# Gisbertus Voetius



## VirginiaHuguenot

Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch Puritan divine, was born on March 3, 1589 and died on November 1, 1676. In the words of Joel Beeke (_Gisbertus Voetius: Toward a Reformed Marriage of Knowledge and Piety_):



> [Voetius] ranks among the most influential Dutch Reformed theologians of all time. He represents the mature fruit of the so-called Dutch _Nadere Reformatie_"”a primarily seventeenth and early eighteenth century movement that paralleled English Puritanism in both time and substance.
> 
> Voetius was to the _Nadere Reformatie_ (usually translated as the Dutch Second Reformation) what John Owen, often called the prince of the Puritans, was to English Puritanism.[1] Though largely unknown and ignored by English-speaking scholarship,[2] Voetius is nearly as much an in-house name to students of Dutch Post-Reformation orthodoxy as Owen is to students of English Puritanism.[3]
> 
> [1] For a summary of the _Nadere Reformatie_ and a discussion of the term, see Joel R. Beeke, _Assurance of Faith: Calvin, English Puritanism, and the Dutch Second Reformation_ (New York: Peter Lang, 1991), 383-413. Heartfelt appreciation is extended to Ray B. Lanning and Arthur Blok for translation assistance.
> 
> [2] The only major work on Voetius in English is Thomas Arthur McGahagan, "Cartesianism in the Netherlands, 1639-1676: The New Science and the Calvinist Counter-Reformation" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1976). For articles on Voetius, see Johannes van Oort, "Augustine's Influence on the Preaching of Gisbertus Voetius," in Collectanea Augustiniana, vol. 2, ed. Bernard Bruning, Mathijs Lamberigts, J. van Houten (Louvain: Lueven University Press, 1990); Herman Hanko, "Gijsbert Voetius: Defender of Orthodoxy," _The Standard Bearer_ 72 (February 15, 1996):229-32.
> 
> [3] Secondary Dutch and German sources on Voetius include: Arnold Cornelius Duker, _Gisbertus Voetius_, 3 vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1897-1914), which remains the definitive biography, though it is of limited value due to its datedness and its lack of extended analysis of Voetius' teachings; H. A. van Andel, _De zendingsleer van Gisbertus Voetius_ (Kampen: Kok, 1912); Jan Anthony Crame, _De theologische faculteit te Utrecht den tijde van Voetius_ (Utrecht: Kemink, 1932); Marinus Bouwman, _Voetius over het gezag der Synoden_ (Amsterdam: S. J. P. Bakker, 1937); C. Steenblok, _Voetius en de Sabbat_ (Hoorn, 1941); L. Janse, _Gisbertus Voetius, 1589-1676_ (Utrecht: De Banier, 1971); C. Steenblok, _Gisbertus Voetius: zijn leven en werken_, 2nd ed. (Gouda: Gereformeerde Pers, 1976); A. de Groot, _Gisbertus Voetius: Godzaligheid te verbinden met de wetenschap_ (Kampen: Kok, 1978); idem, "Gisbertus Voetius," in _Gestalten der Kirchengeschichte_, vol. 7 of _Orthodoxie und Pietismus_, ed. Martin Greschat (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1982), 149-62; Willem van't Spijker, "Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676)," in _De Nadere Reformatie: Beschrijving van haar voornaamste vertegenwoordigers_ (The Hague: Boekencentrum, 1986), 49-84; F.A. van Lieburg, _De Nadere Reformatie in Utrecht ten tijde van Voetius: Sporen in de Gereformeerde Kerkeraadsacta_ (Rotterdam: Lindenberg, 1989); Johannes van Oort, "Augustinus, Voetius, und die Anfange der Utrechter UnviversitÃ¤t," in _Signum Pietatis: Festgabe fÃ¼r Cornelius Petrus Mayer zum 60._ Geburtstag, ed. A. Zumkeller (Warzburg: Augustinus-Verlag, 1989); Johannes van Oort, et al., _De onbekende Voetius_ (Kampen: Kok, 1989); W. J. van Asselt and E. Dekker, eds., _De scholastieke Voetius: Een luisteroefening aan de hand van Voetius' 'Disputationes Selectae'_ (Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 1995); Cornelis Adrianus de Niet, "Voetius en de literatuur: Een korte verkenning," Documentatieblad 19 (1995):27-36.



