The Federal Theology of Johannes Cocceius (1603-1669)

This volume deals with the Federal theology of Johannes Cocceius, who lived in the seventeenth century (1603-1669). German by birth, he taught at Bremen, Franeker and Leiden, where he was Professor of Theology (1650-1669). As foremost biblical interpreter he sought to formulate a Covenant theory which described all of human history by introducing the structure of consecutive covenants or foedera . The book poses a surprising alternative to the readings of earlier scholarship on Cocceius by its careful presentation of the pneumatological components of the doctrine of covenants. Cocceius' Federal theology was of considerable importance in the theological and political history of Europe and the United States and formes the framework for much of the Reformed theology in the past three centuries Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Table of Contents 5 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 15 What is Federal Theology? 15 The State of Cocceius Research 16 Statement of the Problem and the Methodology of this Study 30 The Sources 32 A Brief Sketch of the Life of Cocceius in the Context of His Times 37 His Roots 37 Bremen and Franeker 39 Leiden 43 The Works of Cocceius 45 PART ONE THE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE 49 Chapter One A Survey of the Summa Doctrinae and the Summa Theologiae 51 Brief Description of the Contents of the Summa Doctrinae 52 Some Observations on the Structure of the Summa Doctrinae 66 Overview of the Contents of the Summa Theologiae 68 Brief Description of the Conten ts of the Summa Theologiae 69 Some Observations on the Structure of the Summa Theologiae 74 Chapter Two The Sources of Knowledge 77 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 77 The Place and Function of the Knowledge of God in the Summa Theologiae 78 Description of the Contents 78 Theologia 79 Cognitio 80 Revelatio 81 Provisional Appraisal 83 Chapter Three Philosophy and Theology 86 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 86 Cocceius and Philosophy 87 Cocceius on Descartes 90 The Considerationes de ultimis Mosis of 1650 91 The Summa Theologiae of 1662 92 Letter to L. Tronchinus 94 Cocceianism and Cartesianism 95 Orthodoxy and Cartesianism 100 Voetius on the Cosmological Argument 103 The Method of Doubt 104 The Scriptures 105 The True Motives of Voetius 106 An Evaluation and Some Conclusions 107 Rationalism in Cocceius? 108 The Scholarship on Reformed Scholasticism 109 Cocceius and Scholasticism 115 Chapter Four The Holy Scriptures 120 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 120 Description of the Doctrine of Perspicuity in the Summa Theologiae 122 The Scriptures as the Rule for the Knowledge of Truth 122 The Nature of Perspicuity 122 The Definition of Perspicuity and Fur ther Elaboration 124 Polemics 128 Interpretation of the Scriptures 131 The Aim and Task of the Interpreter 132 Translations 133 Guarding against Spiritualism 133 Analysis 135 General Obs ervations 135 Central Concepts in Cocceius’ Hermeneutic 137 Analogia Fidei 137 Doctrine 138 Typology and Prophecy 141 The Old and New Testaments 143 The Foundation 145 Context 146 Conclusions on Cocceius’ Hermeneutic 147 PART TWO THE DOCTRINE OF GOD 151 Chapter Five The Structure of the Doctrine of God 153 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 153 The Ordo Docendi 154 Conclusions 157 Chapter Six The Arguments for the Existence of God 159 The Argument s for the Existence of God in the Summa Theologiae 159 The Material World 159 The Spiritual World 160 Analysis 165 The Arguments for the Existence of God in the Aphorismi and in the Disputationes Selectae 166 Conclusions 169 Chapter Seven The Attributes of God 170 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 170 The Doctrine of the Divine Attributes in the Summa Theologiae 171 The Incommunicable Attributes 173 The Communicable Attributes 178 Evaluation and Conclusions 188 Chapter Eight The