NEW BOOK on Preacher and Reformer Simon van Velzen (1809-1896)

Watchman on the Walls of Zion: The Life and Influence of Simon van Velzen, by Rev Joshua Engelsma

Simon van Velzen was a powerful preacher of the gospel. He was a reformer of the church of Christ in the Netherlands in the Secession of 1834. He was a seminary professor who influenced hundreds of future Reformed ministers. He was a faithful husband and devoted father.

In his own day, he was held in high regard by such notable figures as Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, and was respected as a spiritual father and John Calvin-like figure by Reformed believers both in the Netherlands and America.

Sadly, many Reformed Christians in the twenty-first century have little, if any, idea as to who he is. Where he is remembered, he is often branded as being “unyielding, obstinate, and domineering,” and he is dismissed as being of little significance in the history of the church.

Here’s the biography that corrects the ignorance and misconceptions by setting forth the fascinating life of an influential figure in the history of Christ’s church.

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Joshua Engelsma is a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches of America. He has served as pastor of Doon Protestant Reformed Church since 2014. He is also the author of Dating Differently: A Guide to Reformed Dating.

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