Under the figure of a well-tended garden (Isa. 58:11), the author tells the history and development of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. Its roots are traced from the Reformation to reforming movements in the Netherlands, from Dutch Reformed immigrants to its birth as a denomination, and from there to about 1990. Trials and triumphs alike are narrated as God’s gracious care for his people is demonstrated.
Two books on early Protestant Reformed history may be read on-line:
A Study of the Relation Between the Views of Prof. R. Janssen and Common Grace by Herman Hanko (covers two, related, doctrinal controversies in the Christian Reformed Church [1920-1925]: the Janssen controversy over the nature and authority of Scripture and the common grace controversy, shedding much light on PRC origins)
The History of the Protestant Reformed Churches by Herman Hoeksema (covers 1924-1936)
“I’m reading A Watered Garden by Gertrude Hoeksema. This is a very useful book because it gives me an insight into the roots, birth and development of the PRC. A very special and valuable book.” – England