Doctrine of the Trinity 189 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 189 The Ontological Triniry 190 The Filioque 194 The Economic Trinity 199 Spiritus Creator 199 Spiritus Dei datus super Christum 201 Ordo Temporum 205 Conclusion 206 PART THREE GOD IN RELATION TO HISTORY 209 Chapter Nine The Doctrine of the Decrees 211 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 211 The Terms Decretum, Pactum, and Testamentum in Cocceius’ Theology 213 The Doctrine of the Decrees in General 215 The Doctrine of the Decrees in the Summa Theologiae 215 The Divine Counsel in General 218 God’s Power in the Decree 218 The Unity of the Decree 219 Decree and Necessity 221 The Object of the Decree 222 Forekn owledge and Decree 223 General and Particular Decree 223 The Knowledge of God’s Decrees 224 The Decree and the Divine Essence 225 Conclusions 225 God’s Decree as Predestination 226 Predestination 226 Election 227 Election in Christ 228 Reprobation 230 Cocceius’ Doctrine of Predestination: Conclusions 232 The Doctrine of the Eternal Testament 233 The Concept of Testament 233 The Mediator of the Testament 234 Testament and Pact 235 The Implement ation of the Testament in Time 236 Chapter Ten The Doctrine of the Eternal Pact 241 A Controversial Topic in Cocceius Research 241 Proof from Scripture 243 The Father in the Eternal Pact 244 The Second Adam 245 The Place of the Holy Spirit in the Eternal Pact 247 For Whom did Christ Become the Sponsor? 250 The Effect of the Sponsorship in the History of Salvation 252 Conclusions Regarding Cocceius’ Doctrine of the Decrees 253 The Position of Christ 253 The Position of Believers 255 The Eternal Pact and the Covenant of Grace 256 Election in Christ 257 Two Tendencies: Duplexity and Historicization 258 Chapter Eleven The Doctrine of the Covenants 262 Introduction and Statement of the Problem 262 The Concept of Covenant in General 263 Covenants between Human Beings 263 The Covenant of God 264 The Twofold Covenant of God 266 The Relationship between the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace 267 The Doctrine of the Covenant of Works 268 The Terminology of the Covenant of Works 268 The Place of the Covenant of Works in Cocceius’ Systematic Work 271 The Most Important Aspects of the Doctrine of the Covenant of Works 273 The Protological or Creation Aspect 273 The Pneumatological Aspect 275 The Eschatological Aspect 278 The Soteriological Aspect 279 Evaluation and Conclusions 282 Chapter Twelve The Abrogations of the Covenant of Works 285 Description of the Doctrine 285 The Central Question of Interpretation 287 The Concepts Employed by Cocceius 290 Salvation-Hi storical or Salvation Order Phases? 291 Both Salvation-Historical and Salvation Order Elements in the Abrogation Doctrine 292 The Historical Context as a Test Case 296 The Pneumatological Framework 298 PART FOUR RECONSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION 303 Chapter Thirteen Reconstruction 305 The Key Concepts 305 Salvation History 305 The Ordo Temporum 307 The Concept of Oeconomia 308 Accommodatio 308 Qualifications 309 Summary 310 Reconstructing Cocceius’ Train of Thought 311 The Timeline and the Concepts of Relation 311 The Combination of the Timeline and the Relational Concepts 312 Connecting Back to Eternity 313 The Contribution of the Doctrine of the Abrogations 314 The Pneumatological Framework 315 Chapter Fourteen Evaluation 317 Inventory of Terms and Concepts 317 Assessment of the Evolutionary Model 318 Assessment of the Synthetic Model 319 The Pneumatological Deficiency of Both Models 320 Arguments for a Pneumatological Model 322 Amicitia Dei — Amicitia cum Deo 324 Conclusions 333 Appendices 337 Appendix I The Origins of Federal Theology 339 Appendix II T he Auction Catalogue of Cocceius’ Libr ary 347 Appendix III Impact of Cocceius’ Federal Theology 350 Bibliography 355 Abbreviations 363 Indices 365 Index of Names 367 Index of Terms 371 Index of Places 375 Studies in the History of Christian Thought 376