The Synopsisof Apurertheology in Its Historical Andtheological Context

The Synopsis of a Purer Theology in Its Historical and Theological Context Andreas J. Beck and Dolf te Velde As announced in the introductions to the first and second volumes, the third and last volume of this bilingual edition of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae includes, next to the introduction to this volume, a detailed account of the historical and theological contexts of this work.1 This extensive historical and theological introduction will first explore in general the historical and theological backgrounds to the Leiden Synopsis. Next, it will introduce the four authors of this important handbook of scholastic Reformed theology and ex- plain its origin in disputation cycles at Leiden University. In addition, the most important sources of the Synopsis will be discussed. Another substantial sec- tion will examine characteristic features of its theology. This general introduction will conclude with a survey of the reception history of the Synopsis. 1 Historical and Theological Background 1.1 The Age of Confessionalization The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, first published in 1625, is a collection of fifty- two disputations that were composed and defended between 1620 and 1624, and that were presided by the Leiden professors Johannes Polyander (1568– 1646), Andreas Rivetus (1573–1651), Antonius Walaeus (1572–1639), and An- tonius Thysius (1565–1640). The four professors composed the disputation the- ses and presided in turn; thus any individual preference in the topics covered may be ruled out. The first ten disputations were presided alternately by Poly- ander, Walaeus, and Thysius; starting with disputation 11 “On the Providence of God,” Andreas Rivetus took his place as second in rank after Polyander. The Synopsis opens with a preface addressed to the lords of the States of Hol- land and West-Friesland, the governing body of the Province of Holland which played a dominant role in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.2 The four Leiden profess- 1 See Synopsis 1:1; 2:1, note 1. 2 The translation of the first sentence of the preface in Synopsis 1:23 is misleading, since © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004329980_003 the synopsis in its historical and theological context 9 ors emphasize that “Truth and Peace” are “the two foundations of the Chris- tian Republic.” Not only have the predecessors of the lords faithfully defended “the true teachings of Christ as revealed in his Word” against the attacks of papacy, but they also have vindicated “the freedom of our fatherland” against the oppressors of the Reformed churches. Moreover, they have supported the restoration of the churches. According to the Leiden professors, the current lords have followed the good example of their predecessors, facilitated the Synod of Dort and appointed new professors of Theology. In response to this, the four professors present to them the Synopsis of a PurerTheology, which test- ifies not only “a total single-mindedness” in what they “believe and think,” but also “a consensus, in all the headings of theology” and thus delivers “the longed- for proof of the harmony” in their teaching.3 This kind of praise for and appeal to the government is characteristic for what recent, especially German, scholarship has called the Age of Confession- alization. Although the unity of the Corpus Christianum or Christian common- wealth was increasingly eroding since the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Church and State were closely linked. Schol- ars such as Wolfgang Reinhard and Heinz Schilling emphasize the interrelation between the institutionalization of confessional churches and the emergence of the early modern state. Thus, they focus on parallel and trans-confessional processes between the three major confessional churches as they developed in the Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic confessionalizations.4 “Domini Ordines” in this context primarily refers to the “lords of the States” of Holland and West-Friesland rather than to the “lords of the States-General,” who formed the confederate government of the Dutch Republic.We thank Prof. Fred van Lieburg for drawing our attention to this error. For the dominant role of the States of Holland and West-Friesland, representing besides the Ridderschap (“Knighthood”) the eleven cities of the Southern Quarter and the seven cities of the Northern West Frisian Quarter, see Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806, Oxford History of Early Modern Europe (Oxford: Clar- endon, 1995), 430–455. 3 Synopsis 1:22–29. 4 Wolfgang Reinhard, “Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and the Early Modern State: A Reas- sessment,” in The Counter-Reformation: The Essential Readings, ed. David M. Luebke (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 105–128; Heinz Schilling, “Confessional Europe,” in Handbook of European History1400–1600:LateMiddleAges,Renaissance andReformation, vol. 2, eds.Thomas A. Brady Jr, Heiko A. Oberman and James D. Tracy (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 641–682; cf. John M. Headley, Hans J. Hillerbrand, and Anthony J. Papalas, eds., Confessionalization in Europe, 1555–1700: Essays in Memory of Bodo Nischan (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004); Ute Lotz-Heumann, “Con- fessionalization,” in Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research, ed. David Whitford (Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2008), 136–157; P.J. Shore, “Theology.

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