The Greening of Dutch Protestant Christianity (1960-2020)

Abstract

In this article we research attitudes and activities within Dutch Protestantism dealing with the environment between 1960 and 2020. We position the article in recent debates on the ambivalent relationship between Christianity and environmentalism. By examining newspapers, reports of Protestant NGOs and public surveys, we establish that Dutch Protestant Christianity is becoming more environmentally conscious. We propose that this process of greening developed in four historical phases. We explain the drivers for this process, which are found to be rooted in private faith, secular developments and the developing climate crisis rather than in church policy.

Keywords

• christianity
• environmentalism
• Protestantism
• mission
• the Netherlands
• climate crisis