Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen
Encyclopedia
Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1692 – circa 1747) was a German-American Dutch-Reformed
minister, theologian and the progenitor of the Frelinghuysen family in the United States of America. Frelinghuysen is most remembered for his religious contributions in the Raritan Valley
during the beginnings of the First Great Awakening
. Several of his descendants became influential theologians and politicians throughout American history
.
, Germany
, to Johann Henrich Frelinghaus, a German-Reformed minister, and to Anna Margaretha Brüggemann Frelinghaus (1657-1728). Frelinghuysen was graduated from the University of Lingen in 1717, and he was ordained as a minister of the German Reformed Church in 1715. For fourteen months he was a minister in Loegumer Voorwerk, in East Friesland, and then for a short time he was co-rector of the Latin school in Enkhuizen, in the Netherlands. In June 1719 he accepted a call from Raritan, in the Province of New Jersey
, a British colony in North America, and after a re-ordination for the Dutch Reformed Church by the Classis of Amsterdam, he arrived in America in January 1720.
All five sons became ministers and both daughters married ministers.
Frelinghuysen served as minister to several of the Reformed Dutch Churches (congregations at Raritan
, New Brunswick
, Six-Mile Run, Three-Mile Run, and North Branch
) in the Raritan River
valley of New Jersey
which he served until his death in 1747 or 1748.
The Encyclopedia of New Jersey
states:
where his evangelistic
contributions culminated in a regional awakening within the Middle Colonies
. His ministry was greatly assisted through the efforts of Gilbert Tennent
and George Whitefield
. He sought to evangelize the Raritan Valley through Reformed pietism
, that also owed much to the theological thought of the Puritan
s as well. Utilizing this theological thought, he employed a three-pronged evangelistic strategy. His chosen evangelistic strategies were preaching, church discipline
, and a contextualization of the Dutch Reformed ecclesiastical practices.
His preaching aimed to convict people of the need to examine their lives in order to ascertain the validity of their salvation. In contrast to the staid orthodoxy of many of the Presbyterians and much of the New York Dutch Reformed Clergy, Frelinghuysen's evangelistic preaching penetrated the raw frontier of early eighteenth-century life of New Jersey. He attempted to ingrain within the listener a deep conviction of sin. Frelinghuysen evangelized the New Jersey Colony by using a blunt preaching style which classified his audiences into two basic categories: regenerate and unregenerate. One individual's response to the awakener was offered in the following apt summary: "We welcomed him with joy and love, in the hope that his service would be for our edification. But alas! to our great sorrow, we, soon, and increasingly found that the result was very different. His denunciations uttered against all of us from the pulpit . . . and on all occasions, to the effect that we were all unconverted . . . were severe and bitter."
Church discipline was also utilized to awaken the dormant New Jersey congregations to the realization that some of its parishioners did not meet the scriptural standards of salvation
. They were therefore frequently prevented from participating in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. For Frelinghuysen, "fencing the table", or preventing people from full participation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, not only purified the sacrament but it also alerted his parishioners to the stringent need for holy living. Church discipline was a reinforcement of his pietism, for it caused individuals to inspect their lives for holy living. If they failed to see either their sinful hearts or if they could not point to righteous acts of fruit demonstrating salvation, they stood in need of conversion. Consequently, Frelinghuysen stressed that a person's experience of conversion was accompanied by distinguishing outward behaviors which proved them to be recipients of the new birth. Few acts incited such anger for the Colonial citizens as did Frelinghuysen's "fencing the table."
Lastly, in Frelinghuysen's efforts to reach beyond the Colonial church, he rooted his ministry in the Reformation concept that the church would continuously reform, or ecclesia semper reformada. As he adjusted to the Middle Colonies, Frelinghuysen believed the colonial church was compelled to change for its survival. Faced with a different context from the Netherlands, the result was an Americanizing movement led by Frelinghuysen's arrival in the Colonies in 1720. In place of conformity to Dutch traditions of language, style, and liturgy that were designed for the Netherlands, Frelinghuysen conceived of a church that was not restrained by the formalism prescribed by the Classis
of Amsterdam
.