More biographical information here.

[Edited on 12-26-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## Mayflower

I have : Ta asketika sive exercitia pietatis or in Dutch : De praktijk der Godzaligheid (The practise of Godliness) 714 pages

Reactions: Informative 1


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## NaphtaliPress

Translate it!


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## Mayflower

> _Originally posted by NaphtaliPress_
> Translate it!



To be honest my English gramma is not good enough. If my gramma was really good than i would love to spend time in transelating these kinds of works like Voetius ,Mastricht, A Marck & Oomius.


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## NaphtaliPress

Just kidding you. But would be nice.


> _Originally posted by Mayflower_
> 
> 
> 
> _Originally posted by NaphtaliPress_
> Translate it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To be honest my English gramma is not good enough. If my gramma was really good than i would love to spend time in transelating these kinds of works like Voetius ,Mastricht, A Marck & Oomius.
Click to expand...


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Joel Beeke's summary of one of Voetius' major works:



> Voetius' massive four-volume _Politicae Ecclesiasticae_, edited from his Saturday debates on church government, is divided into three major sections. The first section consists of debates relative to ecclesiastical matters and actions. Voetius wrestles with the nature of the instituted church, the concepts under which church government operates, and the character of church discipline. Under "actions" he discusses the church's handling of liturgy, psalmody, church organs, administration of the sacraments, catechesis, fasting, days of contrition and thanksgiving, marriages, and funerals. He also includes a treatise dealing with ecclesiastical liberty, church property, pastoral remuneration, and church administration.



John Girardeau, _Instrumental Music in the Worship of God_:



> Voetius, in his great work, the _Ecclesiastical Polity_, elaborately argues against the use of instrumental music in the Christian church, and among the arguments which he advances employs this: "Because it savors of Judaism, or a worship suited to a childish condition under the Old Testament economy; and there might with equal justice be introduced into the churches of the New Testament the bells of Aaron, the silver trumpets of the priests, the horns of the Jubilee, harps, psalteries and cymbals, with Levitical singers, and so the whole cultus of that economy, or the beggarly elements of the world, according to the words of the apostle in the fourth chapter of Galatians." [24]



and



> Gisbertus Voetius argues at length against the use of instrumental music in churches in his _Ecclesiastical Polity_, a work which is held in high estimation among Presbyterians. [24] The argument is characterized by the great ability for which the author was noted, but it is too elaborate to be here cited.



[Edited on 4-14-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## VirginiaHuguenot

There is another good bio here.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Gisbertus Voetius died 330 years ago on November 1, 1676.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

There is a good article about Voetius here.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Joel Beeke's _Gisbertus Voetius: Towards a Reformed Marriage of Knowledge and Piety_ is available online here.


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## greenbaggins

*Selectarum Disputationum*

Four of the five volumes of the Latin Selectarum Disputationum may be downloaded for free. If you know Latin, Voetius is the best undiscovered Reformed author in the world. It is a fascimile, but still quite readable, and easier by far than, say, Caryl's sermons on Job. 

1. Go to http://gallica.bnf.fr/

2. Click on recherche.

3. Under Mots du titre, type in "disputationum." 

4. Under the fourth result, click on "consulter la notice"

5. Click on pars 1. 

6. Click on telecharger

7. Click on "ok" at the bottom of the screen

8. After the document is ready, there will be a clickable phrase "en cliquant ici" in blue in the middle of the page. *Right-click* on that phrase, and "save target as" whatever and wherever you want to save it. Repeat instructions 5-8 for the other parts. (go back from the pop-up window to do so).


