Page 61 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

In the years after the First Separation, several churches had individually
broken away from the national church over various disputes. In 1881
many of these congregations chose to band together under the name of
the Free Evangelic Church (Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten). Jan Poot
joined this group of churches. His move from Berlikum to Oude Leije
may have coincided with this formal break from the national church.

In 1881, Jan Poot published a 47 page book titled "Romans Nine"
("Romeinen Negen"), about the hotly debated theological concepts
expressed in that book and chapter of the New Testament. A second
edition was published in 1887 in Leeuwarden. One of the perennial
unresolved religious issues is whether people are saved by divine
election (predestination) or by faith (human action). A second
unresolved issue raised in Romans is the nature of the covenant of
salvation from God to Man. If God had extended his grace to include
both Jews and Gentiles, did it mean that all the people of earth could be
saved (common grace) or only those preselected/predestined (the elect)
by God?

Jan Poot contributed to the publication of a new periodical to promote the
evangelical principles. This magazine included contributions from ministers
in the national church as well as from the separated churches. The first
issue was published in 1880 and publication continued until 1887. This
was titled "Het Eeuwige Leven" ("The Eternal Life") and P. Huet was the
editor. Pieter Huet had been a nationally prominent conservative
theologian since about 1861. Huet was also well known for his volumes of
poetry. Huet lived 1827-1895, and is referred to as both Pieter and Pierre,
but most often by the initial "P". Huet was born in Dutch South Africa and
educated in the Netherlands. Presumably, Pierre was his birth name and
Pieter his adopted Dutch name.

A committee of ministers prepared the contents and worked to spread the
new evangelism. The committee consisted of: J.W. Poot of Oude Leije (FR),
H.E. Faure, J.G. Smitt of Amsterdam (NH), A. Bahler of Groningen (GR), Van
Paassen of Kapelle (ZL), J. van der Hoek of Westerlee (GR), M. Mooij of
Franeker (FR), A. Mooij of Wemeldinge (ZL), J. van Peetegem of Veendam
(GR), J. Horn of Sneek (FR), and J. de Hart of Hengelo (OV?). Huet and Faure
both came from South Africa and had attended university in Holland.

JW Poot may have been acquainted with the Mooij's as in-laws of the Poot
family. He also knew the Mooij's because they were active in the Free
Evangelic Church. Maarten Mooij apparently moved to Oude Leije to take
over the church there sometime after JW Poot left. Maarten's son, Arend
Theodoor Mooij, was born in Oude Leije in 1917. Arend grew up to become
a well- known writer and poet under the pseudonym A. Marja.

Similar to the American evangelists, this group sought to lead the nation's
youth away from sin and away from behaviors that were the "handmaidens

- Religious Turmoil - page 5 -