Though the records for Frelinghuysen's four churches are not used as sources by contemporary church historians, some accounts of the evangelistic results experienced during his ministry remain extant. In 1726, Frelinghuysen admitted thirty-eight new converts to his four churches while an additional sixteen converts were added in 1729, and again in 1734. An additional fifty members were added in 1739, while another twenty-two people were verified as regenerate and able to participate in communion in 1741 in the New Brunswick church. In sum, he gained 180 new converts in the Raritan and New Brunswick churches alone. Such numbers of converts may pale in comparison to the throngs of people who responded to the itinerant evangelist, George Whitefield; yet, these numbers mark a sizeable proportional increase in the churches themselves.
Notably, none other than Jonathan Edwards credited Frelinghuysen with the beginning of the awakening in New Jersey upon his discussion with Gilbert Tennent:
and was buried at Elm Ridge Cemetery, North Brunswick
, New Jersey
. He was originally buried without a tombstone. When in 1884 his descendants decided to place a stone on his grave, they could not determine where his body was interred. A cenotaph was placed in the front of the cemetery, which now is the back of the cemetery at the treeline.
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
minister, theologian and the progenitor of the Frelinghuysen family in the United States of America. Frelinghuysen is most remembered for his religious contributions in the Raritan Valley
Central Jersey
Central Jersey is a common designation for a region of the state of New Jersey in the United States of America. Trenton is considered the boundary between designated "North Jersey" and "South Jersey"...
during the beginnings of the First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
. Several of his descendants became influential theologians and politicians throughout American history
History of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
.
Birth and emigration
He was born in November 1692 in HagenHagen
Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to Johann Henrich Frelinghaus, a German-Reformed minister, and to Anna Margaretha Brüggemann Frelinghaus (1657-1728). Frelinghuysen was graduated from the University of Lingen in 1717, and he was ordained as a minister of the German Reformed Church in 1715. For fourteen months he was a minister in Loegumer Voorwerk, in East Friesland, and then for a short time he was co-rector of the Latin school in Enkhuizen, in the Netherlands. In June 1719 he accepted a call from Raritan, in the Province of New Jersey
Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland, but came under English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, becoming a...
, a British colony in North America, and after a re-ordination for the Dutch Reformed Church by the Classis of Amsterdam, he arrived in America in January 1720.
Marriage
He married Eva Terhune (c. 1696-c. 1750), daughter of Jan Terhune and Margrietje van Sicklen of Flatlands, Long Island, and had seven children:- Theodorus Frelinghuysen (1723-c.1760)
- John Frelinghuysen (1727-1754)John Frelinghuysen (1727-1754)John Frelinghuysen was a minister in colonial New Jersey. -Biography:Frelinghuysen was the 2nd son of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen , a German who had lived for a short time in Holland before emigrating in 1720. John married Dinah Van Bergh , and they had two children: Eva Frelinghuysen John...
, who married Dina Van Bergh and who was the father of Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804)Frederick Frelinghuysen (1753–1804)Frederick Frelinghuysen was an American lawyer, soldier, and senator from New Jersey. A graduate of the College of New Jersey , Frederick went on to become an officer during the American Revolutionary War. In addition, he was and served as a delegate to the Continental Congress... - Jacobus Frelinghuysen (c.1730-1753)
- Ferdinandus Frelinghuysen (c.1732-1753)
- Henricus Frelinghuysen (c.1735-1757)
- Margaret Frelinghuysen (1737-1757) who married Rev. Thomas F. Romeyn (1729-1794)
- Anna Frelinghuysen (1738-1810) who married Rev. William Jackson in 1757.
All five sons became ministers and both daughters married ministers.
Frelinghuysen served as minister to several of the Reformed Dutch Churches (congregations at Raritan
Raritan, New Jersey
Raritan is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 6,881.-Geography:Raritan is located at ....
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
, Six-Mile Run, Three-Mile Run, and North Branch
North Branch, New Jersey
North Branch is an unincorporated area and hamlet located mostly within Branchburg Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey. A portion of North Branch is located in Bridgewater Township...
) in the Raritan River
Raritan River
The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.-Description:...
valley of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
which he served until his death in 1747 or 1748.
