# Jacobus Koelman



## VirginiaHuguenot (May 10, 2006)

Jacobus Koelman (1632 - 1695), Dutch Puritan minister, was a leader of the _Nadere Reformatie_. He wrote and translated many Puritan works, and is most famous for _The Duties of Parents_, which was published conjointly with a catechism and examples of godly children who died at a young age, to inspire Dutch youth to godliness. 

This book contains, among other things, many recommendations for books to be read by parents and children. Here is a list of some of the recommendations, which I think give insight into the heart of Dutch Reformed piety:

* Abraham Van de Velde, _The Wonders of the Most High_

* Elnathan Parr, _Abba Father_

* Nicholas Byfield, _The Promises; or a Treatise Showing How a Godly Christian May Support His Heart_

* William Teellinck, _Key of Devotion_ and _North Star_

* Ewout Teelinck, _The Pillar of Fire and the Pillar of Cloud_

* Henry Scudder, _The Christian's Daily Walk in Holy Security and Peace_

* John Brown, _Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life_

* William Guthrie, _The Christian's Great Interest_

* Samuel Rutherford, _Letters_

* Hugh Binning, _Common Principles of the Christian Religion_

* Works by Christopher Love, Joshua Hall, Arthur Hildersham, Daniel Dyke, William Ridder


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 6, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> ... it's also worth quoting Jacobus Koelman (1632-1695) (there is a good article about him in the November 2005 _The Outlook_), the Dutch Reformed minister who wrote a well-known book called _The Duties of Parents_ in which he said (p. 31 of the Reformation Heritage Books edition):
> 
> 
> ...



[Edited on 8-7-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 17, 2006)

There is a bio of Koelman in _Meet the Puritans_ ed. by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jan 2, 2007)

Jacobus Koelman


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Feb 18, 2007)

Jacobus Koelman on parental duties with respect to holy days:



> 100. Do not allow your children to celebrate the days on which unbelief and superstition are being catered to. They are admittedly inclined to want this because they see that the children of Roman Catholic parents observe those days. Do not let them attend carnivals, observe Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), see Santa Claus, or observe Twelfth Night, because they are all remnants of an idolatrous papacy. You must not keep your children out of school or from work on those days nor let them play outside or join in the amusement. The Lord has said, "After the doings of the land of Egypt, where you lived, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, you shall not do: neither shall you walk in their ordinances" (Lev. 18:3). The Lord will punish the Reformed on account of the days of Baal (Hosea 2:12-13), and he also observes what the children do on the occasion of such idolatry (Jer. 17:18). Therefore, do not let your children receive presents on Santa Claus day, nor let them draw tickets in a raffle and such things. Pick other days on which to give them the things that amuse them, and because the days of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost have the same character, Reformed people must keep their children away from these so-called holy days and feast days.
> 
> -- _The Duties of Parents_, p. 73


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jun 12, 2007)

_Jacobus Koelman: eene kerkhistorische studie_ (1901, Dutch) by A. F. Krull is available online here.


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