Abstracts

Below you can find the list with all the abstracts of the papers from the conference “Christianity and Slavery in the Dutch Caribbean Islands, Surinam, and the Netherlands”. The list with abstracts follows the order of the conference. Please use the search function (Ctrl+F) to quickly find a specific abstract. To go back to the conference program, click here.

Armando Lampe (independent researcher, armando.lampe@gmail.com), Some Historical Reflections on Christianity and Slavery in Curacao.

Keynote, tba.

Thandi Soko-de Jong (University of the Western Cape, thandisoko@gmail.com) – Electing God’s Elect: Dualism in the Doctrine of Predestination and its Role in the Justification of Slavery and Colonisation

This paper examines how the Protestant Calvinist doctrine of predestination is linked to the historical and ongoing legacies of the enslavement of Africans. Specifically, it explores how the doctrine of predestination has shaped attitudes toward the race-based chattel enslavement of Africans. Central to this paper’s discussion is the interpretation of this doctrine that teaches that certain individuals or groups are divinely “elected” for eternal salvation and, by extension, material and spiritual prosperity and power while the rest are divinely excluded from these “blessings” (Hartman 2023). Historically, similar to other tenets emerging from Abrahamic religions, the doctrine of predestination has been interpreted as a theological justification for the subjugation and exploitation of those deemed outside God’s election (reprobates). Emerging during Western Europe’s rise as a global power, interpretations of Calvinism linked material wealth with divine favour, portraying European economic success and political power as evidence of divine blessing. The gradual domination of non-European societies by Europeans was perceived by adherents of such interpretations of this doctrine as confirmation that the subjugated societies were “not chosen” by God.

This paper critiques this dualistic perspective by analysing the conflicting relationship Jacobus Elisa Johannes Capitein (1717–1747), a formerly enslaved Dutch Reformed clergy/missionary had with Calvinism. Capitein initially utilised the doctrine to justify the enslavement of fellow Africans. His experience as a formerly enslaved individual working as a chaplain at a port trading in enslaved people challenged some of his views. He began to, for instance, note the limits of Calvinism’s universalism and supremacy claims. To provide further insights, this paper references Christine Levecq’s (2019) analysis of the evolution of Capitein’s Calvinist beliefs during his brief tenure as a missionary at Elmina, in present-day Ghana. Levecq highlights how Capitein developed his missionary work within a context—and through personal experiences—that fell outside the “chosen/elected” Dutch Christian community in which he had been raised.

Levecq’s work highlights the role of Calvinism in legitimising and perpetuating the chattel enslavement of Africans. The paper concludes with reflections drawn from Black Theology—particularly the assertion that the doctrine of predestination was and is distorted to ease the consciousness of oppressors (Modise 2022). These reflections are used to critique harmful interpretations of the doctrine of predestination in the Dutch (theological) context, especially where they are employed to justify the past and ongoing legacies of race-based chattel slavery and colonisation.

Sources referenced in the abstract are listed below:

Hartman, Tim. 2023. “Flourishing for All?: Chosenness and Divine Election in James Cone and Karl Barth.” Black Theology 21 (2): 155–67. DOI:10.1080/14769948.2023.2233305.

Levecq, Christine. 2019. Black Cosmopolitans: Race, Religion, and Republicanism in an Age of Revolution. Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press.

Modise, Leepo J. 2022. “Critical Evaluation of the Doctrine of Predestination within Black-African Theology: Christ the Elected and Electing.” Theologia Viatorum 46 (1): a118.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/tv.v46i1.118.

Ben J. Ipenburg (independent researcher, benipenburg@gmail.com) – Contextual Theology in the 17th and 18th Century Republic of the United Netherlands

Every theology tries to find out the truth of the biblical testimony. In her search, she stands in a religious and political-social context. She reacts to it, is influenced by it. Apart from that, it cannot be understood, no matter how much it claims to be the only answer to the question of truth. My research question is grounded in the amazement at the acceptance of colonialism and slavery in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Reformed theology, the dominant religion in the Republic of the United Netherlands. How could this theology accept and encourage conquest and slavery against all contemporary religious intuitions?  The research question that I address in this lecture follows from this: Why did the Reformed theology of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Republic of the United Netherlands not develop biblical or theological arguments against slavery? Is there a dominant theological principle in this theology that legitimizes the submission of one man to another?  My research will show that Reformed theology is based on a fundamental theological assumption, the beating heart of this theology, namely the doctrine of predestination. In this doctrine, Reformed theology was opposed to Catholic doctrine. It emphasized the sovereignty of God and the total human dependence on God. This was a respectable position in the context of the time, in the theological and political struggle of the Republic to break away from the Catholic Church and Spanish rule, but with far-reaching political and social consequences in the secular dispensation. The ontology implied by Reformed theology was the ontology of difference, the other could be defined as an Other who had to be rejected, subordinated, chased away, forced into slavery. The question is relevant whether theologians at that time formulated universal theological or biblical counterarguments against this idea that slavery and Christianity are compatible. Based on which alternative theological and biblical insights did they do so? Was their thinking based on a different ontology? Finally, my research calls for theological self-reflection (if you like theological self-criticism or self-relativization) to make the ontological implications a critical part of our contemporary theological research.

Martijn Stoutjesdijk (Protestant Theological University, mjstoutjesdijk@pthu.nl) – “Very Many People”? On the Impact and Reach of the Dutch Theological Debate on Spiritual and Physical Slavery

In an anonymous, fictional, dialogue from 1676, a farmer, a citizen, a sailor and a clerk from The Hague discuss slavery in Suriname. In this dialogue, the farmer notes that slavery is “abolished by Christ, who has made us free” (Beschrijvinge van Guiana, 28). The sailor disagrees, arguing that this liberation is only about spiritual slavery (being a “slave of sin”) and not about physical slavery. Some eighty years later (1742), the famous black theologian Jacobus Capitein writes about the debate on slavery in the Netherlands: “It is too well known, to be drawn into doubt, that there are very many people in the Netherlands who wish to make it clear to themselves and others, in their mutual discussions, that the Liberty of the Gospel can in no way whatsoever go together with slavery” (Staatkundig-godgeleerd onderzoekschrift, 30). Both texts imply that the theological discussion on slavery pivoted on the nature of the liberation that Christ and the gospel announced. Although the dialogue and the work of Capitein suggest that it was a common assumption that the work of Christ cannot be combined with slavery, remarkably, we have hardly any sources that show this position. So, in this paper I go on a search for Dutch authors (both theologians and laypeople) who defended it. I also disseminate the work of Capitein, who is the most outspoken advocate of the position that Christianity and slavery can be compatible. Thirdly, I take a look at the way enslaved people in Suriname thought about the distinction between physical and spiritual slavery, by means of the Moravian journal Berigten uit de Heiden-wereld (1835-1863). By doing so, I hope to shed light to the question whether the discussion on slavery was only a debate in the margins of the Dutch colonial empire (the position of, e.g., Ben Ipenburg, 2024) or that it was carried out by “very many people in the Netherlands.”

Dienke Hondius (VU Amsterdam, d.g.hondius@vu.nl) – Baptism, Slavery and Freedom: Developing New Historical Insights

From the 15th century onwards, white European Christians, Roman Catholics and later Protestants, were directly involved in violent global expeditions where land was appropriated,  local churches were established, and slave trade and slavery were included in ideology and practice. Following inspiring recent research of a.o. Katherine Gerbner, Danny Noorlander, Gloria Wekker, Matthias van Rossum, Janneke Stegeman and Saskia Pieterse, as well as the researchers in the current Church and Slavery research project, the long and intertwined legacy of protestant supremacy and white supremacy deserve more interdisciplinary scholarly attention. Baptism was one activity held in colonial churches around the world from early on until today. This paper looks at the state of knowledge about the questions about slavery and baptism. What was the status of the children of enslaved women fathered by white European men? Where and when were enslaved, black, mixed children baptized? What do we know about instances and conditions where baptism could lead to freedom? These issues were an early topic of discussion on the agenda of the Synode of Dordrecht in 1618, following requests and developments in Batavia/Jacatra, the Dutch East Indies capital at the time. The paper looks at recent developments in research and suggests ways forward for this complicated topic. The main focus will be on findings about historical sources regarding the Netherlands, North America, Suriname, the Dutch Caribbean, South Africa, and Indonesia. Dutch church policy records show that church authorities engaged in direct and worldwide correspondence from Amsterdam and Zeeland. First findings include a list and map of African and Asian men, women and children baptized in churches in the Netherlands (Gids Kerk en Slavernijverleden, Hondius and Hemmen 2023). The paper provides options to develop further knowledge about the ideology and practice of baptism in the Dutch colonial empire. The legacy and influence of these developments are addressed as well.