The Encyclopedia of New Jersey
Encyclopedia of New Jersey
The Encyclopedia of New Jersey is edited by Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen and contains around 3,000 original articles, along with 585 illustrations and 130 maps. It was published in 2004 by Rutgers University Press, with ISBN 0813533252....
states:
Loyal to the Heidelberg CatechismHeidelberg CatechismThe Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine...
, he emphasized pietism, conversion, repentance, strict moral standards, private devotions, excommunication, and church discipline. An eloquent preacher who published numerous sermons, he struggled against indifferentism and empty formalism. His theories conflicted with the orthodox views of Henry Boel and others, who challenged Frelinghuysen's religious emotionalism and unauthorized practices. As one of the fearless missionaries of the First Great AwakeningFirst Great AwakeningThe First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
in America, Frelinghuysen stressed tangible religious experiences. He trained young men for the clergy, often ordaining them without permission. His evangelical fervor and autonomous actions helped to instill an element of local independence for Dutch churches in North America's middle colonies.
First Great Awakening
Frelinghuysen served as a precursor to the First Great AwakeningFirst Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
where his evangelistic
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
contributions culminated in a regional awakening within the Middle Colonies
Middle Colonies
The Middle Colonies comprised the middle region of the Thirteen Colonies of the British Empire in Northern America. In 1776 during the American Revolution, the Middle Colonies became independent of Britain as the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.Much of the area was part of...
. His ministry was greatly assisted through the efforts of Gilbert Tennent
Gilbert Tennent
Gilbert Tennent was a religious leader. Gilbert was one of the leaders of the Great Awakening of religious feeling in Colonial America, along with Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield...
and George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
. He sought to evangelize the Raritan Valley through Reformed pietism
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
, that also owed much to the theological thought of the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s as well. Utilizing this theological thought, he employed a three-pronged evangelistic strategy. His chosen evangelistic strategies were preaching, church discipline
Church discipline
Church discipline comes in two types: formative and corrective. Formative discipline, or discipleship, seeks to help form the character and life of the believer. In this sense, every church disciplines it members. Jonathan Leeman has noted that "every church disciplines its members formally...
, and a contextualization of the Dutch Reformed ecclesiastical practices.
His preaching aimed to convict people of the need to examine their lives in order to ascertain the validity of their salvation. In contrast to the staid orthodoxy of many of the Presbyterians and much of the New York Dutch Reformed Clergy, Frelinghuysen's evangelistic preaching penetrated the raw frontier of early eighteenth-century life of New Jersey. He attempted to ingrain within the listener a deep conviction of sin. Frelinghuysen evangelized the New Jersey Colony by using a blunt preaching style which classified his audiences into two basic categories: regenerate and unregenerate. One individual's response to the awakener was offered in the following apt summary: "We welcomed him with joy and love, in the hope that his service would be for our edification. But alas! to our great sorrow, we, soon, and increasingly found that the result was very different. His denunciations uttered against all of us from the pulpit . . . and on all occasions, to the effect that we were all unconverted . . . were severe and bitter."
Church discipline was also utilized to awaken the dormant New Jersey congregations to the realization that some of its parishioners did not meet the scriptural standards of salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
. They were therefore frequently prevented from participating in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. For Frelinghuysen, "fencing the table", or preventing people from full participation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, not only purified the sacrament but it also alerted his parishioners to the stringent need for holy living. Church discipline was a reinforcement of his pietism, for it caused individuals to inspect their lives for holy living. If they failed to see either their sinful hearts or if they could not point to righteous acts of fruit demonstrating salvation, they stood in need of conversion. Consequently, Frelinghuysen stressed that a person's experience of conversion was accompanied by distinguishing outward behaviors which proved them to be recipients of the new birth. Few acts incited such anger for the Colonial citizens as did Frelinghuysen's "fencing the table."
