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 Unviversität," in Signum Pietatis: Festgabe für 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]

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

Translate it!

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.

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.

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]

There is another good bio here.

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

There is a good article about Voetius here.

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

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).

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?

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.

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

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

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.

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."

Happy birthday, Mr. Voetius!

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.

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

Tractatus Selecti de Politica Ecclesiastica is available online (in Latin) here.

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

Originally Posted by 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

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

Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie

Originally Posted by 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

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

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

Originally Posted by VirginiaHuguenot

Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie

Originally Posted by 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

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

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

This thread should be closed; so much confusion.