22 July 2026
Congratulations to Timothy Nyhof, winner of the REFORC Paper Award 2026! We spoke with him about his award-winning research and his academic journey. Read the full interview here.
Timothy, you won the REFORC Paper Award 2026. What is your paper about?
The paper discusses an exchange between two radical reformers, Johannes Campanus and Hendrik Rol. It argues that early radical Reformation Eucharistic debates were not simply disputes over the presence of Christ in the elements, but also the nature and limits of divine speech. Campanus’s doctrine of sacramental naming was a sophisticated attempt to resolve the tension between scriptural literalism and a non-metaphysical sacramental theology by expanding divine speech to a third mode. Rol’s critique restricts divine speech to only promissory and performative forms.
How did you come to choose this topic?
I was contemplating a different paper when the conference theme was publicized. I recalled from my research that Johannes Campanus had tried to solve the question of materiality, which fit the theme well. When I discussed the idea with my mentor, Dr. Willem de Bakker, he suggested I follow the line of argumentation further and include Hendrik Rol and how it was transferred to Bernhard Rothmann in Münster.
While researching, what new insights did you find?
The most significant was the ingenuity of Campanus’s sacramental naming as a third mode of divine speech. As well, although Rol’s critique of sacramental naming was forceful, his reconfiguration of the Lord’s Supper into a practice of Spirit-mediated participation within the believing community was very illuminating. Rol’s shift from sacramental ontology to pneumatological participation is in some ways a result of his rejection of Campanus’s expanded divine speech, and it provides the conceptual grammar for later Münsterite sacramental theology.
How was it presenting at REFORC2026?
I have to confess I was nervous. The quality of the participants was formidable, and I was very conscious of that. What disarmed me was the collegiality and, frankly, the humility of the scholars. I saw this in the interaction with presenters and in the discussions over coffee. As a result I made a number of important connections, and I will be attending the next conference in Zurich.
Who is Timothy Nyhof?
I grew up in the post-war Dutch immigrant community in Canada, in the Dutch Reformed tradition. I play violin and viola in the worship group at my church, and I volunteer with the International Viola Society, digitizing their archives — an occupational hazard, I suppose, for someone who spends his days in archives reading historical documents. I also sit on the board of a social housing complex. My current research concerns the concept of restitution among the radical reformers.
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Thank you for the interview, Timothy! We wish you every success and the joy of scholarship in your future research.
The REFORC Paper Award is awarded annually to a presenter at the annual REFORC conference whose paper demonstrates originality in topic and research, high methodological and scholarly quality, the presentation of new insights, and both academic and societal relevance. The award also includes a prize of € 500.