Lastly, in Frelinghuysen's efforts to reach beyond the Colonial church, he rooted his ministry in the Reformation concept that the church would continuously reform, or ecclesia semper reformada. As he adjusted to the Middle Colonies, Frelinghuysen believed the colonial church was compelled to change for its survival. Faced with a different context from the Netherlands, the result was an Americanizing movement led by Frelinghuysen's arrival in the Colonies in 1720. In place of conformity to Dutch traditions of language, style, and liturgy that were designed for the Netherlands, Frelinghuysen conceived of a church that was not restrained by the formalism prescribed by the Classis
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Though the records for Frelinghuysen's four churches are not used as sources by contemporary church historians, some accounts of the evangelistic results experienced during his ministry remain extant. In 1726, Frelinghuysen admitted thirty-eight new converts to his four churches while an additional sixteen converts were added in 1729, and again in 1734. An additional fifty members were added in 1739, while another twenty-two people were verified as regenerate and able to participate in communion in 1741 in the New Brunswick church. In sum, he gained 180 new converts in the Raritan and New Brunswick churches alone. Such numbers of converts may pale in comparison to the throngs of people who responded to the itinerant evangelist, George Whitefield; yet, these numbers mark a sizeable proportional increase in the churches themselves.
Notably, none other than Jonathan Edwards credited Frelinghuysen with the beginning of the awakening in New Jersey upon his discussion with Gilbert Tennent:
"But this shower of Divine blessing has been yet more extensive. There was no small degree of it in some parts of the Jerseys, as I was informed when I was at New York, (in a long journey I took at that time of the year for my health) by some people of the Jerseys, whom I saw, especially the Rev. Mr. William Tennent, a minister, who seemed to have such things much at heart, told me of a very great awakening of many in a place called the Mountains [sic.], under the ministry of one Mr. Cross; and of a very considerable revival of religion in another place under the ministry of his brother, the Rev. Mr. Gilbert Tennent; and also at another place, under the ministry of a very pious young gentleman, a Dutch minister, whose name as I remember, was Freelinghousa [sic.]."
Death
He died in 1747 or 1748 in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New JerseyFranklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey
-Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township...
and was buried at Elm Ridge Cemetery, North Brunswick
Elm Ridge Cemetery, North Brunswick
-Notable burials:*Simon Addis , Captain in Revolutionary War*Peter Pumyea II , Captain in Revolutionary War*Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen , immigrant from Netherlands and theologian- External links :* at Find A Grave...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He was originally buried without a tombstone. When in 1884 his descendants decided to place a stone on his grave, they could not determine where his body was interred. A cenotaph was placed in the front of the cemetery, which now is the back of the cemetery at the treeline.
Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Born at Lingen, East Freesland in 1691. In 1719 he was sent to take charge of the Reformed Churches here by the Classis of Amsterdam. He was a learned man and a successful preacher. The field of his labor still bears fruit. In contending for a Spiritual Religion his motto was, "Laudem non quaero culpam non timeo." He died in 1747, and his descendants, humbly sharing in his faith, have erected to his memory this monument.
Further reading
- Beeke, Joel. R., ed. Forerunner of the Great Awakening: Sermons by Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691-1747) Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2000. ISBN 0-8028-4899-0
- Boel, Tobias. Boel's Complaint Against Frelinghuysen. Edited and translated by Joseph Anthony Loux Jr. Rensselaer, New York: Hamilton Printing Co., 1979.
- Brienen, Teunis. De Prediking van de Nadere Reformatie. Amsterdam: Ton Bolland, 1974.
- Frelinghuysen, Peter Hood Ballantine, Jr. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. Princeton: privately printed, 1938.
- Frelinghuysen, Senator Joseph S. "Address to the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick", Given at the Two hundred Fiftieth Religious Anniversary Exercises. October 12, 1930.
- Harmelink, Herman III. "Another Look at Frelinghuysen and his ‘Awakening.’" Church History 37 (1968): 423-38.
- Hastings, Hugh, ed. Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, vol. 1-6. Albany, New York: J. B. Lyon, 1901-1905.
- Maze, Scott. The Evangelistic Contributions of Pastor Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen During the First Great Awakening Ph.D. dissertation, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006.
- Schrag F.J. "Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen: The Father of American Pietism" in Church History, Vol. 14, No. 3 (September, 1945), 201-216.
- Tanis, James. Dutch Calvinistic Pietism in the Middle Colonies: A Study in the Life and Theology of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. 1967. Reviewed in William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, Volume 26, Number 2 (April, 1969), 297-299.