Kyle J. Dieleman (Dordt University, kyle.dieleman@dordt.edu) – Honor Your Master?: Dutch Reformed Biblical Exegesis and Relationships of Enslavement

My paper proposes to explore the ways in which early modern Dutch Reformed authors who wrote commentaries on the Heidelberg Catechism or relevant New Testament passages provided theological justifications or challenges to systems of enslavement. In particular, the paper will address the fifth and eighth of the Ten Commandments and New Testament passages found in Paul’s epistles containing commands for slaves to obey their masters.  Potential Dutch Reformed authors to address include the likes of theologians such as John Calvin, Zacharias Ursinus, Cornelis Corstens, Peter de Witte, and Gisbertus Voetius. The tentative thesis of the paper is that Dutch Reformed theologians used biblical exegesis to both justify and object to the enslavement of others. In particular, the fifth commandment was exegeted as applying to relationships beyond parents and children, including between masters and servants or slaves, while the eighth commandment forbidding stealing was later applied to the theft of human beings. In addition, the exegesis of New Testament epistles led Dutch Reformed theologians to distinguish between spiritual and physical freedom, providing theological rational for the legitimacy of Christians enslaving other Christians.

Andrea Mosterman (University of New Orleans, amosterm@uno.edu) – From Gideon to Queen Esther: Religion and the Naming of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Slave Ships

In August of 1664, the WIC-chartered slave ship Gideon arrived in New Amsterdam—now New York City—with 290 enslaved men and women on board. Its captain, Simon Cornelissen Gilde had been contracted by the WIC and the city of Amsterdam to bring as many African captives as possible from West Central Africa to Curaçao, and from there transport 300 enslaved people to the Dutch colony of New Netherland. This was not the first time Gilde had trafficked enslaved Africans across the Atlantic on board the Gideon. At this point, at least 1,200 people had been chained in its hold during several transatlantic passages.

The Gideon was named after the prophet Gideon, leader of the Israelites. Unlike Portuguese, French, and English slave ships of the time, it was not uncommon for Dutch ships to be named after Old Testament Biblical figures. Other seventeenth-century Dutch ships that brought enslaved people to the Americas carried names like King Salomon, Prophet Daniel, Queen Esther, and King David. In this paper, I will explore the naming of these seventeenth-century Dutch slave ships, and what a consideration of their names reveals about religion and Dutch attitudes toward Dutch expansion, slavery, and the slave trade during this period.

Anna Kasafi Perkins (University of the West Indies, anna.perkins@uwimona.edu.jm) – Reading Against the Grain: John Lindsay’s Justification of Polygenesis and Slavery

That Christianity/the Church played a significant role in shaping the racial ideologies that supported Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) and the Transatlantic Trade in Africans (TTA) is unquestioned. The usual “explanation” is via the biblical story of the curse of Ham (Genesis 9.24-25). Thus told, Ham’s descendants (supposedly/incorrectly identified as Africans) are punished with perpetual slavery for his transgression. However, such biblical justification may rest on fundamental racial perspectives that warrant examination, especially as they were deployed in a specific plantation context. This presentation builds on the work of historian Barry Higman – Proslavery Priest: The Atlantic World of John Lindsay, 1729-1788 – to explore the religio-scientific ideology of Anglican cleric John Lindsay (1729-1788), who lived in Jamaica for thirty years. Lindsay, a Scotsman, with wide Atlantic World experience, was chief minister of the Anglican Church in Jamaica; a slaveholder, he was complicit in and latterly outspokenly supportive of slavery (“Proslavery”, as Higman describes him). Indeed, Lindsay has been described as the Jamaican planters’ “most influential theorist”. Today Lindsay is little known, so Higman rescued this clergyman from some obscurity with his research and publication. In so doing, Higman provided an insight into the intellectual reasoning of a leading representative of the Anglican Church, who, drawing on Enlightenment theories/explanations of human origins, particularly radical polygenesis, justified slavery.  “He went to great lengths to read against the grain of biblical cosmology, in order to claim that humans have a variety of progenitors”. The presentation further considers the legacy of such religiously sanctioned pseudo-scientific theories of racial inequality today and the role of the Church in supporting and combatting it.

Annette Merz (Protestant Theological University, abmerz@pthu.nl) – What are the Tasks of Biblical Scholarship with Regard to Exemplary Slaves and Slavery Metaphors in the Bible?

What are the tasks of biblical scholarship with regard to exemplary slaves and slavery metaphors in the Bible?

An examination of the reception history of biblical texts on slavery and slavery metaphors reveals that these texts have had a significant impact on the normalisation and legitimisation of colonial slavery and therefore have contributed to the perpetuation of colonial slavery in the Caribbean region and elsewhere. There is also a less documented counter-use of slavery imagery to liberate the oppressed or to develop a positive identity for the (formerly) enslaved, building, for example, on the Exodus tradition (Johannes King), the creation account (Tula) and Jesus as the exemplary slave of God (EBG). Recent research within the so-called Next Quest for the Historical Jesus has emphasised the possible value of thinking of Jesus as the son of an enslaved woman.

In metaphor theory, metaphors are described as rhetorical devices that help to say something that could not be said without the metaphor in non-figurative language. Which begs the question: is the image of slavery really irreplaceable in biblical theology? Examples from history, such as Onesimus, the runaway slave, and even Jesus himself, are important means of developing narratives of identity and examples of exemplary behaviour. Exemplary slaves and slavery metaphors are an integral part of the Bible and structure theological thinking and speaking, liturgical action and lived religion, often without being recognised.

Drawing on insights from earlier work on the theological importance of slavery metaphors and the reception history of the Bible in relation to colonial slavery, this talk will ask what the tasks of biblical scholarship and church leadership are in our current situation. The following aspects will be discussed: historical tasks concerning the texts and their reception history, systematising descriptions that integrate more recent findings of post-colonial research and metaphor theory, normative theological reflection and contextual pastoral considerations.

This is the description for the full, written paper. For the oral presentation I will limit myself, probably to the example of Jesus as (possible) “son of an enslaved woman” and “exemplary slave of God”.

Vincent Laarman (VU Amsterdam, v.laarman@vu.nl) – Slavery, Finances and the Reformed Churches throughout the Dutch Colonial Empire

The financial administration of the Dutch Reformed Church within the Dutch colonial empire has received only limited attention from scholars. The activities of this church were, for the most part, funded by the trading companies (i.e. the VOC and WIC) through local colonial governments and simultaneously the church was heavily depended on contributions from its adherents. Historiography has revealed examples of church personnel that were actively involved in slaveholding and the ownership of plantations, in addition to their roles within the church congregation. However, the extent to which these local Reformed churches itself were also engaged in the colonial economy remains to be elucidated. This paper will analyze the financial administration of the Dutch Reformed Church in the eighteenth century by looking at case studies from different locations (such as Curaçao and Suriname) and address the following questions: Did the Reformed churches have additional sources of income? What plans were made to enlarge the financial resources of the church? Did the local Reformed churches take part in slaveholding? The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the various ways in which the Dutch Reformed Church was intertwined with the colonial economy and the system of slavery, focusing primarily on the church as a colonial institution.

Alexander van der Meer (Leiden University, a.van.der.meer@hum.leidenuniv.nl) – Slavery and the Diaconate in Eighteenth-Century Batavia

This paper examines the central role of the Dutch Reformed diaconate in managing slavery and manumission in the understudied eighteenth century Batavia. It will be shown that the diaconate in essence offered a social safety net for manumitted Christians – who could apply for diaconal alms upon conversion and/or manumission.  Some ministers promoted a generous diaconal policy as a deliberate strategy, aware that the lack of government-sanctioned charity for non-Christians made diaconal aid a pull factor for conversion to Dutch Reformism. Some churchmen argued that this would serve the interests of the VOC, as Christians were deemed more loyal to Dutch rule, while also countering the spread of Islam in Batavia. Diaconal aid was thus weaponized as missionary strategy and as tool of state.

Diaconal records indicate that this policy successfully attracted large numbers of enslaved who converted, were manumitted, and subsequently sought aid. However, this drained the diaconate’s coffers, which led to an increased involvement in slavery and manumission practices. Christian slaveowners were required to pay fines to the diaconate upon manumission to offset future costs, making this the second-largest source of income in 1766. Additionally, the diaconate facilitated agricultural initiatives in the ommelanden, granting plots of land to recently freed individuals to reduce reliance on aid. By offering support to manumitted Christians, the diaconate indirectly facilitated slavery, alleviating colonial slaveholding elites of responsibilities toward unproductive enslaved individuals and preventing social instability due to poverty and crime. The diaconate thus in essence grew to be entwined with, dependent on, and facilitated slavery and manumission in Batavia.

