Hendrik Kraemer


Hendrik Kraemer was a lay missiologist and figure in the ecumenical movement from Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands. He encouraged the Dutch to allow the spread missionary activities outside of the Dutch East India Company-restricted area in eastern Indonesia to the rest of the archipelago.

Biography

Kraemer lost his parents when he was 12 years old, so he stayed in an orphanage. At the age of 16, he decided to become a missionary. Kraemer married in 1919. He learned the Bible by himself, and he never entered theological seminary.
On the question of theology of religions, Kraemer supported an exclusivist understanding of religion.