedemaker's orientation towards philosophy thus comes as no surprise. Emerson had sat in on one of his school presentations "and immediately saw something special in him." A broad philosophical and cultural interest accompanied his ecclesiastical and theological endeavors throughout his life. His stay in America also had an enduring effect on his outlook. "In all circumstances his mind retained something of the breadth of the forests and plains of America. Dutch popular piety and American cultural openness remained united in him. Something of the adventurous daring enterprise of the colonists intersected with his loyalty to the piety that he inherited, in particular from his mother." Indeed, it was his mother who prophesied that one day he would return to the fatherland and labor for the restoration of Neerlands kerk. Hoedemaker eventually made good on this prophecy, although only by more or less stumbling into it. As he related the story, upon arriving in the Netherlands he was invited to preach in two different congregations in Amsterdam, one a national Reformed, one a Separated Reformed. He accepted both invitations. But the separatist church, upon hearing of his acceptance of an invitation to preach in the national church, revoked its invitation. In this he discerned an indication of the direction his career should take. From minister of the Word to professor at the Free University Hoedemaker's career as minister of the Word began in 1868 in Veenendaal with a call to the national church congregation there. This was followed by