(This paper is based on chapter 7 of my dissertation, which has been approved by my supervisors and will most likely be defended in the autumn of this year. The dissertation is titled ‘Colonial Calvinism: Colonial ideologies of Dutch clergymen in Batavia, ca. 1700-1850.’ Chapter 7 is titled ‘Slavery, Indigents and Ommelanden: Christian-Making and Subject-Making through the Diaconate.’)

Erica Meijers (Protestant Theological University, pemmeijers@pthu.nl) – The Confession of Belhar and its significance for the theological debate on Restorative Justice 

In 1982, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (now World Communion of Reformed Churches) declared a status confessionis with regard to apartheid, confessing that racism and the apartheid system is not only a sin, but that its theological justification is a heresy. The Confession of Belhar (1986) can be regarded as the positive reaction to this status confessionis, as it expresses what Reformed South-African Christians confessed with regard to apartheid and racism.  It pointed to Unity, Reconciliation and Justice as the central themes for Church and theology in a context of apartheid and racism.

This paper discusses the significance of this Confession 40 years after its acceptance by the synod of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa  for the debate on Church and Slavery and its Afterlife today.

It first introduces the historical background of the Confession of Belhar, then it relates its context of apartheid to the 17th Century, when colonialism and slavery were installed in South Africa. It will then focus on the significance of the Confession of Belhar for today’s theological understanding of restorative justice in the context of Slavery and its Afterlife. I will argue that the emphasis in the Confession of Belhar on the visibility of the central themes ‘Unity, Reconciliation and Justice’ is of crucial importance for the theological debate on Restorative Justice.

Franz R. Exumé (Church of God in Christ, fexume@gmail.com) – Touched by the Breath of God: Isabella Baumfree, Dutch New World Slavery and Politics of Freedom

The Dutch engagement in slavery spanned over three centuries, forcibly transporting and enslaving millions of Africans in countries within the Caribbean and Latin America and in Dutch settlements in the United States. This essay delves into the institution of slavery practiced by the Dutch immigrants in New York State, examining how they perceived themselves as distinct and the methodologies they employed to oppress Africans. It also explores the resistance that emerged among enslaved Africans, focusing on Isabella Baumfree, of Ghanaian descent, who later renamed herself Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth’s life is as a powerful lens through which to examine the intersection of slavery, language, geography, and religion. The Dutch enslavers’ use of language as a tool and the geography of oppression are exemplified in the life of Isabella Baumfree.  She would later use that same tool, language, and the richness of Black religion to proclaim and advocate for freedom, testifying as she would state to the hope within her for other enslaved Africans in New York and other states and advocate for women’s rights. Her theological vision of freedom, sparked by being “touched by the breath of God,” underscored the religious underpinning of her advocacy for freedom and women’s rights.  This essay argues that Sojourner Truth’s conceptualization and experience of freedom are rooted in a theological understanding and posture situated in African spirituality, highlighting the complex interplay between oppression, resistance, and liberation.

Gelien Matthews (University of the West Indies, gelien.matthews@sta.uwi.edu) –The Christian Church in the Last Days of Slavery in the British Caribbean.

Keynote – tba.

Gert van Klinken (Protestant Theological University, gjvanklinken@pthu.nl) – Marten Douwes Teenstra and the Netherlands Antilles

Marten Douwes Teenstra (1795-1864) worked as an agriculturalist and inspector of public works in the Dutch West Indies between 1828 and 1834. He visited Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Saba, St Eustatius and St Martin at several times. Over the years, Teenstra struggled to disentangle himself from traditional Biblical arguments to justify the enslavement of others (curse of Ham), then also from modern White racism. Finally he would establish himself as a pioneer of Dutch Abolitionism, following British and American examples. How difficult this was for him to achieve is obvious from his publications, especially: De Nederlandsche West-Indische Eilanden, 1-2 (Amsterdam: C.G. Sulpke, 1836-1837) and Beknopte beschrijving van de Nederlandsche Overzeesche Bezittingen voor de beschaafde lezers uit alle standen, uit de beste bronnen en eigen ervaring in Oost- en West-Indiën geput, in three parts (Groningen: J. Oomkens, 1846-1852).

This contribution discusses the way Teenstra reported about several important aspects of community live in the Netherlands Antilles: economy, religious and ethnic diversity, enslavement and emancipation, education. Of special interest are the many conversations between Teenstra and the islanders, and the way he would use the content of these exchanges in his later publications. Were the cultures of the West Indies really so different from their counterparts in the Netherlands as commonly assumed in his days?

Alma Louise de Bode-Olton (Episcopal Church Curaçao, almadebode@gmail.com) – The Anglican/Episcopal Church & Slavery in the Dutch Caribbean Islands (SSS)

During slavery, various strands of Christianity, including Anglicanism, were introduced to the Americas. The Anglican Church (later: Episcopal Church) played an integral part of the social and economic system of slavery both in North America and the Wider Caribbean. The church’s theology and Western Culture historically have been marked by centuries of ambivalence and ambiguity about the morality of slavery.

The so-called “Mother Church” of the British Empire arrived in the Caribbean in 1632, most likely played a role in molding and shaping the everyday lives of the colonizers and enslaved peoples in the territories, we call today “the Dutch Caribbean”. The British slavery and slave trade in the 17th century were almost entirely confined to the Caribbean colonies. The empire rose to prominence and eclipsed other European powers,  in complexity and scale. But to what extent the church played a political and social role, if not always a spiritual, in these territories is unknown.

Missionary work of the Anglican Church in the colonies (later: Dutch territories, except Bonaire) as well as the complex relationship with the transatlantic slave trade and related economic legacy of slavery, are neither very well understood and remain both a challenge as a subject of research.

This paper is a first attempt to look into the general historical narrative of the Anglican/Episcopal Church and slavery in SXM, Statia, Saba and Curaçao. This could help get some insight into the topic of slavery, its legacy in the church and how the church perceived her own involvement.

Donate Philbert Nieveld (Protestant Theological University, dbnieveld@pthu.nl) – Faith, agency, and heritage: The experiences of enslaved owned by Reverend Cornelis Conradi after their forced migration from Curaçao to Suriname in 1856

The Dutch Reformed  Church was the most powerful church body in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean during Colonial times (Noorlander, 2019). Protestantism and Dutch colonialism were linked. Church members belonged to the European Dutch elite in Curaçao and Surinam. Based on archival research in National Historical, Church Archives, and slave registers in the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Suriname, the paper will focus on a case of a Dutch Protestant reverend, who next to preaching engaged in the trade of enslaved people he owned in Curaçao and shipped to Suriname when he immigrated from Curaçao to work in Suriname. For a long time, Curaçao was a trade and slave depot and did not know a plantation-based economy, while Suriname did have a thriving plantation system. The Church used several passages  from the Bible to provide a moral and religious justification for slavery. These passages were used to pacify the enslaved, instruct the enslaved to be submissive to their masters and endure suffering as a reflection of Christ. They were also used to support oppressive social structures and ideologies. The Church outsourced conversion to the Roman Catholic missionaries in Curaçao and the Moravian Missionaries in Surinam (Lampe, 2001). From the perspective of the enslaved people of African descent, they perceived the interpretations of the Bible in Curaçao and Surinam between 1850-1873 as extreme and barbaric but exercised agency in any way or form. They combined Christianity with their own African spiritual belief systems such as Winti , Tambu , and Montamentu

Wycliffe S. Smith (independent researcher, wycliffesmith@gmail.com) – The Role of the Christian Church in the History of Slavery on the Dutch Windward Islands

This paper explores the relationship between Christianity and slavery in the Dutch Windward Islands—St. Eustatius, Saba, and St. Maarten—during the period 1643 to 1863. The study begins with the earliest documented presence of a Dutch Reformed minister on St. Eustatius (1643) and concludes with the abolition of slavery in the Dutch Caribbean (1863). It examines the roles, theological positions, and missionary strategies of six Christian denominations active during this period: the Dutch Reformed Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church, and the Roman Catholic Church.

While all these churches operated within the broader context of European colonialism and economic exploitation, their approaches to the enslaved population varied considerably. The research investigates how these denominations engaged with enslaved Africans and their descendants—whether through exclusion, indifference, partial inclusion, or genuine outreach and catechization.

The study also considers the wider implications of efforts to Christianize the enslaved, including the dual role of religion as a tool of social control and as a source of cultural resistance and identity among the enslaved. By comparing the attitudes and practices of these different denominations across the three islands, this paper provides a deeper understanding of how churches interacted with and responded to the realities of slavery, and how enslaved people themselves responded—whether by resisting, adapting to, or embracing the Christian faith within the oppressive environment of slavery.

