International participants are invited to attend three weeks of interactive discussions, taking place in July, on Christian values in cities, countries and at European level, organised by the Schuman Centre for European Studies.

States do face real threats and evil can sometimes only be checked by force. But the lesson is clear: war is a profoundly blunt instrument for creating justice, reconciliation or lasting order.

The vision of human dignity, forgiveness, reconciliation, justice and the equal value of every person before God, profoundly shaped European civilisation over centuries.

The president of the Italian Evangelical Alliance calls for the term ‘evangelical’ to be freed from political affiliations and denounces the “blasphemy” of pastors such as Paula White who compare Trump to Jesus Christ.

The sense that Christianity is losing influence and moral values are eroding creates a fear that can lead to support for strong leaders, aggressive rhetoric and simplistic solutions.

Will Europe remember the story that formed it? Not as a tool of exclusion, nor as nostalgic conservatism, but as the living source of reconciliation, renewal and hope.

‘Never again’ asks whether Europe still believes that human dignity is non-negotiable, and that silence in the face of atrocity is complicity.

Europe is being transformed beyond recognition, hollowed out culturally and overrun by hordes of Muslim migrants in an irreversible process of civilisational decline. So prominent voices proclaim.

Johannes Vermeer left no letters, diaries or notes about his works. We know almost nothing about his artistic intentions, his training or how he achieved his extraordinary effects of light and color. 

To study is a disciplined search for truth in a world marked by confusion, distortion and power without accountability. It is how we learn to discern reality accurately, and to act wisely, proactively rather than reactively.

Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance offers a quiet visual parable for this moment. As we face yet another new year of war, polarisation and distrust, we need reflection which goes beyond personal self-improvement.

The emergence of the Dutch Republic birthed many features of the modern era. What might Ukraine’s victory over Russian tyranny and oppression mean for our future?

Now for the fourth time since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we are celebrating the Word of God becoming flesh as angels proclaimed peace on earth. So where is the peace?

Appeasement only emboldens the aggressor. Can a peace plan that rewards territorial conquest—achieved through invasion, atrocities, mass deportations, and systematic destruction—ever constitute genuine peace?

Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty represents a Europe of pluralism and dialogue. The US National Security Strategy announced on Friday imagines Europe very differently.

Representatives of the Amsterdam Southeast district council heard that local faith communities had offered services worth over €7.65 million in social impact value last year.

In times of culture war, the option is neither withdrawal nor domination. Salt, light, and yeast suggest a different strategy: faithful presence as a faithful minority. 

Eighty years ago, the United Nations was conceived within a moral atmosphere deeply permeated by Christian thought. Yet the vital role that Christians played in this vision is largely forgotten.

We Christians should stand up for truth, compassion, righteousness and justice for all. We must persist in prayer for a just peace, for Ukrainians and for Russians.

After 1945, many church leaders expressed deep repentance for their silence and complicity, recognising they had confused nationalism with Christianity. The long, painful process of Vergangenheitsbewältigung began within the German churches.

Kuyper resisted liberal individualism, the idea that society was simply a collection of free individuals with the state as referee. He opposed statism, the centralising tendency of modern states to take over education, welfare, or religion.

Abraham Kuyper’s letter in 1898: “When government intrudes upon the pulpit or dictates family life, it overreaches. When religious groups or ideological movements seize the state to impose their own views, they too violate the balance of spheres”.

The Amsterdam Réveil never became a mass movement. Yet by insisting that faith must be personal, passionate, and socially relevant, the Réveil planted seeds that would later bear fruit in Dutch political, social and church life.

There is a back story to Amsterdam’s story, which begins with the city’s unique and famous flag: three white crosses on a black stripe through a red background. 

A Jesus March, a boat parade, and a programme of worship and testimony, made Amsterdammers and visitors aware of the vitality and diversity of the church in the city.