Reformed Political League

The Reformed Political League (GPV; Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond ) was a Dutch orthodox Protestant political party. The GPV is one of the predecessors of the ChristenUnie. The party was a testimonial party.

History

1948-1963

The GPV was founded in 1948 as the result of a theological conflict within the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which led to the creation of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated). In 1944 a group of orthodox Protestants left the Reformed Church, because they disagreed with Abraham Kuyper's view that God had created multiple branches of Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism etc.), each with their own sphere.

In 1948 adherents of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands (Liberated) left the Anti Revolutionary Party, the party linked to the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. On April 1, 1948 they founded the GPV during a congress Amersfoort. Former ARP MP Albertus Zijlstra chaired the congress, and also led the party in its early years.