Why Reformed Young Men's Societies

By Louis Berkhof

When the Board of the Federation of Reformed Young Men’s Societies invited me to speak on the above-named subject at the Convention in Chicago, it expressed the desire that I should answer a twofold question: (1) Why should we have Young Men’s Societies alongside of all the other agencies which in our circles contribute to the religious development of our young men? and (2) Why should these societies be of a specifically Reformed type? In deference to the expressed wish of the Board I shall try to give an answer to these questions in this address.

CrossReach Publications

• Language: English
• Publisher: CrossReach Publications
• Release date: Sep 9, 2018

Louis Berkhof

(1874-1957) He taught for thirty-eight years at CalvinTheological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Why Reformed Young Men’s Societies?

WHEN the Board of the Federation of Reformed Young Men’s Societies invited me to speak on the above-named subject at the Convention in Chicago, it expressed the desire that I should answer a twofold question: (1) Why should we have Young Men’s Societies alongside of all the other agencies which in our circles contribute to the religious development of our young men? and (2) Why should these societies be of a specifically Reformed type? In deference to the expressed wish of the Board I shall try to give an answer to these questions in this address.

It may naturally be taken for granted that the question which constitutes our subject refers to the Young Men’s Societies as they at present exist in our churches, societies that bear a definite religious stamp and aim at the religious training of our young men. The young men who constitute these societies are almost without exception in the period of adolescence, and therefore in one of the most important periods of life. When the Board assigned this subject to me, it did not in the least doubt the need of these societies. If we should draw that inference from the interrogatory form in which the subject is cast, we would be doing the executives of the Federation a great injustice. They are firmly convinced of the necessity and importance of these societies. In bringing the subject under consideration to the foreground, they merely had the desire to promote a better understanding of the essential character of our Young Men’s Societies, of their distinctive place as formative agencies, and of their proper function in the religious development of our young men.

The subject with which we are dealing testifies to a lively interest in the religious welfare of our young men. The Church did not always show as much interest in its young people and in young people in general as it does today. For many centuries it paid far more attention and made far more adequate provision for its children and for its adults than for its maturing youth. Young people were left very much in the cold, destitute of the fostering care, of the warmth and glow, and of the wise guidance of the Church in which they were born and reared. There were catechism classes for children even in the Middle Ages. The Council of Trent decreed that the children of the Church should be instructed in the fundamentals of the Christian religion, especially on Sundays and on other festive days. And the churches of the Reformation showed themselves even more diligent in this respect. It is a well-known fact that the great Synod of Dort devoted a great deal of attention to the catechetical instruction of the youth of the Church, and also made some provision for the indoctrination of young people. But in actual practice these did not receive very much instruction. The work of catechizing was largely entrusted to the school, and was to that extent naturally limited to children. The ministers did little more in this respect than preach on the Heidelberg Catechism, and were not always faithful in doing even that. Moreover, a custom of making confession of faith at the age of fourteen or fifteen often naturally brought with it an early termination of the catechumenate.

In 1780 the first Sunday School was opened; and with this a new agency was introduced for the religious training of the youth, an agency that was destined to be of far-reaching importance. The first Sunday Schools were of a philanthropic rather than of a religious character, and aimed at supplying the necessary education for a neglected youth. But when they multiplied and were also organized in places where adequate provision was made for the intellectual needs of the children, they gradually limited themselves to the work of evangelization and religious education. Having started outside of the Church mainly for philanthropic and evangelistic work, they were soon adopted by the Church and adapted to the