Dutch Reformed theologian, preacher and professor. He inspired the Leene brothers to follow their own spiritual way.
He originally borrowed his ideas from his teacher Abraham Kuyper, but later could no longer unite with his intellectual reformed theology, which formed a too closed system for him. He endeavored to add a new impetus to the ‘rationalized’, conventional Christianity, using the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and Eduard von Hartmann, and to defend it against atheism at the same time.
For this reason he debated with Socialists in Haarlem, not to deny their rights and that of of the poor, but to show them that materialism was not all there is. In Haarlem he also attracted the attention of the Leene brothers, who were always eager to listen to his impressive preaching in the Great or St.-Bavo Church and made notations of every word he said. The church also inspired mystics like the church painter Saenredam and the pipes of the famous Christian Müller organ were compared to the dents of the giant wall-fish in Moby Dick. “Seeing all these colonnades of bone so methodically ranged about, would you not think you were inside of the great Haarlem organ, and gazing upon its thousand pipes?” But that is just a trivial BTW.
Nol de Hartog graduated cum laude in 1903 with his thesis “Het probleem der wilsvrijheid naar Schopenhauer” (The problem of freedom of will to Schopenhauer). Then he became a preacher in Ommeren in the Calvinistic Betuwe (sometimes pietistic, sometimes rigidly dogmatic), until he was appealed to Heemstede near Haarlem in 1906. In that year he married JLG (Lucretia) Meyjes. She wrote and translated from German and gave courses at the International School of Philosophy in Amersfoort, which her husband had co-founded in 1916. Their second son, Jan de Hartog, became known as a writer of novels.
In 1910 Nol became the Hartog preacher in Haarlem , and from 1917 to 1931 he was a minister for the Dutch Reformed Church in the Watergraafsmeer in Amsterdam . In addition, he regularly preached in the Westerkerk and in the Round Lutheran Church at the Singel, which were then packed full. De Hartog was popular because of his passionate and compelling way of preaching, with his own way of speaking and choice of words. He was a driven, social and sympathetic preacher who did not shy away from conversations with those who thought differently. Many were inspired by him, including the two brothers Wim and Jan Leene . The passion of De Hartog was in line with the pioneering spirit that prevailed in the Netherlands during the interwar period , the period between the two world wars (Interbellum).
De Hartog was professor from 1926 to 1930 in the apology of Christianity in Utrecht, because of the AH named the Hartog Foundation, which had been founded by a group of supporters. At the end of 1930 he was appointed full professor in philosophy of religion and moral sciences at the University of Amsterdam. His audience consisted of only a small number of Lutheran and Mennonite students. The last years of the Hartogs were not very happy because he felt isolated and misunderstood. He died at the age of 69 after a long and painful sickbed.
The Hartogs philosophy
Philosophy was important in De Hartog’s thinking. He regarded her as inextricably linked to theology, since both pursued herewith. He liked the thinking of Schopenhauer, Schelling and Eduard von Hartmann. In it he observed a revival of metaphysics, which was neglected in his time and culture. De Hartog wanted to reconcile religion and philosophy by showing that philosophy also assumes all-embracing, inspiring unity principle on which everything is based, and through which everything is connected with everything. That way of thinking is now known as holism.
Both Nol de Hartog and his wife Luc de Hartog-Meyjes were strongly inspired by Jakob Boehme. Both have published an anthology with quotes from this German Protestant mystic. Nol de Hartog has made an important contribution to the popularization of several philosophers, which he dealt with in the book series ‘Groote denkers’ (Great thinkers,1910). These included Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Von Hartmann.
And he also inspired others: “‘Hij was een gedrevene, een godsvriend, hij heeft vele verre staanden geholpen en die nabij stonden uit de verdorring gerukt. Het ging hem om de wedergeboorte door de geest, om een godsvriend te zijn en eeuwig te blijven,’ zegt J.W. Jongedijk over hem in ‘Geestelijke Leiders van ons Volk’.” (“He was a passionate, a dear friend, he helped many distant people, and those who were standing near were thwarted. It was about being born again by the spirit, to be a god friend and to stay forever,’says JW Jongedijk about him in’ Spiritual Leaders of our People ‘.)

Link to Dutch wikipedia