VU Amsterdam gives lecturer talking-to for Nashville Statement comments

The Board of VU Amsterdam will be having a ‘strong talk’ with lecturer Pieter de Vries and will be taking ‘appropriate measures’. De Vries, one of the initiators of the Dutch version of the Nashville Statement, drew parallels between the advance of modern-day gender ideology and that of Nazism in the 1930s.

The VU Board issued a press release expressing its shock upon hearing De Vries’s statements. In a recent interview with the Dutch daily AD, the theology lecturer – one of the people behind the initiative to publish a Dutch version of the Nashville Statement – said that churches should speak out against the prevailing gender ideology. “When Nazi ideology was forced on society, the churches remained silent. Now gender ideology is being forced on us, and once again churches too often remain silent.” He has since said that he regrets making these comments.

VU Amsterdam announced a debate about the controversial Nashville Statement. According to Advalvas, five VU staff members have signed the anti-gay manifesto, which was first drafted in the US.

Last Monday, the university did not hesitate to distance itself from the statement and fly the rainbow flag. Other Dutch universities, including EUR, also raised the flag to show their support for the LGBT+ community. The statement has been signed by some 250 Dutch citizens. To the best of our knowledge, none of the signatories is employed by Erasmus University Rotterdam.