Paul Stuit (Saxion University of Applied Science Enschede, stppl70@yahoo.com) – Slavery, salvation, and slander: The Methodists on St. Maarten in the first half of the 19th century

The historiography of the Dutch Caribbean has been dominated by studies of Suriname and Curacao. The bovenwindse islands (known as the Leewards in English-language literature) of Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten are relegated to margins of discussions of the main drivers of the history of the Dutch empire in “the West”: trade, migration, religion, and enslavement. Other than passing mentions of the centrality of trade for the free port of St. Eustatius, the so-called “Golden Rock” in the 18th century, these islands are largely ignored.

Yet, as our paper will show, the Dutch Leeward islands were centers of vibrant discussions of the intersection of Christianity and enslavement. Focusing on St. Maarten (shared between the Dutch and the French to this day) in the first half of the 19th century, our paper will highlight the tensions between island elites and Dutch colonial officials centered on the growing calls for the abolition of the trade in enslaved people. The presence of Methodist (Wesleyan) clergy on St. Maarten, some of whom were of “mixed” origin themselves, was not welcomed by island elites. Methodists’ abolitionist theology and their establishment of schools for free and enslaved people of color was seen as threatening. Interestingly, however, Dutch colonial officials seem to have supported their activities. Notable in its absence was the Dutch Reformed Church.

Our paper will help integrate the Leeward islands into larger discussions of the Dutch Caribbean and shift the focus on Christianity and enslavement to denominations other than the Dutch Reformed.

Margo Groenewoud (independent researcher, groenewoudresearch@gmail.com) – Searching for Schinck: Revisiting Missionary Work on Curaçao in the Age of the Revolutions

Missionary work on the Caribbean island of Curaçao has been relatively well documented. In line with what happened elsewhere, historiography has been used since around 1900 to promote the mission, resulting in a wide range of monographic and commemorative publications. Though tending towards hagiography, and not too concerned with referencing sources, this corpus is of substantial value where archives are no longer available. A remarkable case in this regard is the Franciscan priest Jacobus Schinck (1748-1814) who arrived on Curaçao in 1778. Schinck became a well-known and legendary historical figure because of his interaction with the leader of the enslaved Tula in the wake of the August 1795 revolt. Apart from the ad verbatim reports relative to the revolt, however, archival traces of Schinck seem non-existent, leaving us with many questions about for example his theology, his philosophy and his relationship with his congregation. In this paper I share my search for Schinck in the archives and reflect on what this search tells us about missionary work in the Caribbean in the age of the revolutions.

Cees Luckhardt (FuHiKuBonaire, cluckhardt@hetnet.nl) – “In the name of …? Niewindt and the catholic way of thinking of the enslaved people on Bonaire (Curacao and Aruba)”

Priest, later on Bisschop, Mgr. Martinus Niewindt wrote from 1824 till his dead in 1860 all kind of letters to the Dutch government giving essential information about the live and work of the enslaved people on Bonaire.

Therefore Niewindt is one of the main original sources telling us how terrible the slavery circumstances were on Bonaire in the 19^th century. But unfortunately his information is  until today used to stretch the whole period of slavery on Bonaire from 1636 till 1860.

Before his travels to Bonaire around 1840, already all kind of letters were written to the Dutch government in the Hague about the working and living circumstances of the enslaved people on Bonaire. in 1819 inspector ‘Van Utrecht’ wrote ‘’no doubt about it, of course enslaved people get sick here’’( “Geen wonder dat de slaven hier ziek moeten worden”). And later, in 1834, the enslaved people themselves organized an uprising. In 1836 Teenstra even wrote about the so called ‘’chainslaves’’. All this happened before Niewindt visited the island and started to write about the terrible situation on Bonaire.

In the Niewindt letters his ideas can be found on how to the change their horrible lives. Despite all the Caribbean uprisings and the great revolution on Haiti and uprising on Curaçao in the decades before Niewindt was sent to Curaçao and its dependencies, to spread the Christian belief and thinking to Curaçao and its dependencies, he never asked to abolish slavery in these letters.

Niewindt had his own special way of thinking about slavery and enslaved people. Strangely he didn’t find it a problem to have enslaved people as property of the Catholic church on Curaçao.

Never the less Niewindt is until now presented as an important emancipator. Just four months ago, the ‘Reformatorisch Dagblad’ wrote, while remembering two hundred years after the Catholic church had sent Martinus Joannes Niewindt: “that Niewindt should be considered as a great fighter for freedom and developing the poor enslaved population on the islands of Curacao (Bonaire and Aruba) who were then colonized by the Dutch”.

I will question this emancipated thinking of Niewindt and bring his thoughts alive on slavery and the enslaved people on Bonaire (and Curacao/Aruba) by consulting the National Archief on the letters from Niewindt, the local newspapers on Bonaire and Curaçao, and the books listed below. They will provide me the data and information that will make it possible, after this research, to analyze the results to come to social, cultural,  economic and political conclusions on how the thoughts of Niewindt and therefore the Catholic Church’s were on slavery and its abolishment and how important they were to continue the status quo or emancipated the enslaved people on the islands.

The main sources that I will us for this study are:

• J.M. Dahlhaus, Monseigneur Martinus Joannes Niewindt. Eerste Apostolisch Vicaris van Curacao. Een levensschets 27 augustus 1824-12 januari 1860 (Amsterdam: Caribpublishing, 2012).
• Rose Mary Allen and Christel Monsanto, “Drie Amsterdammers in Curaçao in de Negentiende Eeuw,” in P. Brandon, G. Jones, N. Jouwe en M. van Rossum (red.), De Slavernij in Oost en West: Het Amsterdams Onderzoek (Amsterdam: Spectrum, 2020), (181-189,184).
• Donk, Beschaving, Bekering en Bevoogding. Honderd jaar onderwijs op Curaçao, Aruba en Bonaire 1816-1916. (Edam, LMPublishers, 2019).
• de Wildt and L. Leonora, Gids Slavernijverleden Curaçao (Edam, LMPublishers, 2025)
• Teenstra, De Nederlandsche West-Indische Eilanden 1795-1864 (Amsterdam, Emmering, 1977)
• M.G. Rutten, Contouren van slavenrebellie en slechte medische zorg op Bonaire in Kring voor de Geschiedenis van de Pharmacie in Benelux, nr 95 (Haarlem, Kring, 1998), (35-40)
• Journaal Van Uytrecht, 23 december 1819, in Coomans-Eustatia, Veranderend Curaçao, 1998 and in C. Luckhardt and Boi Antion, Bonaire een koloniale zoutgeschiedenis, (Edam, LMPublishers, 2023),(151).
• Journaal Van Uytrecht, 21 februari 1825, in Hartog Bonaire, 1957, and in C. Luckhardt and Boi Antoin, Bonaire een koloniale zout geschiedenis (Edam, LMPublishers, 2023) (153)
• Luckhardt and Boi Antoin, Bonaire een koloniale zout geschiedenis (Edam, LMPublishers 2023) (151-157)
• Rose Mary Allen, Kerken en geloof op de Nederlands-Caribische eilanden bezien vanuit het oogpunt van de agency van slaafgemaakten, in Perspectief, nr. 62-2024: Katholieke Vereniging voor Oecumene (maart 2024) (6 and 15-16)
• Reformatorisch Dagblad: Martinus Niewindt, Emancipator van de arme slavenbevolking op Curaçao (november 2024)
• Nieuwe Venlosche Courant: Van Negerslaaf tot vrije katholiek. De strijd om de waarheid in Curaçao (23 augustus 1928) (art. 60),
• Niewindt:Catecismo Corticu pa uso di catolicanan di Curaçao. (1837 & 2001) Het eerste geschreven catechismus in het Papiaments.

Marlon Winedt (United Bible Societies, mwinedt@biblesocieties.org) – Subversive Scriptures: Reclaiming Emancipatory Messages through Creole Bible Translations

This paper examines how Bible translation has influenced the emancipation of post-enslaved communities in regions linked to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, focusing on the creole languages of the ABC islands and Suriname. Translating the Bible—a prestigious literary and religious work—into these languages has elevated their status as mediums of communication, fostering, explicitly and at times subversively, a positive evaluation of creole identity. While vernacular Bible translations—particularly of the Pauline letters—have been misused to justify slavery, this paper explores strategies to counteract such abuses and reclaim the redemptive message of key passages. A case in point is the letter to Philemon, which, when considered within the Greco-Roman context of slavery, reveals a strong emancipatory message. Specific problems and strategies in its translation to Papiamentu, Sranan Tongo, Aukan, and Saramaccan will be discussed to illustrate how textual choices and paratextual material can contribute to the healing process of creolized communities. The arguments are developed within the framework of postcolonial translation studies, as articulated by scholars like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; Caribbean theology, as developed by, among others, Garnett Roper; and the notion of créolité, as presented by Édouard Glissant, addressing the negative impact of slavery and transgenerational trauma affecting the Caribbean subconscious. This approach promotes confrontation, dialogue, and reconciliation through Bible translation as a social justice issue, acknowledging that the Caribbean reality, both in the region and in the diaspora, is one of hybridization and liminality across different people groups that become a unified people out of many.

