Why did Johan van Oldenbarnevelt oppose calling a national synod to settle the religious controversy?

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt opposed the convocation of a national synod because he and the States of Holland viewed such an assembly as a significant political risk.1

The proponents of the synod, primarily Counter-Remonstrant preachers, sought to establish a church independent of civil authority, where churchmen would hold the power to judge the worthiness and legitimacy of government officials. Oldenbarnevelt and his fellow regents in Holland, however, believed that the state should maintain authority over the church. They advocated for a latitudinarian approach to dogma, favoring a broadly inclusive Reformed Church that supported toleration and did not hinder trade.12

By resisting the synod, Oldenbarnevelt aimed to prevent the creation of a "church triumphant" on the Genevan model, which he feared would undermine the sovereignty of the individual provinces and the civil authorities' control over religious and political life.1