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[German Version] (Feb 1618, Zaltbommel – May 18, 1677, Utrecht), Dutch Reformed pastor and, from 1653, professor of theology at Utrecht. He studied with G. Voetius and stood fir4mly at his side in the conflict with the Utrecht magistracy over the misuse of the canonicate (in place since the Middle Ages), and ¶ also in the disputes with J. Cocceius on the scope of the validity of the OT sabbath commandment. Already as a pastor, he defended the orthodox doctrine of atonement against the Socinians ( Triumphus crucis, 1649). Aart de Groot Bibliography Works include: Systema theologicae dogmat…

[German Version] (Nov, 1586, Deventer – Nov 15, 1658, Leiden), Dutch Reformed theologian, pastor in Deventer from 1614 to 1642. Linguistically gifted, he served as a reviser of the Dutch national translation of the Old Testament (Bible translations: II, 1.d). In 1652 he was appointed superintendent of the national seminary in Leiden. He presided over many disputations that bitterly attacked Arminians, Cartesians (Cartesianism), and Catholics. A prolific poet, he drew on the Bible and Dutch history for his subjects. His poems are considered a high point of Dutch Renaissance poetry. Aa…

[German Version] (1522, Amsterdam – Oct 29, 1590, Gouda). The military conflict between Spain and the rebellious Netherlands marked the troubled course of his life. Coornhert was a humanist autodidact; he practiced various professions and was a fervent publicist. From 1560 to 1588, with interruptions, he was a notary in Haarlem, and from 1564 to 1567, an annuitant of the city council. He carried out some important assignments for William of Orange. In 1572, Coorn…

[German Version] (Le Clerc, Jean; Mar 29, 1657, Geneva – Jan 8, 1736, Amsterdam) was trained as a reformed theologian in Geneva, but met with persistent criticism from Reformed Orthodoxy (II) on account of his diverging opinions (cf. e.g. his Epistulae theologicae, 1679). In 1684, the intercession of Phillipus van ¶ Limborch secured him the professorship for the non-theological disciplines, together with Limborch himself, at the Remonstrant Seminary in Amsterdam. He spoke out in favor of the grammatical-philological exegesis of the Bible as well as of works of profane literature ( Ars…

[German Version] (Jan 30, 1563, Brugge – Jan 11, 1641, Groningen). While a student, Gomarus heard the lectures of the leading Reformed theologians of his time, including F. Junius, Z. Ursinus, and H. Zanchi at Neustadt an der Haardt, William Whitaker at Cambridge, and J.-J. Grynaeus at Heidelberg. In 1586 he became pastor of the Dutch refugee congregation in Frankfurt am Main. From 1594 to 1611 he was a professor at Leiden. A strict adherent of scholastic Calvinism, he sensed Pelagianism and Jesui…

[German Version] 1. Frans (Jan 13, 1628, Leiden – Nov 12, 1679, Utrecht), the son of a pastor from Frankenthal, studied theology in Leiden. In 1650 he became the Reformed vicar of Hanau, in 1661 the vice rector of the Public University in Leiden and in 1662 professor at Utrecht. Theologically he developed in the Cocceian orientation (J. Cocceius). On various occasions the city council of …

[German Version] (1645, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands – 1706, Bergen op Zoom), Reformed pastor in Sint Philipsland (Tholen Island, Zeeland) after 1672. In 1680, he fell under suspicion of teaching Spinozism in ecclesial guise. The responsible classical assembly of Tholen submitted the manuscript of his catechetical instruction to the judgment of the theology faculties in Leiden and Utrecht. The latter condemned it as blasphemous and Hattem was suspended. After a trial lasting three years, the pr…

[German Version] (Jan 8, 1583, Amsterdam – Apr 4, 1643, Amsterdam), a leading Remonstrant theologian (Arminians), had been a Reformed pastor for two years following his studies in Leiden (J. Arminius) ¶ and Franeker (J. Drusius), when he was appointed professor of theology in Leiden (1612). He taught in accordance with the Remonstrantie (1610), of which he was a co-signatory. At the Synod of Dort, he proved to be a skillful apologist for the accused and acted as a theological leader in the …

[German Version] The Gymnasium Illustre, in existence since 1600, was converted in 1648 by the councillors of the province of Gelderland into a college, which was in existence until 1812. It mostly remained in the shadows of the other Dutch universities where professors from Harderwijk gladly transferred to take up professorships. The theologian Bernhard Cremer (1717–1750), a proponent of the ideas of J. Cocceius, became rather well-known. The executive guarded orthodoxy, as in the trial of the su…

[German Version] 1. Johann (Crellius; Jul 26, 1590, Hellmitzheim, Franconia – Jun 11, 1633, Rákow, Poland) attended school in Nuremberg from 1600 to 1603, then until 1605 in Stolberg in the Harz mountains; in Nov 1607 he began his studies at Altdorf, where he served as alumni superintendent. There he came in contact with the crypto-Socinians around the physician E. Soner. In Dec 1612 he fled to Rákow, where he became professor of Greek and served as rector from 1616 to 16…

[German Version] (1586, Gorinchem – Jul 19, 1627, Dokkum) was deposed as Reformed pastor because of his Arminian views (1619) and banished (1620). He led a beggarly existence, settling nowhere. Inclined toward the newly founded Remonstrantist church (Arminians), he finally felt at home with the Rijnsburger Collegiants. Theologically, he had sympathies with Socinians, and he translated some of F. Sozzini's works into Dutch. He refused a professorship in Raków in 1625. His heartfelt Stichtelycke Rymen (1624, 121658), which revolve around the theme of suffering, wer…

[German Version] (van der Heyden) 1. Caspar (1530, Mechelen, Belgium – May 7, 1586, Bacharach), Flemish Reformed pastor. As a lay theologian, he worked under the most difficult circumstances in the early years of the rebellion against Spain to constitute the life of the Reformed Church as a pastor in Antwerp (1551–1558 and 1579–1585), in Middelburg (1574–1579), in the refugee congregations in Frankfurt amMain and Frankenthal (1558–1574), and, finally, after 1586 as inspector in Bacharach. He participat…

[German Version] (Coch; Aug 9, 1603, Bremen – Nov 5, 1669, Leiden) was appointed professor in Bre¶ men in 1630 (Philologia sacra), in Franeker in 1636 (Hebrew; theology from 1643), and in Leiden in 1650 (theology). As a student, he acquired a lasting interest in Judaism and Islam from M. Martini (Bremen), and was thoroughly trained in the biblical languages by S. Amama (Franeker). His commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible and the preparatory work for his monumental Lexicon et commentarius sermonis hebraici et chaldaici Veteris Testamenti (1669) are closely connected to his…

[German Version] (Jan 24, 1534, Cologne - Jan 15, 1615, Amsterdam). As a Reformed preacher and former Carthusian (1560 conversion to Protestantism), Coolhaes served in several German and Dutch congregations. Appointed at Leiden in 1574, he gave the opening lecture of the Academy in 1574 and assisted with lectures for a few months. In the conflict between the magistracy of Leiden and the Reformed Church Council concerning authority to fill the offices of preacher, …