Dimitri Cloose (National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM) Foundation, d.cloose@naam.cw) – Faith, folklore, and oppression: the ethnographic collection of Brenneker-Juliana

Examining the ethnographic writings and oral history recordings of Paul Brenneker, a Dutch Roman-Catholic priest, and Elis Juliana, an Afro-Curaçaoan cultural autodidact, in relations to the preservation of Afro-Caribbean spiritual and cultural traditions. Their work documents folklore, and non-Christian beliefs in relation to the then-governing Christian beliefs. It provides a nonbiased perspective on how enslaved and formerly enslaved communities navigated religious and cultural identity under colonial rule. Their recordings offer a counterbalance to the often controlling and biased role of the Church.

Rather than imposing interpretations, Brenneker and Juliana documented local beliefs and customs as practiced and understood by the people themselves. Their work highlights how African spiritual traditions persisted alongside imposed Christian doctrines. Christianity, introduced through colonial rule and often enforced as a tool of control over the enslaved population, interacted with African and indigenous spiritual traditions. This created a unique religious landscape where Christian teachings merged with ancestral practices. These traditions shaped both personal and communal identities, despite pressures to conform to Christianity.

This research preserves the voices of those who lived through these transformations. The Brenneker-Juliana collection is a vital resource for understanding how religion, culture, and resilience intertwined in daily Afro-Caribbean life. Christianity never fully replaced ancestral-derived beliefs. Instead, spiritual practices became a means of adaptation allowing people to preserve their cultural identity despite oppression. This topic emphasizes the importance of local perspectives over colonial or religious narratives. The NAAM collection provides crucial insights into how faith, power, and resistance shaped Afro-Caribbean communities under colonial rule.

Franklin Jabini (independent researcher, frankjabini@gmail.com), Confronting a Troubled Inheritance: Biographical Portraits of Christianity in the Era of Surinamese Slavery and Beyond.

Keynote – tba.

Richenel Ansano (independent researcher, richenel.ansano@gmail.com)  – (De)ancestralizations of Africans: Christianities in African Curaçaoan Identity Formation

With the onset of European imperialist expansion closing the 15th century came a corresponding political, institutional, and ideological incursion, largely conveyed through religious channels. While imperialism’s political economy operated through conquest, territorial exploitation, and the transformation of native populations, ecologies, and geographies into productive resources, it was also underpinned by a “moral economy” shaped by religion, law, arts, and medicine. A central element of this moral economy was the imposition of Christian doctrines upon indigenous populations and, later, upon Africans brought to the Americas as enslaved laborers.

Africans, especially those in West Central Africa, had already encountered Christianity prior to enslavement, which informed their engagement with Christianity in the Americas. In Curaçao, religious institutions often colluded with colonial authorities. Even acts of charity and mediation tended to align, explicitly or implicitly, with colonial interests. However, Africans also strategically reinterpreted and sometimes resisted Christian teachings based on their previous experiences, the realities of colonial society and slavery conditions.

After slavery, Curaçao’s Christian landscape diversified as migrants from across the Caribbean brought new forms of Christianity, further shaped by regional spiritualities. Two strains of liberation theology also challenged traditional colonial legacies by advocating justice and empowerment for marginalized communities. Earlier formulations of Afro-Curaçaoan liberationist Christianities ranged from leadership in the 1795 war in Curaçao to abolitionist work in the American colonies. The shape and transmission of these christianities is conceptualized in this paper as ancestralizations and de-ancestralizations in which the legacy is either denied or affirmed, or where traditions are strategically invented.

Roberto (Bob) Harms (independent researcher, bobharms1@gmail.com) – Syncretism and Spiritual Resilience: Christianity and Afro-Caribbean Spirituality in the Dutch Caribbean

This abstract explores the intersections between Christianity and slavery in the Dutch Caribbean Islands, especially the island of Curacao during the colonial era. It examines how Christianity functioned as both a tool of oppression and a source of spiritual resilience for enslaved African and Afro-Caribbean communities. The paper investigates the role of missionary activity in advancing colonial agendas while highlighting how enslaved individuals adapted and reinterpreted Christian teachings within their cultural and spiritual frameworks.

By analyzing historical records, oral traditions, and cultural practices, this study reveals the complex process of syncretization, wherein elements of African traditional belief systems were interwoven with Christian rituals. Special attention is given to the veneration of Catholic saints, reflecting a unique blend of Afro-Caribbean spirituality and Christianity that originated in encounters with Christianity in regions like Ndongo and Matamba as early as the mid-14th century. These practices later evolved in the Dutch Caribbean, forming a basis for spiritual resilience and identity.

The study also considers the position of Curaçaoan healers known as “Kurioso,” who blended African healing and spiritual traditions with local practices. These healers were respected figures within colonial society, acknowledged even by church authorities and ethnographers such as Dominican priests Paul Brenneker and Cees Streefkerk.

This research contributes to a deeper understanding of Christianity’s dual role in the history of slavery—as a mechanism of control and as fertile ground for the emergence of enduring spiritual traditions that continue to shape cultural identities today.

Duncan Wielzen (Roman Catholic Diocese of Rotterdam, dr.wielzen@gmail.com) – The resilience of Afro-Caribbean spirituality in a postmodern society

This paper explores the resilience of Afro-Caribbean spirituality after the era of Transatlantic slavery, focusing on its ongoing influence within contemporary Afro-Caribbean communities in the Western world. It examines the motivation(s) of an increasing number of Black people in the Netherlands who no longer identify themselves with Christianity, but rather assert themselves as Winti believers. From a decolonial theoretical framework the paper focuses on how Black people negotiate and adapt their religious identity in a postmodern context. Concepts such as ‘epistemic disobedience’  and ‘coloniality’ are employed for the analysis of the dynamics involved.

This study builds on a larger social historical research field which focused on Afro-Caribbean spiritual practices that evolved in a context of Christian hegemony, and demonstrated resilience and resistance during colonialism and slavery. Examining how and to what extend these spiritual practices continue to demonstrate resilience in a new context can deepen our understanding of their intersection with coloniality, migration and racism. The study therefore expands the scope to newer theoretical frameworks such as decolonial theory and critical race theory.

The content of this paper is based on qualitative data from interviews with four Black persons, and literature review.

Nataly Burgzorg (independent researcher, nataly.burgzorg@outlook.com) – Afro-Curaçaoan womanhood and motherhood: The Spiritual, the Religious and the Woman

In this article I will address how I will take this one step further by addressing how certain cultural aspects, in this case the spiritual belief systems, also shapes and constructs the Curaçaoan womanhood and motherhood. For the purpose of this research I will be looking at the spiritual belief system that has its basis in a syncretism of African spirituality, Indigenous spirituality and Roman Catholicism. This spiritual belief system in Curaçao is called Brúa. In this chapter I argue that the Curaçaoan womanhood and motherhood is also co-constructed by spiritual belief, and Curaçaoan womanhood should be looked at as a whole that consists out of a body and a soul. In other words, the life experience of Curaçaoan women are not only a result of their racialized and gendered bodies, but also their soul which is nurtured through the spiritual belief system they practice. These two aspects combined, i.e. the external and the internal, creates the Curaçaoan womanhood and motherhood. In order to clarify this, I will discuss how African spiritual beliefs differ from Christian beliefs. The purpose is to give insight into how these spiritual belief systems can shape the womanhood and motherhood of the women that practice African spiritual belief systems. Additionally, I will look at the Afro-Curaçaoan spiritual belief Brua and what has been discussed in the existing literature. The purpose is to better illustrate how the practice of spirituality influences the construction of their womanhood and motherhood and how their belief in the Afro-Curaçaoan spirituality functions as a source of knowledge and empowerment.

Marie Keulen (Radboud University Nijmegen, marie.keulen@ru.nl) – Transforming Colonial Subjects: The Upbringing and Training of Afro-Surinamese Teachers in the Moravian Mission in Suriname, 1840–1863

While historians of Dutch colonialism have long understudied the role of missionaries and missionary organisations in colonial governance, in the past decades, researchers have amply demonstrated that Christian missions were deeply entangled with colonial power. In the decades leading up to the abolition of slavery in Suriname, colonial authorities were increasingly concerned with the management and regulation of the future free Afro-Surinamese population, for which they sought the support of the Moravian mission. Investigating Moravian missionary practices of child upbringing among the enslaved population, this paper argues that a colonial governmentality of transformation characterised this period around the abolition of slavery: that is, an art of governing that centred around the transformation of conduct and the re-organisation of ways of life, which was particularly directed at Afro-Surinamese children. As the future generation, children were seen as the key to change and transformation by missionaries and colonial administrators. In Dutch colonial history, scholars have only recently begun to explore and investigate the centrality of children and child upbringing in Dutch colonialism. This paper focuses on the training of enslaved boys in Moravian boarding schools on the plantations Rust en Werk and Beekhuizen, where teacher training schools were established to educate enslaved boys to become Christian teachers and intermediaries. Analysing missionary and colonial state records written in Dutch and Sranantongo – by missionaries, colonial administrators, and the enslaved boys themselves – this paper attempts to get a close-up view of the boys who ended up in these institutions, their day-to-day training, and their interactions with the Moravian missionaries and missionary practices.

