Video Recordings from the Colloquium on the Synopsis Purioris at the Junius Institute

April 8, 2016 • Research & Technology, Synopsis Purioris Theologiae • by

Synopsis Purioris Colloquium organized by the Junius Institute

March 10, 2016 • Conference, Synopsis Purioris Theologiae • by

On Thursday, March 31  -Friday April 1, the Junius Institute is holding a special colloquium on the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae. For this event, they have brought together an interesting array of speakers on various topics related to the SPT:

  • Keith Stanglin, “How Much Purer Is the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae? A Comparison of Leiden Theology before and after Dordt”
  • Donald Sinnema, “The First Edition of William Ames’s Medulla (1623) as a Disputation Cycle: A Precursor to the Synopsis”
  • Raymond Blacketer, “The Sabbath in the Synopsis”
  • Mark Beach, “No Longer Totally Depraved: Free Choice in the Regenerate according to the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae”
  • Riemer Faber, “Presiders, Respondents, and the Question of the Authorship of the Disputations”
  • Martin Klauber, “Pierre du Moulin: Disputation and Debate over Universal Grace at the Academy of Sedan”
  • Michael Lynch, “Antonius Walaeus and De Baptismo: A Case Study in the Reception History of the Leiden Synopsis”
  • Todd Rester, “From the Synopsis Purioris to Marckius and De Moor: A Trajectory of Doctrine, Pedagogy, and Institutional Continuity”

For more information and online registration, see here.

The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae: A Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources

February 29, 2016 • Synopsis Purioris Theologiae • by

By way of preparing two conference contributions for major academic conferences this year, I compiled the following bibliography of primary and secondary sources. As I proceed with my research I will revise this post. Moreover, I invite other scholars to contribute to the lists by sending me suggestions via the contact form.

Seventeenth Century Editions

Polyander, Johannes, Andreas Rivet, Antonius Walaeus, and Antonius Thysius. 1625. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Leiden: Elzevir.
———. 1632. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Editio secunda, priori emendatior. Leiden: Elzevir.
———. 1642. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Editio tertia, prioribus emendatior. Leiden: Elzevir.
———. 1652. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Editio quarta, prioribus emendatior. Leiden: Elzevir.
———. 1658a. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Editio quinta, prioribus emendatior. Amsterdam: Johannes Ravensteyn.
———. 1658b. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus Quinquaginta Duabus Comprehensa. Editio quinta, prioribus emendatior. Leiden: Elzevir.

Modern Editions / Translations

Bavinck, Herman, ed. 1881. Synopsis purioris theologiae, disputationibus 52 duabus comprehensa. Leiden: Donner.
Dijk, Dirk van. 1964. Synopsis of overzicht van de zuiverste Theologie. 2 vols. Enschede: Boersma.
Velde, Dolf te, ed. 2014. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae Synopsis of a Purer Theology Latin Text and English Translation Volume 1 / Disputations 1-23. Translated by Riemer A. Faber. Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions. Leiden: Brill.

