JOHANNES VREUGDENHIL

23-03-1912 – 03-04-1981

Vreugdenhil was born in Vijfhuizen, a village in the province of North Holland. His father studied theology at a later age and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Churches. (Those churches who did not join in the Union of 1892.)

After serving there as minister for three years, he joined the Gereformeerde Gemeenten (A conservative bond of churches in the Netherlands.)Johannes Vreugdenhil

Johannes decided to become a teacher, serving at two different schools before becoming principal at the Groen van Prinsterer School at Kampen. He retired from this task in 1977.

He became quite famous in Reformed circles by the books he wrote: Bible History and Church History for Young and Old. Some 150 000 copies were sold of the Bible History set. Church History for Young and Old had thirteen reprints. The bible series was translated into four different languages. The Church History series was translated into English and Russian.

His youngest daughter wrote: ‘Dad demanded too much from himself and wanted to do too much too well.’ He saw the writing of these stories as a calling to which the LORD had called him. His focus was to make sure the message was conveyed properly. He was a perfectionist with much attention to detail.

He knew himself very dependent on the LORD, also in the little things of life. He was critical of a superficial faith, a faith with little content. He was equally critical of strict legalistic preaching. His main concern was for his children to love and serve the LORD.

Bible History & Church History for Young and OldWherever he was, there was a lively discussion happening.

He was married and received eight children. Although keeping strict discipline in his family, he also knew how to play with his children and invented all sorts of games for them. He loved his wife dearly and helped her where he could with the household chores. For eight years he served in the special office, first as deacon then as elder.

One of his mantras was ‘God makes His word true; He does what He promises’. He often stressed this to his children and his students. At 68 he developed a tumour for the second time. This became a difficult stage in his life. He would never complain, he accepted that whatever the LORD did was good. Slowly but surely his body wasted away. Once he confided to his daughter: ‘Now I can’t even kneel anymore’ He had great difficulty accepting that.

He died at the age of 68.

The complete book has been translated from Dutch to English, except one chapter at the translators discretion.

The links below are structured into 4 volumes each consisting of many chapters.

Clicking the link should automatically download the chapter in PDF format. Most devices now support viewing PDF’s but if you need a free PDF viewer consider using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Volume 1

Click HERE to download a zipped version of all Volume 1 Chapters.

00. Johannes Vreugdenhill
0. Why church history
1. The Apostolic Age
2. The start of the Jewish revolt
3. The destruction of Jerusalem (1)
4. The destruction of Jerusalem (2)
5. The stone which became a mountain
6. Nero the persecutor of the Christians
7. Domitian
8. Ignatius
9. Polycarpus
10. Justin the Martyr
11. Lyons and Vienna
12. Perpetua and Felicitas
13. A Spirit of Error (1) – Gnosticism
14. The Spirit of Error (2) – Marcion
15. The Spirit of Error (3) – Montanism
16. Two unsuccessful attempts to destroy Christianity
17. A Tough Trial
18. Constantine the Great
19. Something About The Catacombs
20. Julian the apostate
21. Athanasius and the Arian Conflict
22. Ambrose – The fearless bishop of Milan
23. The faithful bishop of Constantinople
24. Augustine (1) – His wild youth
25. Augustine (2) – The brave Warrior in God’s Church
26. The lie believed (1) – Veneration of saints and worshipping Mary
27. The lie believed (2) – Image worship and relics
28. The lie believed (3) – The popish mass and confession
29. Hermits and Monks
30. The Pope of Rome
31. Big changes. Migration Period
32. Gregory the Great
33. Mohammed the False Prophet
34. A Narrow Escape From Great Danger

Volume 3

Click HERE to download a zipped version of all Volume 3 Chapters.

65. Europe before the Reformation
66. Martin Luther (1) – His Youth
67. Martin Luther (2) – True peace sought and found
68. Martin Luther (3) – Luther against Tetzel
69. Martin Luther (4) – breaks with Rome
70. Martin Luther (5) – The Diet and the Wartburg
71. Martin Luther (6) – Ongoing Struggle and his death
72. Ulrich Zwingli (1)
73. Ulrich Zwingli (2)
74. John Calvin (1) – His youth
75. John Calvin (2) – His early ministry
76. John Calvin (3) – Second Genevan ministry
77. John Calvin (4) – His last Years
78. The Counter Reformation
79. Charles V’s dream to Unite Europe Fails
80. The Thirty Year War
81. The struggle in France
82. A Shameful Betrayal. The St Bartholomew night
83. God’s vengeance and the edict of Nantes
84. The Sun King and the Hugenots
85. England: The Anglican State Church
86. The Reformation in Scotland
87. John Knox, the Unyielding Scot
88. The Reformation in the Netherlands
89. Faithful unto Death (1)
90. Faithful unto Death (2)
91. God’s care for His church in the Netherlands
92. The troubled year of 1566
93. All seems to be lost
94. War and Victory
95. A dangerous onslaught upon God’s Church
96. The Attack Repulsed
97. The important Synod of Dordt

Volume 4

Click HERE to download a zipped version of all Volume 4 Chapters.

98. The English Church in the 17th Century
99. Governor – King William III
100. Pietism in Germany and the Netherlands
101. The Methodists
102. The Enlightenment
103. The French Revolution
104. The Foolishness of the Dutch
105. The Synod of The Hague – The Church muzzled
106. The Revival
107. The minister of Ulrum
108. The Secession 1834
109. Rev. Ledeboer and the Ledeboerians – Note 1
110. The Doleantie 1886 and Union 1892
111. The Reformed Church in the Netherlands After 1886
111A. From Union 1892 till Liberation 1944 (1) – Note 2
111B. From Union 1892 till Liberation 1944 (2) – Note 2
111C. From Union 1892 till Liberation 1944 (3) – Note 2
111D. The Liberation – 11th August 1944 – Note 2
111E. Covenant and Baptism – Note 2
111F. Pictoralia – Note 2
111G. Developments after the Liberation of 1944 – Note 2
111H. The B.V. Issue of 1967-69 (1) – Note 2
111I. The B.V. Issue of 1967-69 (2) – Note 2
112. The multitude which no man can number (1)
113. The multitude which no man can number (2)
114. The multitude which no man can number (3)
115. The multitude which no man can number (4)
116. The light on our path
117. and then the end will come!

Note(s):
1. Relevance of this chapter to church history was deemed irrelevant and therefore it has not been translated.
2. These chapters (111 A-I) are written by H. Ballast as J. Vreugdenhil did not cover this part of church history.

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