Martin Theile (Moravian Church, European-Continental Province, pm.theile@gmail.com) – Baptism as a Ticket to Civil Rights (Moravian Missions in the 19th Century)

In the first hundred years, Moravian missionaries in Suriname baptized relatively few people. This reflected the understanding that people should first truly convert.

In the 19th century, the number of baptized people increased significantly, from 1,045 baptized people in 1820 to 18,830 in 1863. This had to do with the legal requirement that people who had been freed from slavery had to be baptized in order to receive full civil rights.

Based on these observations, my paper will explore two questions:

1. What made the missionaries agree to this deal? Felt they obligated to do this in order to help the enslaved people achieve full freedom? Or did they also want to do it on their own accord, because they saw new missionary opportunities? Did they see the combination of baptism with personal advantages for the baptized as an opportunity or as a problem? Did they reflect about this theologically?
2. What were the effects of this decision? What changes were effected by the transition from a small community of converts to a large Afro-Surinamese church? How did this transition affect the areas of partnership and marriage (verbontu) and religion (Winti), which soon thereafter became areas of conflict? To which extent did these conflicts then disturb the relationship of trust between the officials of the church and its members, especially since the latter had already learned not to trust people with white skin color? And what does all this mean for the Moravian Church in Suriname and the Netherlands today?

Wolf Behnsen (Leibniz University of Hannover, Wolf.Behnsen@gmx.de) – Disciplining “Carnal Liberty”: Moravian Missionaries’ Policy Regarding Slavery, Abolition, and their Oppressive Vision of a Post-Abolition Society in 19th-century Surinam

The Moravian Mission expanded to the Dutch colonial territory of Suriname in 1735. Soon, the pioneering protestant German mission church became the single most important Christian church among the local enslaved population, earning the name of the “slave church” by colonial authorities. However, the radical pietist organization thrived due to a symbiotic relationship with the regime of enslavement. The Moravian brethren enslaved Africans on several plantations, built a network of surveillance among their congregation, and opposed the abolition of slavery. Still, even though the Moravian leadership spoke out against a secular liberation of the enslaved population, in the spiritual dimension, the Surinamese abolition of 1863 was a moment of immense proportions for the brethren. The church leadership dreamt of a “truly Christian” society arising out of the ruins of slavery after abolition. However, that missionary dream entailed the strict governance of sexuality of the congregation. In their own language, the brethren condemned what they regarded as the “carnal liberty” of the freedpeople. The oppressive vision finally shattered when the Afro-Moravian congregation, which comprised two thirds of the freed population, rebelled against the German church leadership in 1880. Against this background, the presentation will investigate the Moravian policies regarding the abolition and its aftermath in Surinam, with a focus on the disciplining mechanisms of the church and the agency of the freedpeople. A micro-historical approach will be employed, using archival material from Surinam, the USA and Germany, collected for my recently submitted PhD-thesis on the topic.

Maurice San-A-Jong (independent researcher/Narratives of the Colonized, maurice.san.a.jong@gmail.com) – Spiritual Freedom, Physical Bondage: The Hernnhutter Mission and Enslaved Africans in Nineteenth-Century Suriname

This paper will discuss the role of the Evangelical Brethren Church (Herrnhutter) missionaries in nineteenth-century Surinamese society.From 1828 onwards, the Evangelical Brethren Church, originating from the German town of Herrnhut, were mandated by the Dutch government to carry out Christian missionary work among enslaved Africans in Suriname. To facilitate this missionary work, the Dutch government modified policy that prohibited enslaved individuals from converting to Christianity. Under the new mandate, enslaved individuals were permitted to convert in response to the missionary work of the Herrnhutters. However, in line with the existing laws of  segregated colonial Suriname those wishing to convert to Christianity could only legally join a Herrnhutter congregation. The colonial authorities regarded the Hernhutter missionaries as ideal candidates for the Christianisation of the African Surinamese as their doctrine emphasised patience, industriousness and obedience to the ruling authority. These aspects were considered useful by the colonial authorities in maintaining the conditions necessary for exploiting the labour of the African Surinamese and suppressing any possible violent resistance. This paper argues that historians have often overlooked the significance of Herrnhutter missionary practices as a means of pacifying the enslaved. Examining these practices provides insight into how the missionaries’ actions influenced a critical period in the struggle for emancipation (1828–1863).

Furthermore, the missionaries’ doctrine emphasised spiritual freedom over physical liberation from enslavement. This study aims to contribute to the historical discourse on emancipation in Surinamese history by analysing how the Herrnhutters’ focus on the spiritual freedom of enslaved African Surinamese people compared to their concern for their physical emancipation. Methodologically, this paper seeks to reconstruct these missionary practices and assess their impact from the perspective of enslaved African Surinamese communities.

Heleen Zorgdrager (Protestant Theological University, hezorgdrager@pthu.nl) – An Exceptional Case? Reformed Missionary Activity in the Nickerie-District of Suriname and the Response of the Enslaved Population, 1820–1863

In the scholarly literature on nineteenth century Suriname, the view prevails that the Reformed church did not engage in mission among the enslaved people but left it to the Moravian and Roman-Catholic missionaries. In this paper, based on extended archival research, it will be shown that this was not the case in the Nederdistrict Nickerie. From 1823-1839 the missionary F.A. Wix was sent by the Netherlands Missionary Society (NZR) to Nickerie for the ‘mission among the gentiles’ on the plantations, and in addition to provide church services for the European inhabitants including the military post. His work was continued by H.R. Wichers from 1839-1857, who only after long quarrels between state and church authorities was appointed as an ‘ordained missionary and assistant preacher’ by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1847. He was succeeded by the Surinamese-born white minister G.L. Batenburg (1858-1866). By the middle of the nineteenth century almost the entire enslaved population of Nickerie was baptized in the Reformed church.

This unusual picture leads to several questions with which this paper deals: What were the motives of planters, government, the Reformed Church and the NZR to initiate and sustain Christianization of the enslaved in Nickerie? How did the specific context of Nickerie, on the border with British Guyana (Demerara slave revolt 1823; abolishment of slavery 1834), impact this colonial support? How did the missionary practices on the plantations look like? And most important: what traces can we find of how the enslaved interacted with the Reformed missionaries, and resisted, negotiated and/or accommodated the Christian teaching as agents of an Afro-Surinamese ‘creolization’ (Jap-A-Joe, 2024)?

Rogério Brittes W. Pires (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, rogeriobwp@gmail.com) – The Church and the Obia: What Must Be Made Visible or Invisible (According to Saamaka Christians)

There is a Christian minority among the Saamaka Maroons from Suriname. They continuously actualize both Christian and Businenge traditions, which, although smoothly combined most times, may eventually spark controversies. Drawing on ethnographic research done in the 2010s in a Moravian village in Upper Suriname, this paper examines instances in which collective decisions had to be made about which way to do something – to please certain forest deities (gadu) or avenging spirits (kunu), to bury dangerous dead people (taku dede), or to allow or disallow specific practices in public settings. The central argument is that, while the Christian aspects of life tend to be made visible in the village, practices related to obia tend to be made invisible. This concealment, however, is not necessarily driven by fear of demonization, repression, or shame, but rather by the intrinsic ethics and aesthetics of obia itself, which call for a certain level of secrecy that contrasts with the transparency of the kind of Christianity practiced in the region. I suggest considering the dynamics of making visible and making invisible as a motif that traverses classical questions about Christianity, conversion, syncretism, and the presence and intangibility of the magico-religious. From a pragmatic, anti-essentialist perspective: there are ethical needs to aesthetically reveal certain things and conceal others.

Giovanna Montenegro (Binghamton University, gmontene@binghamton.edu) – Moravian Missionaries and Their Engagement with Saamaka Cultural Traditions

The Saamaka maroons of Suriname in northeastern South America fled slavery from sugar plantations owned by Sephardic Portuguese Jews, formed vibrant communities with their own culture in the rainforest along the Upper Suriname river, and signed a Peace Treaty with the Dutch colonial government in 1762 that would give them autonomy over their tribal lands. Later, German Moravian missionaries began evangelizing the area— to this day many Christian Moravian villages exist along with “traditional” villages that practice Afro-centric spiritual practices. I investigate the Moravians eighteenth- century diaries and correspondence held at the Moravian Church Archives in Bethlehem, PA; Paramaribo, Suriname, and Herrnhut, Germany, which remain critical of the maroons’ Afro-centric spiritual traditions. As critical as they might be, the accounts also show a process of the missionaries’ acculturation into their forest environment. That is contrasted with nineteenth-century accounts which are more racialized in their outlook.