Secondary Literature

Belt, Henk van den. 2012. “The Vocatio in the Leiden Disputations (1597-1631): The Influence of the Arminian Controversy on the Concept of the Divine Call to Salvation.” Church History & Religious Culture 92 (4): 539–59.
———. 2015a. “Developments in Structuring of Reformed Theology: The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625) as Example.” In Reformation und Rationalität, 289–312. Refo500 Academic Studies 17. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
———. 2015b. Puur en ongezoet: gereformeerde orthodoxie in de Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625). Baarn: Willem de Zwijgerstichting.
———. 2015c. “Spiritual and Bodily Freedom.” Journal of Reformed Theology 9 (2): 148–65.
Broeyer, F. G. M. 2005. “Theological Education at the Dutch Universities in the Seventeenth Century: Four Professors on Their Ideal of the Curriculum.” Dutch Review of Church History / Nederlands Archief Voor Kerkgeschiedenis 85 (1): 115–32.
De Lind van Wijngaarden, Jan Daniël. 1891. Antonius Walaeus. Leiden: G. Los.
Eekhof, A. 1921. De theologische faculteit te Leiden in de 17de eeuw. Utrecht: G.J.A. Ruys.
Faber, Riemer. 2012. “The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625): Aspects of Composition, Content, and Context.” Church History & Religious Culture 92 (4): 499–501.
Faber, Riemer A. 2012. “Scholastic Continuities in the Reproduction of Classical Sources in the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae.” Church History & Religious Culture 92 (4): 561–79.
Honders, H.J. 1930. Andreas Rivetus Als Invloedrijk Gereformeerd Theoloog in Holland’s Bloeitijd. ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.
Itterzon, Gerrit Pieter van. 1931. Het Gereformeerd Leerboek Der 17de Eeuw: “Synopsis Purioris Theologiae.” ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.
Lamping, A. J. 1980. Johannes Polyander: een dienaar van Kerk en Universiteit. Leiden: Brill.
Sepp, Christiaan. 1873. Het godgeleerd onderwijs in Nederland: gedurende de 16e en 17e eeuw. 2 vols. Leiden: De Breuk en Smits.
Sinnema, Donald, and Henk van den Belt. 2012. “The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625) as a Disputation Cycle.” Church History & Religious Culture 92 (4): 505–37.
Tukker, C. A. 1974. “Vier Leidse Hoogleraren in de Gouden Eeuw: De Synopsis Purioris Theologiae Als Theologisch Document (I).” Theologia Reformata 17: 236–50.
———. 1975. “Theologie En Scholastiek: De Synopsis Purioris Theologiae Als Theologisch Document II.” Theologia Reformata 18: 34–49.
Velde, Dolf te. 2012. “Eloquent Silence: The Doctrine of God in the Synopsis of Purer Theology.” Church History & Religious Culture 92 (4): 581–608.
———. 2015. “‘Eén Middelaar van God en mensen’ De eenheid van persoon en werk van Christus in de Synopsis purioris theologiae (1625).” In Weergaloze kennis: Opstellen over Jezus Christus, Openbaring en Schrift, Katholiciteit en Kerk aangeboden aan prof. dr. Barend Kamphuis, edited by Ad de Bruijne, Hans Burger, and Dolf te Velde, 79–88. Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum.
Walt, B. J. van der. 1984. “The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae – Is It Really so Pure? Philosophical Impurities in the Post-Dortian Theology.” In Our Reformational Tradition: A Rich Heritage and Lasting Vocation, 378–423. Potchefstroom: Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education.
———. 2008. “Imago et similitudo Dei : op soek na die betekenis van die mens as beeld en gelykenis van God vanuit ’n Christelikfilosofiese hoek.” Koers – Bulletin for Christian Scholarship 73 (2): 207–46.
———. 2011a. “Die ‘suiwer’ gereformeerde teologie van 1625 sonder ’n ‘suiwer’ filosofiese grondslag: is dit moontlik? ’n Christelik-wysgerige ondersoek.” Tydskrif vir Christelike Wetenskap 47 (2): 1–33.
———. 2011b. “Flagging Philosophical Minefields at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) – Reformed Scholasticism Reconsidered.” Koers – Bulletin for Christian Scholarship 76 (3): 505–38.
———. 2011c. “ ’n Onsuiwer mensbeskouing, kenteorie en wetenskapsleer in die Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625): ’n Christelik-filosofiese verkenning.” Tydskrif vir Christelike Wetenskap 47 (3-4): 49–86.
Wingerden, J. A. van. 2011. “Arminius en de Synopsis Purioris Theologiae: tucht als twistpunt?” BA Thesis, Utrecht: Universiteit Utrecht.

Marcel Sarot reviews new edition of Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625)

March 31, 2015 • Synopsis Purioris Theologiae • by
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Marcel Sarot

Marcel Sarot, professor of fundamental theology at Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, reviewed the first volume of the new bilingual edition of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625) for the Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift. This review is freely available online here (PDF). Its conclusion reads:

Deze uitgave ontsluit een belangrijk 17de-eeuws werk, waarvoor niet alleen ideeën- en dogmenhistorische, maar zeker ook theologische interesse zal zijn. Op onderdelen verrast het boek, bijvoorbeeld in zijn genuanceerde behandeling van het filioque. Dit geldt ook voor de toeschrijving van affecten aan God. Waar een groot deel van de traditie (van Anselmus tot Thomas, van Calvijn tot Klaas Schilder) zegt dat wanneer de Schrift een emotie aan God toeschrijft het niet om een affect maar om een effect gaat (God is niet echt boos maar straft wel), zegt de Synopsis dat het niet om een passie maar wel om een affect gaat. Het is niet moeilijk om te voorspellen dat deze fraaie uitgave nog veel bestudeerd en geciteerd zal worden.

First volume of the ‘Synopsis Purioris Theologiae’ published

October 10, 2014 • Synopsis Purioris Theologiae • by
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On 26th september 2014 the first volume of the new bilingual edition of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1st Ed. 1625) was presented to the mayor of Leiden. On this occasion, Prof. Dr. Riemer Faber (the translator, Waterloo University, Canada) gave a lecture on “The Language(s) of the Synopsis” which was followed up by a presentation on “theology as teamwork” by Dr. Dolf te Velde (volume editor, TU Kampen). After that, Dr. Jo Spaans (Utrecht University) and Prof. Dr. Marcel Sarot (Tilburg School of Catholic Theology) reacted with the first critical reviews of the new edition.

The book cover reads:

Synopsis Purioris Theologiae book coverThis bilingual edition of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae (1625) makes available for the first time to English readers a seminal treatise of Reformed Scholasticism. Composed by four professors of Leiden University (Johannes Polyander, Andreas Rivetus, Antonius Walaeus, and Anthonius Thysius), it gives an exhaustive yet concise presentation of Reformed theology as it was conceived in the first decades of the seventeenth century. From a decidedly Reformed perspective, the Christian doctrine is defined in contrast with alternative or opposite views (Catholic, Spiritualist, Arminian, Socinian). Both on the academic level and on the ecclesiastical level, the Synopsis responds to challenges coming from the  immediate context of the early seventeenth century. The disputations of this first volume cover topics such as Scripture, doctrine of God, Trinity, creation, sin, Law and Gospel.

For more information on this event / the new volume see