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Local author writes book about rediscovering the Old Testament, the Amsterdam way

August 21, 2025   ·   0 Comments

Dufferin County author Arnold De Graaff has written another book. It is quite different from his last publication, which was about the environment and the economy.

His latest book, The Prophetic Call to Love and Justice, is about the Bible, or in the words of the book launch flyer, “What is the Bible about? Not what you might think.”  

De Graaff was brought up in a strict Calvinistic home and community in Holland. He said he experienced it as a stifling ‘indoctrination’. His father would read from the Bible three times a day after every meal, and he had to go to church twice every Sunday until he was 17 years old and immigrated to Canada.

There was never any discussion of the Bible passages or sermons, De Graaff said. There was no joy, only a lot of doubt, uncertainty, and fear, for you never knew whether or not you were saved.

Calvinism is most well-known for its emphasis on ‘predestination’, on election and reprobation, and we could add, God’s eternal council, original sin, our total depravity, and a strong emphasis on morality (many do’s and don’ts). It was primarily based on theological, doctrinal concepts.

It did have a beautiful vision about all of life under the ‘kingship of Christ’, whether you were an artist or a lawyer, or a plumber; you were expected to do it in a Christian way, said De Graaff. This was the calling and expectation. There are no secular parts to life; everything is sacred.

“However, this great vision had its negative sides. It soon became too institutionalized, organized, and codified. Everyone seemed to know exactly what God’s will was for every aspect of life. There were ‘eternal creation ordinances’ for the state, family, labor, art, education, etc. that held from all eternity for all cultures and all peoples. It made for a strong ‘conservatism’ before the war,” said De Graaff.

De Graaff knew there was something wrong with this vision as it was lived in his family and community. It fragmented Dutch society along ideological lines and religious affiliations.

“The Dutch called it the ‘verzuiling’ (silos); each in their own corner without much interaction and knowledge of the other, except the conviction that they were wrong. The first waves of Dutch immigrants after the war in the 50’s and 60’s continued this tradition,” De Graaff noted.

“They built Christian Reformed churches; organized Christian schools, a Christian labor union, CLC; a Christian political presence, C.P.J.; Christian colleges, Redeemer in Hamilton and King’s college in Edmonton; a Christian university, ICS; a Christian farmers union, CFF; Christian counseling services; Christian retirement homes. From the cradle to the grave immigrant life was insulated from the bad, secular world.”

Meanwhile, in Holland, there was a strong reaction and rejection of the government’s colonial pre-war policies and lack of social legislation. Within a few decades, Holland changed from a primarily religious society to a predominantly secular society.

“The Reformed churches represent only a small percentage of the Dutch population. Millions of people left both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. Many experienced the new old age pensions and health care, introduced by the socialist governments as ‘heaven on earth’.  Most of the immigrants did not grow through this secularization process,” De Graaff explained.

Throughout this book, there are references to how he tried to escape this indoctrination and find an alternative view. Some could just shake off this imprinting when they came of age, but he was unable to do so. Something about this vision and way of life had touched him, so he looked for a genuine alternative. He finally found this in the Amsterdam way of interpreting scripture, as one of the subtitles reads.

Among other things, the book is a faithful record of this Amsterdam tradition, which started in the 30s and 40s as a protest against Nazism, with its destructive vision of life.

Instead of looking for the origin, history, or tradition of any particular text, or its literary beauty, like Homer and Shakespeare, they focused on the prophetic message of each passage or section. In the dominant methods, theologians distinguish at least 14 or 17 different ways of interpreting scripture. They all fragmented the text and left the interpreter with very little meaning, or treated the Bible like any other ancient document.

When De Graaff encountered the Amsterdam way of interpretation, he said it was a great discovery and a joyful experience.

“The Bible started to speak again as the living witness to the great Words and Deeds of God, presenting us with a way of living,” said De Graaff.

Two major books of the Old Testament, Genesis and Joshua, are explored in detail in the book.

In Genesis, the Lord created a good earth for all of humanity, as image bearers of God, both male and female together, to tend the earth for the benefit of all.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Although the book starts on a universal note, it narrows down to a particular people, at least for a time, until the Son could be born in a miraculous way as the many sons before him. From this, “my first-born Son who I have called from Egypt,” the blessing comes to all people and the whole earth.

The second book that the author deals with is Joshua. Again, instead of seeing Joshua as a book of military conquests, it is understood in the Amsterdam approach, more as a liturgical book. The actual ‘conquest,’ which was probably a slow penetration by desert tribes, only takes two chapters out of 24, after the circumcision of the children born in the desert, the celebration of the Passover, and the liturgical walk around Jericho for seven days.

It is a ‘non-historical’ conquest. It truly happened, but not in the way it is described. Joshua was most likely written many centuries later, during their exile. Jericho, as a strong fortified city, did not exist at the assumed time. It was located as the ‘entrance’ to Palestine; from Jericho, the whole land to the south and the north was wide open. Again, it is a confessional account in which all historical and geographical references serve the prophetic message.

Since the present Israeli government and army, as well as many settlers in the West Bank, appeal to the book of Joshua to justify their occupation of Gaza, De Graaff added a separate addendum in his book that addresses all the scriptural references to the Promised Land.

He explains that it is apparent there is no basis for appealing to Joshua in defense of political actions. He demonstrates that the Promised Land becomes the future promise for all: “It shall come to pass in the latter days… many nations shall come… they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid” (Micah 4:1-5).

Reconsidering Genesis and Joshua prompted De Graaff to add a chapter on humanity’s ‘God image’. It changed his childhood image of ‘fear and guilt’ to the God of love. God’s mercy and compassion win out over judgment and condemnation each time again, according to De Graaff.

“How can I give you up… my heart recoils within me, my heart grows warm and tender… I will not execute my fierce anger.” (Hosea 11: 8-9). This is God presented throughout the scripture, culminating in John’s declaration, “For God is love,” 1 John 4:8.

The rest of the book is devoted to four basic themes that are like crosscuts of the scripture. The last chapter deals with liturgy and worship. Deurloo, one of the founders of the Amsterdam tradition of interpreting scripture, had an unusual gift of bringing the Bible stories down to earth, right in the midst of their lives, without moralism, intellectualism, and historicism, said De Graaff.

The book ends with several examples of Deurloo’s approach. In all of it, the prophetic call to love and justice stands central, giving rise to joy, hope, and thanksgiving.

There will be a book launch of De Graaff’s new book, The Prophetic Call to Love and Justice, at Westminster United Church in Orangeville on Thursday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m.

All are welcome to attend.

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