Daan van den Broek (Utrecht University, d.j.vandenbroek@students.uu.nl) – Winti and Christianity around the Surinamese Kankantri

This paper compares two missionary novels about slavery in Suriname – a literary genre which is still largely unexplored (Van Kempen 2023). I bring De levende Afgod of De geschiedenis van een kankantrieboom (<1872) by the Dutch, Protestant preacher Jan de Liefde into dialogue with Ma Kankantrie (1907) by the Dutch-Surinamese, Catholic missionary H.F. Rikken. This research aims to contribute to our understanding of how Christianity was used to justify violence towards both people and their environment.

The comparative analysis in this paper centers on a recurring narrative trope: the felling of a kankantri (wild cotton tree), which was worshipped by enslaved Afro-Surinamese people who practiced Winti religion (San A Jong 2023). I discuss to what extent the novels imagine the felling of the kankantri as violent and to what extent this violence is met with resistance (cf. Kiessling & Paijmans 2022). I examine these tensions by tracing characters’ emotional responses and how these emotions circulate (Ahmed 2004).

In both novels, the kankantri elicits a range of strong and sometimes contradictory emotions among both Afro-Surinamese and Dutch characters. De levende Afgod affirms a Christian, European perspective: when the missionary fells the tree, he reveals it to be less than sacred, evoking associations with the story of Boniface. In contrast, Rikken’s kankantri is granted agency, as the tree’s spirits resist felling and even demonstrate their own capacity for emotion and violence. Strikingly, Ma Kankantrie combines this spiritual resistance with the call for Christian conversion, mediating Rikken’s ambiguous stance towards Afro-Surinamese culture (Caprino 2007).

Literature

Ahmed, S., ‘Affective Economies’. In: Social Text, 79 (2004) 2: 117-139.

Caprino, M., ‘Voorwoord’. In: H.F. Rikken, Ma Kankantri. Een verhaal uit de slaventijd rond 1800 (ed. N. Sedoc), Veendam 2007: 5-7.

Kempen, M. van, ‘Talen en literaturen van de voormalige Nederlandse koloniën’. In: R.M. Allen, E. Captain, M. van Rossum, U. Vyent (ed.), Staat en Slavernij, Amsterdam 2023: 187-197.

Kiessling, C. & M. Paijmans, ‘“Op de knalmaat van de bylen”. Geweld en verzet in de Surinaamse plantagepoëzie van P.F. Roos’. In: Nederlandse Letterkunde, 27 (2022) 3: 317-342.

Liefde, J. de, ‘De levende Afgod of De geschiedenis van een kankantrieboom’. In: Uit drie landen, Amsterdam 1900 [<1872].

Rikken, H.F., Ma Kankantri. Een verhaal uit de slaventijd rond 1800 (ed. N. Sedoc), Veendam 2007 [1907].

San A Jong, M., ‘De rol van de zendingsmissie in de vrijheidsstrijd van de slaafgemaakten in de kolonie Suriname. Van de Kan Kantrieboom naar het kerkgebouw’. In: B. De Leede & M. Stoutjesdijk (eds.), Kerk, kolonialisme en slavernij. Verhalen van een vervlochten geschiedenis, Utrecht 2023.

George Harinck (VU Amsterdam, g.harinck@vu.nl) – Free Churches and the Netherlands, Mission and Slavery

In 1863 two missionaries of the Christian Reformed Church left for Suriname. Two questions arise: why did this small denomination develop missionary activities, and why did they send the two men to Suriname, instead of South Africa, the Caribbean islands or the Dutch East Indies. What was the support of the church to their work, what did their instruction say about their task and about the people in Suriname? They were present at the important moment in history when the slaves were set free formally. What was their attitude, the attitude of their church and its leaders towards slavery? What were their experiences in Suriname, how did they relate to other missionary activities in the country, how did they relate to the liberated slaves, and what did they communicate to the Netherlands? In 1867 both missionaries were back in the Netherlands. Why did they not succeed in the mission they had started, and why did the church change its focus, and sent missionaries to the Dutch East Indies and South Africa? Is this church just a function of Dutch imperialism/colonialism, or did their relative marginal position in Dutch society influence their view on this national enterprise and on the liberation of the slaves?

Marian Markelo (independent researcher, mmmarkelo56@gmail.com), The Rise of African Diaspora Spirituality

Keynote – tba.

Madelon Grant (Museum Catharijneconvent, m.grant@catharijneconvent.nl) – Lessons Learned from the Exhibition ‘Christianity and Slavery. A Dutch Narrative’ (Museum Catharijneconvent, 2024)

Museum Catharijneconvent is the national museum of art and heritage of Christianity in the Netherlands. In 2024, the museum showed the exhibition ‘Christianity and Slavery. A Dutch narrative’. In preparing this exhibition, we worked closely with researchers from the NWO project ‘Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire: History, Theology and Heritage’ (PThU, VU Amsterdam, University of Curaçao).

Heritage institutions, such as museums, can be a conduit between academic research and wider society, and a ‘safe’ place to discuss issues that some may find sensitive, controversial or confronting. In this paper we present how we worked with academic researchers and societal stakeholders such as churches to create this safe space for dialogue and learning. How was academic research used in and stimulated by the exhibition? How did the museum involve theatre makers, contemporary artists and churches in the preparation and implementation of the exhibition?

We will outline how we applied the principle of polyphony in our contacts with different stakeholders and in dealing with sensitive issues such as the relationship between Christianity and Winti (religious traditions of enslaved Africans in Surinam). This will give an insight into what we consider to be ‘success factors’ or the added value of our approach: an exhibition that is not only informative and attractive, but one that touches visitors personally and contributes in a constructive and innovative way to the public debate. We will conclude with some reflections and critical observations that we have received, which may help future initiatives to improve further.

Ronald Severing, Liesbeth Echteld & Wim Rutgers (University of Curaçao, ronald.severing@uoc.cw, elisabeth.echteld@uoc.cw, wimrutgers145@gmail.com) – The Role of Some Pioneers with Regard to Christianization, Education and Emancipation in Curaçao

Christianization was important in Curaçao, especially in the process of the enslaved population becoming independent. In preparing for emancipation, the Catholic Church had a mission. This presentation focuses on the role of some spiritual pioneers and the significance of Christianity for the emergence of a society with a changed social coexistence between enslaved people and colonial rulers. In doing so, it can sometimes be seen that some paid more attention to religion, while others believed that with a Christian upbringing and through education, they could prepare the enslaved for peaceful freedom, on the way to emancipation. What is also striking is the pragmatic social and communicative contribution of the preachers. Through their regular contacts with the believers and attention to the local language, here in particular Papiamento, the clergy acted as interpreters or intermediaries between the enslaved and the government and thus also ensured the preservation of the linguistic heritage. This research made use of relevant sources consisting of a few available manuscripts and early editions, which may have previously led to separate publications. These are the Notitia (report) written in Latin from 1705 and the Diurnum (diary) of Father Michael Schabel (1704-1713) (Rutgers et al., 2015). Furthermore, travel reports, letters and more in Dutch led to a biography of Father Jacobus Putman (1837-1853) (Rutgers et al., 2016).

Mildred Caprino (independent researcher, mildredcaprino@yahoo.com) – Postcolonial Reflection on Legacy of Christianity and Slavery in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname

Reflections on the post-colonial legacy of Christianity and slavery in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname.

This paper will investigate which lasting influence of Christianity exist in the precolonial period. The aspect of communication in this case the Sranan language, which originated in the period of slavery will be discussed, the role of Christian Moravian missionaries and the impact of the African originated spiritual practices.

The research methods employed for the compilation of this article comprises written sources and is further supported by oral history, personal observations, study of places of remembrance, study of illustrations and drawings.

Doing research, I employ the “Diorama” method, to see for more than written sources or oral sources. But also use, reinterpretation of Western-oriented views, study places of memory, illustrations, drawings, songs, and language, with the aim of leaning as closely as possible to a historical truth.

If postcolonialism means the physical [factual] withdrawal of Dutch authority out of Suriname, then perhaps one is referring to 1975. However, after 1975, the influence of the European mother country the Netherlands, has continued to exist in many facets of society. This also applies to the aftermath of the slavery past, the heritage of Christianity and the prejudices regarding African-related spiritual expressions of descendants of enslaved peoples.