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## NaphtaliPress

Lane,
Interesting. I'll have to get those. I had an obscure Voetius research question I could not resolve a few years ago when I was writing the intro to the Anonymous Writings of George Gillespie. If you know much about Voet maybe you can help me finally resolve that?


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## greenbaggins

Sorry, I don't know anything about Voetius, except that he was the Dutch John Owen. I just got a hold of this reference from Wes White. You should ask Richard Muller.


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## NaphtaliPress

Thanks Lane; you wouldn't happen to have a contact email you could PM me would you?


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## R. Scott Clark

Thanks Lane, that's amazing! I had no idea that was available.

What a gift.

Voetius was brilliant. His critique of middle knowledge has never been answered.

rsc


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## greenbaggins

*book.google.com*

And get a load of books.google.com, which has many, many things of note. I have downloaded Du Moulin, Davenant, Ames, Lightfoot, Vitringa, Melanchthon, Fairbairn (the typology is on there!), and others. Available, but not downloadable are Bengel's Gnomon (English and Latin), and Pictet.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Has anyone read _The Desperate Cause of the Papists_ (1635) by Voetius? 

Jeremiah Burroughs refers to it in _Irenicum_, p. 181, as "that learned piece of Voetius." 

And Richard Baxter says in _A Christian Directory_, p. 276, that "[t]he Papists have hitherto insisted on the necessity of successive right ordination; but Voetius 'de desperata Causa Papatus' hath in this so handled them, and confuted Jansenius, as hath indeed shewed the desperateness of that cause."


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Happy birthday, Mr. Voetius!


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, _Meet the Puritans_, p. 803:



> While pastoring in Heusden, Voetius revealed his heart for missions. He was influential in persuading various trading companies to send missionaries with the Dutch ships to distant parts of the world. Moreover, as H.A. Van Andel points out, "Voetius attempted not only to sketch the outlines of a solid theology of missions, but he was also the first who attempted seriously to give missiology a legitimate scientific place in the whole of theology" (_De Zendingsleer van Gisbertus Voetius_, p. 19). It is remarkable that the greatest Dutch scholastic of Reformed orthodoxy developed the first comprehensive Protestant theology of missions.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

It pays to comparison shop! 

Joel R. Beeke, _Gisbertus Voetus: Toward a reformed marriage of knowledge and piety_ is available for:

$99.95 at Amazon

$2.50 at Reformation Heritage Books


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## VirginiaHuguenot

_Tractatus Selecti de Politica Ecclesiastica_ is available online (in Latin) here.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Voetius' exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism (in Dutch) is available online here.


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## Reformed Covenanter

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> It pays to comparison shop!
> 
> Joel R. Beeke, _Gisbertus Voetus: Toward a reformed marriage of knowledge and piety_ is available for:
> 
> $99.95 at Amazon
> 
> $2.50 at Reformation Heritage Books



Why the price difference? I checked the link, and it was only $6.


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## VirginiaHuguenot

Daniel Ritchie said:


> VirginiaHuguenot said:
> 
> 
> 
> It pays to comparison shop!
> 
> Joel R. Beeke, _Gisbertus Voetus: Toward a reformed marriage of knowledge and piety_ is available for:
> 
> $99.95 at Amazon
> 
> $2.50 at Reformation Heritage Books
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why the price difference? I checked the link, and it was only $6.
Click to expand...


When I posted the links 7 months ago, the price at Amazon was $99.95.


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## Reformed Covenanter

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> Daniel Ritchie said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> VirginiaHuguenot said:
> 
> 
> 
> It pays to comparison shop!
> 
> Joel R. Beeke, _Gisbertus Voetus: Toward a reformed marriage of knowledge and piety_ is available for:
> 
> $99.95 at Amazon
> 
> $2.50 at Reformation Heritage Books
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why the price difference? I checked the link, and it was only $6.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> When I posted the links 7 months ago, the price at Amazon was $99.95.
Click to expand...


 This thread should be closed; so much confusion.


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