Thanks to his orthodox upbringing, André has a wealth of biblical knowledge. That knowledge proved valuable when he started at the Restored Reformed Seminary as part of the Bachelor’s programme in Theology at VU Amsterdam. His ambition was to become a preacher in this church. However, things turned out differently. André became captivated by the approach adopted by text-critical lecturers and the academic side of the programme. He made the mental shift towards academic thought.
André: “The interest shown by a professor was a decisive moment for me. He noticed from my questions that I was struggling with my faith. He suggested I become one of his teaching assistants to enable me to gain an insider’s view of the academic world. It was a turning point. I opted for academia and am now a PhD candidate at Amsterdam UMC. I’m researching ethical questions relating to assisted suicide for those with a ‘fulfilled life’. Doing that in a medical setting is interesting for a theologian.”
Ultimate science
André is combining his PhD research with a job at the Scientific Institute for the CDA. The work is extremely varied: administrative work, developing initiatives like podcasts, testing out ideas on colleagues, compiling future visions and discussion documents relating to religion and ethics. For example, he wrote a report about genetically modified embryos. “I took a theological approach to the subject. I carefully went through all the documents written about it, checked out all the sources and summarised them. Dealing with source materials is something I learnt at VU Amsterdam. They were ancient sources: how do you approach reading ancient sources and how do you do justice to ancient texts? People often regard theology with disdain, as if it’s not a real science. For me, it’s the ultimate science precisely because of our very basic and modest approach to sources. Reality is made up of a range of different experiences.”
Car company customer contact centre
When André applied for his current job at the Scientific Institute, his varied background could not fail to impress: theologian, PhD candidate and commercial experience as a manager in a car company customer contact centre and account manager at a fundraising organisation. Thanks to his pre-vocational secondary education, he also has experience of construction technology and worked with teenagers during his (uncompleted) teacher-training programme in History. “All of it helped to shape the person I am now. I really miss teaching adolescents. I think it’s fascinating to see how eager to learn they are and how the right attention can help them to flourish.”
André was the first generation of his family to go to university. Everything was new for him. At VU Amsterdam, he felt completely at home. “It’s a study programme where people notice you. The group sizes are small, so you’re not just a number as you might be in Law, for example. My advice is this: put what you’ve learnt behind you, adopt an open attitude to your degree and dare to ask questions.”