From its foundation in the 17th century, Suriname was colonized by the English who brought their Christian oriented religion with them. Unlike the English, who stayed for a brief period, the Dutch colonizers stayed longer as from 1667. In the beginning of their settlement, the Dutch occupiers did not tolerate any other Christian denominations than the Reformed Church. In later years, others were admitted under restricted conditions; the Moravian church in 1735, the Lutherans in 1741, and the Catholics in 1786.

It were the Moravian and Catholic missionaries who became involved in conversion activities and enslaved people. Communication was of foremost importance. The language that the enslaved spoke among themselves was called “Djoe tongo” , because of the contact with the Jews in the first half of the 17th century. “Djoe tongo” was transformed into “Negro English”  when the English settled in 1650.The Moravian brothers studied the language, recorded it, and taught in that language in the late 19th century. Later in the 20th century, speaking the language was forbidden. But it remained and has developed into a lingua franca in post-colonial Suriname.

Likewise, the African spiritual expressions of enslaved people named “Winti”, have been vilified, forbidden and even criminalized. Followers of the “Winti” were labelled as heathen, stigmatized, and excluded from society. These contempts have not disappeared in the post-colonial period.

In the past three decades, spiritual practices with an African origin – which were forbidden, even in post-colonial times – have been practiced in public and still are.Christianization, whether Protestant or Catholic, has ensured growth and development for the descendants of enslaved people.

There is no shortage of Christian heritage, given the number of churches, built during the period of slavery and that still exist in the postcolonial period.

An example is the Moravian Mother church in the capital of Suriname, which was built in 1778. In this church enslaved people were allowed to enter bare footed.Since I am a lecture in history and culture in Teaching College in Suriname, my didactic approach is to listen to  my students, what  they  have  to say  of  their own religious believes,  if  they have a belief or not.   And them, being,  prospective teachers, to respect each person’s faith  with a positive approach.

References

Caprino, Mildred en Loswijk, Edgar: Tranga Lomsu, Tranga Anitri, standvastig katholiek, standvastig hernutter,paper  juni 2023 Utrecht.

Koenen, Mark: De  wortels  van  het ‘ Surinaams ‘ HP31-12-93 artikel.

Lampe, Armando: Mission or Submission? Moravian and Catholic Missionaries in the  in the  Dutch Caribbean in the 19th Century VAN DENHOECK UNDRUPRECHT IN GŌTTINGEN, 2001.

Lotze, Herman: Die „ Djoe-longo ” oder Judensprache in Suriname Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Vol. 11, No. 2 (1857), p. 324 Vertaald.

Stoutjesdijk, Martijn: et alii, Christendom en slavernij / Christianity and Slavery (Tentoonstellingscatalogus Museum Catharijeconvent, 2024).

Venooij, Joop: De regenboog in ons huis de kleurrijke geschiedenis van de r.k kerk in Suriname Valkhof pers, 2012.

Jerome Teelucksing – Genuine Apology or Not?: The Church’s Voice Against Slavery

My presentation will examine the manner in which churches in the Netherlands, Dutch Caribbean Islands and Surinam have apologised for their involvement in the slave trade and slavery. And, if the apologies are seen, by the public, as genuine or merely superficial and thus unable to erase the trauma and horrible legacy. The slave trade was formally abolished approximately 160 years ago and a decade later it formally terminated. During July 2023 and 2024, the ‘Remembrance Year of the Slavery Past’ occurred in the Netherlands.

The three questions to be addressed in my presentation: first, have churches in Surinam, Dutch Caribbean Islands and the Netherlands adequately present apologies for their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and slavery? Secondly, has the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches assisted in the material improvement among African descended communities? Finally, in the 20th and 21st centuries, has the Church been a voice for against racism and discrimination of persons of African descent.

Geert van Dartel (Raad van Kerken in Nederland, gvandartel@raadvankerken.nl) – Contribution of the Council of Churches in the Netherlands to Processing the Dutch Slavery Past

In June 2013, the Council of Churches in the Netherlands issued a short statement on the involvement of church and theology in perpetuating and legitimizing slavery. This statement laid the foundation for initiatives by churches in the Netherlands for the purpose of raising awareness of the slavery past and its spillover into contemporary society. The commemoration of 150 years of actual abolition of transatlantic slavery in 2023 gave this a new impetus.

Politically and socially, the Dutch slavery past has received a lot of attention in recent years. The apologies of Prime Minister Rutte and of King Willem Alexander marked a breakthrough in the debate on the Dutch slavery past. The focus is mostly on the role of governments, banks and business and on personal stories. The role of church and religion is only marginally highlighted.

Churches have their own responsibility and assignment to work on raising awareness of this painful past and its repercussions in contemporary society. In dialogue with groups of descendants of enslaved people in Dutch society as well as with churches overseas that emerged from missions and missions, ways can be found to process and reconcile.

My thesis is that churches recognize the burden of the Dutch slavery past, but that the potential of churches (of religion in general) to contribute to processing and reconciliation of this painful past in our society is insufficiently seen. Churches themselves will have to take up this role more actively. In the lecture, I want to discuss some concrete options to this end also in order to gain more insight into visions in the Caribbean on the role of church and religion in processing the slavery past.

Okama Epke Brook (Africa Caribbean Heritage Alliance Foundation, okamacsa2017@gmail.com) – The Role of Christianity in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean: A Relevant Reparatory Justice Strategy?

The African Union in its 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union held in February 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia declared the theme of the year 2025 as “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”. It envisages conversations and actions to address historical injustices resulting from colonization, slavery, and systemic racism and highlights corrective actions under the reparatory justice lens that include historical acknowledgment, recognition and documentation, financial reparations, land restitution, cultural preservation, policy reforms, community empowerment and advocacy. Simultaneously, The United Nations Human Rights Council through its Permanent Forum on People of African Descent recently approved a Second Decade for People of African Descent.

In the Americas, Canada and the United States celebrate February as Black History Month while the Caribbean region commemorate Emancipation Days with the case of Jab-Jab in Grenada. In African countries such as Nigeria, New Yam Festivities signal a bountiful harvest. While these instruments provide an interdisciplinary framework aimed at deepening conversations on the quest for justice for Africans and People of African Descent, there remain a deafening silence on the role that Christianity has played in these critical events, positively or negatively and whether it remains a relevant future strategy. This article seeks to conduct a comparative analysis of the past, transformations and current practices, reflecting on the profound complexities and their bearings on the moral, social, economic and political lives of the people. For addressing reparatory justice encompasses an interconnected matrix of responsibilities that requires an intersectional, culturally appropriate lens.

Andreas Wöhle (Stg Heilzame Verwerking Slavernijverleden, andreaswohle@gmail.com) – HPHR – A practical faith contribution to healing and reconciliation

The Foundation “Healing Process of Slavery Legacy for ‘white’ and ‘black’” (HPHR) originates from some Dutch churches which comprise of white and black membership. They, in collaboration with other partners, started working towards addressing slavery related attitudes and fostering historical and existential reorientation.

Inspired by Christian faith and based on the theological paradigm of ‘Shalom’, which underlines process- instead of result-orientation, the Foundation aims at putting into practical work the (liturgical) faith-experience that God’s mission is to heal and unite people, not to abandon or exclude. In its work it favours reconciliation and truth-seeking approaches (Tutu), while integrating commemoration and memory work (Nora; Gilroy; Said e.a.) and aspects of intergenerational trauma (Helberg) and cultural/religious healing (De Gruy; Eshon; Womak) in order to work towards structural and institutional change (Davis; Du Bois; Robinson) and reparative justice (Brodnig & Waller; Darity & Mullen; Crenshaw, e.a.).

Most of the above mentioned approaches are rather structure- and result-oriented, whereas the strength of the HPHR lies in a more process and person-oriented methodology. The Foundation concentrates on drawing ‘faith energy’ from the basis of the shared confession of being ‘one in Christ’. From there the process of unveiling aspects of brokenness feeds into a personal process of change and contradicting racism. This adds a (faith)dimension to the necessary structural steps of

• Recognizing and naming persistent brokenness in society, ideology, and presuppositions.
• Engaging with past wounds through acknowledgement, confession, and change.
• Rejecting cancel culture while striving for true reconciliation and shared faith in Christ.

While thus recognizing the necessity to ‘unveil’ inner and outer structures of injustice (as ‘sin’), the faith approach includes the understanding that ‘wholeness/one-ness’ is hidden in the mystery of Gods love to be lived out in faith. Such a sacramental understanding of healing includes a necessary ‘covering of wounds’ (‘KPR’/`’KiPPuR – Atonement) to enable facing each other in faith encounter.

Practical examples of the work to be presented at the conference:

sermon series, symposium, (mobile) exhibition <will be present at the conference>, artwork, webinars, …)