Editing Anti-Revolutionary Party (section)

===History before 1879===
The anti-revolutionary parliamentary caucus had existed since the 1840s. It represented [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]] tendencies within the [[Dutch Reformed Church]]. Under the leadership of [[Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer]] the anti-revolutionaries became a real political force, which opposed the [[Liberal Christianity|liberal]] tendencies within the Dutch Reformed Church and the liberal tendencies within Dutch politics. Their three values were "God, the [[Netherlands]], and the [[House of Orange]]".

An important issue was [[public education]], which in the view of the anti-revolutionaries should be Protestant-Christian in nature. The anti-revolutionaries had ties with the {{ill|April movement|nl|Aprilbeweging}}, which opposed the official re-establishment of Roman Catholic [[Diocese|bishoprics]], and a mixed relationship with (liberal-) conservatives in the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]], who also opposed reforms to the social and political system but often on the basis of a mix of liberal Protestantism and secular [[humanism]]. During the 1860s Groen van Prinsterer became more isolated from his conservative allies. He also began to reformulate his Protestant-Christian ideals, and began to plead for ''souvereiniteit in eigen kring'' ([[sphere sovereignty]]) instead of theocracy. This meant that instead of one Protestant-Christian society, Groen van Prinsterer wanted a Protestant society within a pluralistic society. Orthodox Protestants would have their own churches, schools, papers, political parties and sports clubs. This laid the basis for [[pillarisation]], which was to dominate Dutch society between 1880 and 1960.

[[File:Abraham Kuyper - Griffis.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Abraham Kuyper]], founder and party leader until 1920, [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] 1901–1905.]]

In 1864 Groen van Prinsterer began to correspond with a young Dutch Reformed theologian named [[Abraham Kuyper]]. Kuyper was heavily influenced by Groen van Prinsterer's ideas and began to put the latter's ideal of an orthodox Protestant society within Dutch society into practice.