Towards a Reformed Enlightenment: Salomon Van Til 1643-1713 and the Cartesio-cocceian Debates in the Early Modern Dutch Republic (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 352)

This book investigates for the first time key theological and philosophical convictions of an influential, yet hitherto neglected, Dutch theologian who developed his ideas on the threshold between the age of Protestant orthodoxy and the emerging Enlightenment. Contents 6 Preface 10 Abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 1 Literature Review 14 2 Objectives of This Study 17 3 Methodological Considerations 19 4 Sources 21 5 Overview 23 Part 1 Van Til in Context 26 Chapter 1 Intellectual Developments at Van Til’s Time 28 1.1 Introduction 28 1.2 Currents within Early Modern Dutch Protestantism 29 1.3 Descartes and Cartesianism in the Dutch Republic 35 1.4 Spinoza, Spinozism and the ‘Radical Enlightenment’ 49 1.5 Summary and Conclusion 61 Chapter 2 Van Til’s Life and Work 62 2.1 Van Til’s Early Life and Education 62 2.2 Pastoral Ministry in North-Holland (1666–1683) 64 2.3 Minister and Professor in Dordrecht (1683–1702) 67 2.4 Professor in Leiden (1702–1713) 71 2.5 Summary and Conclusion 74 Part 2 Van Til’s Cartesianism 76 Chapter 3 Theology and Philosophy 78 3.1 Introduction 78 3.2 Early Modern Discussions on Theology and Philosophy 85 3.3 Van Til’s Concept of Rational Philosophy 95 3.4 Philosophical Knowledge 98 3.5 Theology and Philosophy Separated 101 3.6 Harmony and Tension 103 3.7 The Nature of Revealed Theology 108 3.8 Establishing the Authority of Scripture 112 3.9 Summary and Conclusion 116 Chapter 4 Natural Theology 118 4.1 Introduction 118 4.2 Van Til’s Compendium on Natural Theology 129 4.3 Natural Theology: Knowing God 137 4.4 Natural Ethics: Serving God 154 4.5 Preparation for the Gospel 167 4.6 Summary and Conclusion 172 Chapter 5 Reason and Scriptural Interpretation 173 5.1 Introduction 173 5.2 Scripture, Clarity, and the Task of Interpretation 174 5.3 Tradition and Church Authority 182 5.4 The Proper Use of Reason 185 5.5 Interpretation “Befitting of God” and the Unity of Truth 189 5.6 The Bible, Divine Accommodation, and the Copernican Worldview 192 5.7 Dualism and the Devil 205 5.8 Summary and Conclusion 211 Chapter 6 Engagement with Spinoza 212 6.1 Introduction 212 6.2 Historical Considerations 213 6.3 Anti-Spinozan Polemics in the Voor-hof and the Vervolg 214 6.4 The Voor-hof (1694) and the Challenge to Biblical Authority 220 6.5 The Vervolg (1696) and Spinoza’s Radical Theology 233 6.6 Van Til’s Academic Engagement with Spinoza in His Compendium 248 6.7 Summary and Conclusion 257 Part 3 Van Til’s Cocceianism 260 Chapter 7 A Call for Moderation 262 7.1 Introduction 262 7.2 The “Leiden Prohibition” and the Voetian Polemics of 1676 266 7.3 Cocceian Irenicism in the Aftermath of 1676 270 7.4 Van Til’s Plea for Concord: Salems vrede (1678) 279 7.5 Van Til’s Fundamental Reflections on Ecclesiastical Peace 282 7.6 Van Til’s Assessment of the Cocceian Issues 299 7.7 Summary and Conclusion 312 Chapter 8 Prophetic Theology 313 8.1 Introduction 313 8.2 Cocceius and the Roots of Cocceian Prophetic Theology 318 8.3 Further Developments and the Friesland Crisis of the Early 1680s 325 8.4 Van Til’s Inleydinge tot de prophetische schriften 333 8.5 Van Til’s Prophetic Exegesis and Emblematics 376 8.6 The De Joncourt Controversy 386 8.7 Summary and Conclusions 389 Chapter 9 Federal Theology 391 9.1 Introduction 391 9.2 Van Til’s Concept of Covenant 395 9.3 The Covenant of Works (foedus operum) 404 9.4 The Covenant of Grace (foedus gratiae) 425 9.5 Salvation-Historical Differentiations in the Covenant of Grace 432 9.6 The “Counsel of Peace” between the Father and the Son 444 9.7 Summary and Conclusion 446 Conclusion 448 1 Van Til’s Appropriation of Cartesian Philosophy 448 2 Van Til’s Appropriation of the Cocceian Heritage 454 3 Van Til’s Cartesio-Cocceian Synthesis and the Reformed Enlightenment in the Dutch Republic 458 Appendix: Van Til’s Works in Chronological Order 470 Bibliography 479 Index of Names 532 Index of Biblical References 538 Index of Subjects 541 In Towards a Reformed Enlightenment: Salomon van Til (1643–1713) and the Cartesio-Cocceian Debates in the Early Modern Dutch Republic, Matthias Mangold offers the first in-depth investigation into the theological and philosophical convictions of an influential, yet hitherto much neglected, Dutch theologian working around the turn of the eighteenth century. With its strong contextual approach, this analysis of Van Til's thought sheds new light on various intellectual dynamics at the time, most notably the long-standing conflict between the Voetian and Cocceian factions within the Dutch Reformed Church and the reception of Cartesian philosophy in the face of emerging Radical Enlightenment ideas.