And the Name Is: Heeresma

This evening (14 November 2022; 22:15 on NPO2 – Dutch television channel), the EO (Evangelical Broadcasting Company), in collaboration with the Jewish Broadcasting Company, will air a documentary about Heere Heeresma, a well-known Dutch writer from the 1960s and 1970s. I wouldn’t have highlighted this broadcast on the GoedBericht site if it weren’t for the fact that Heeresma had a father (†1943) who ran a magazine (“de Flambouw”) and gave many lectures, presenting largely the same ideas as those found on this GoedBericht site.

The writer Heeresma was known as an eccentric, humorous personality who mocked everything and always misled interviewers. Except… when his father and his teachings and example were discussed. Then Heeresma became deadly serious. I wrote about this earlier:

In the many interviews the writer gave over the years, he never hid his boundless admiration for his father. When asked by an interviewer why he thought the way he did, he replied: “What do you expect? With a father like that? Hello, hello, that was quite a man!” In another interview, he spoke appreciatively: “I come from a very good family. My parents’ marriage is still an example to me. My father was a theologian. He was a controversial figure because he said remarkable things and could even prove them scripturally. He was an independently thinking man…” Heeresma not only bore the same name as his father but was above all his spiritual heir. He declared: “My starting point is the Scriptures. In that vision, I am an adept of my father. You could call me a biblicist, someone who bases himself solely on what is written.”

In the documentary “And the Name Is: Heeresma,” the significance of Heeresma’s father is hardly addressed. The filmmaker chose to portray the writer through reflections from his daughter and son. Interviewer Anton de Goede (VPRO) is aware of the limitations of this approach. He is currently working on a biography and, unlike the documentary, intends to give explicit attention to the importance of Heeresma’s father (and thus the Bible) in the writer’s life.

When the writer Heeresma passed away in 2011, I wrote an “in memoriam,” after which De Goede contacted me (2012) and asked me to contribute to a commemorative volume. Now that De Goede has recently started working on a biography, he has contacted me again to learn more about the biblical background of the writer. Last night, the amiable radio host was a guest on “Met het oog op morgen” (NOS) and once again spoke about the role of the Bible in Heeresma’s life (minute 8:35). For the record: I was referred to as a theologian, which is, of course, a misunderstanding. Bible researcher seems much more appropriate. In any case, it is remarkable that attention is now being paid to “the Scriptures” from the VPRO side! And, oh irony, through an author whose name evoked only horror in Christian Netherlands.

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