Abraham Heidanus

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Abraham Heidanus

Abraham Heidanus (also: Heydanus, van der Heyden ; born August 10, 1597 in Frankenthal (Pfalz) , † October 15, 1678 in Leiden ) was a German Reformed theologian.

Life

The son of the pastor Caspar van der Heyden (* 1566 in Frankenthal (Palatinate); † January 14, 1626 in Amsterdam) and his wife Clara van den Borne (* November 29, 1570; † March 1, 1633) came from a Reformed church Pastor family, which had its roots in Mechelen. His grandfather, who was also called Caspar (* 1530 in Mechelen; † May 7, 1586 in Bacharach), came to Upper Germany and had already worked as a pastor in Frankenthal. In the first years of his life, Heidanus grew up in the vicinity of his hometown, where the first impressions of his life shaped him. In 1608 his father took a new position as pastor in Amsterdam , where the whole family followed him. Here Heidanus attended school with Mattheus Sladus (1569- ± 1628), who may have given him numerous other suggestions in the subject matter. In 1617 Heidanus moved to the University of Leiden , where he was under the influence of Daniel Colonius . Through him he should have learned the background to the dispute between the representatives of Jacobus Arminius and the counter-demonstrators.

In 1618 Heidanus became a candidate for the Walloon Church, for which he practiced preaching in Low German parishes. In the following year Heidanus went on an educational trip, which took him to Heidelberg University in 1619 . In 1620 he continued his educational trip to the University of Basel and the University of Geneva . After that he also toured France and England. Here he met the pastor of Charenton Jean Daillé (1594–1670), who taught him an analytical preaching style and made him more familiar with the philosophy of Petrus Ramus . When he returned to his Dutch homeland in 1623 he was given a pastor's position in the Reformed parish in Naarden , for which he had previously completed his theological exam. Four years later, on April 19, 1627, he was called to a ministry in Leiden, which he assumed on June 11, 1627. Here he appeared as an extraordinary pulpit speaker who was reluctantly peaceful towards the warring parties of the remonstrants and counter-demonstrators.

Since Heidanus made no concessions to either side, he was assumed to be heterodoxy. Heidanus responded to this with the book Proeve en nielegginghe of Remonstrant's Catechismi , published in Leiden in 1641 . After he had published his second work De causa Die, das is de sake Godts verdigttht tegen den mensche (Leiden 1645), he was appointed professor of theology at the University of Harderwijk. Now the voices in the Remonstrant camp increased that he had only written these writings in order to obtain a theological professorship. Perhaps for this reason, Heidanus refused the appeal. After the University of Heidelberg also tried to get Heidanus, the curators of the Leiden University decided to appoint him as the successor to Constantinus L'Empereur van Oppyck on September 13, 1648 as professor of theology.

He took up the task assigned to him on October 19, 1648 with the speech de singularibus scripturae . In his time, the foundations of Reformed theology were based on the philosophy of Aristotle , the Confessio, the Catechism and the resolutions of the Dordrecht Synod as decisive for the system of Reformed theology in the Netherlands. Everything that appeared to be against the reformed doctrine of predestination was opposed by the orthodox representatives of the reformed theology. After René Descartes had published his Meditationes de prima philosophia in 1642 , this case occurred, especially in the person of Gisbert Voetius . Heidanus, on the other hand, was more open to the new philosophical ideas. When it became increasingly clear in the ranks of the Reformed theologians that the Leiden theologians, including Johannes Coccejus , were more tolerant of the new ideas, they too began to be attacked.

With another new colleague, Johannes Hoornbeek , Heidanus had a dispute about the nature of the Sabbath. The question was whether the Sabbath was instituted in paradise and whether the commandment not to work belongs to the foedus operum (“covenant of works ”) or to the foedus gratiae (“covenant of grace ”). He was of the opinion that the Decalogue on the foedus gratiae and the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy therefore belonged to the ceremonial law, which had been abolished at the arrival of Christ. For this purpose he had two papers published. The first Disputationes de Sabbato et Dominica (Amsterdam 1658), which was also translated into the Dutch language, as well as Consideratiën over de heyling van den Sabbat ende den dagh des Heeren tot vrede de Kercken (Leiden 1659). The dispute was put to an end by a government decision of August 7, 1659 and both professors were obliged not to write any more about this matter.

As a representative of the Leiden University he was from July 5th to 15th, 1669 at the Provincial Synod in Gorinchem and on July 7th, 1673 he gave the opening address at the Synod of Dordrecht. He also took part in the organizational tasks of the Leiden University and was rector of the Alma Mater in 1654/55, 1662/63 and 1671/72 . The speech de componenda inter dissidentes christianos aliquali pace et concordia, given on February 8, 1672, has come down to us from his last tenure as rector . In the meantime, the dispute over Descartes' philosophy in the Netherlands had grown larger and larger. Attempts had been made several times to resolve the dispute in line with Dutch orthodoxy. On the one hand, the curators of the Leiden University had passed corresponding resolutions and, on the other hand, on October 6, 1656, a resolution was passed by the states of Holland. The curators now began to eliminate the new ideas again and wanted to remove everything that was heresy from the college. For this purpose, Friedrich Spanheim the Younger and Antonius Hulsius were given the task of collecting a few sentences which were most offensive. From these, together with the mayors, they prepared a decree on January 7, 1675, which contained 23 sentences that should contradict the confessions of the Reformed Dutch Church.

These were banned and instructed not to treat them at the university. Heidanus felt this as a restriction of his teaching freedom and published the treatise Consideratiën over eenige sacken onlanghs voorgevallen in de Universiteijt in Leyden (Leiden 1676). This work caused such a stir that a second edition had to be published within ten days. In the same year a third edition followed, and in 1678 the work was published in Hamburg in a Latin translation under the title cum triplici Appendice . It contained an objection to the regulation of the university authority. After Heidanus had been questioned by the authorities and he freely confessed to his work, the curators released him from his professorship on May 5, 1676 because of unwanted writings.

The loss of his job did not necessarily plunge Heidanus into financial distress, because he was able to keep his pastor. With the publication of his works Corpus theologiae Christianae (Leiden 1676) and De origine erroris libri octo (Amsterdam 1678) he should also have had some income. In addition, through his marriage on May 18, 1627 in Amsterdam to Sara Loten (born August 26, 1608 in Amsterdam; † August 15, 1669 in Leiden), the daughter of the Amsterdam merchant Carel Loten and Maria (Maijke) de Hem, made a sizable inheritance. Several children were born from this marriage. We know from them:

  • Maria Heidanus (March 12, 1628 Leiden; † 1706) married Dionysius Crucius (also Dyonisius de la Croix * October 6, 1617 in Haarlem; † June 21, 1653 in Delft) pastor Hazerswoude near Leiden, 1649 pastor Nijmegen, he was the son of the pastor in Haarlem Dr. Johannes de la Croix (* 1560 in Rijssel; † February 7, 1625 Haarlem). Her second marriage was on March 17, 1665 with the Utrecht theology professor Frans Burmann .
  • Clara († young)
  • Sara (born December 28, 1630 in Leiden; † November 19, 1678 ibid) married. Hendrik Brouwer (born October 21, 1624 in Amsterdam, † November 13, 1683 in Leiden) came from a government dynasty in Leiden. His father was also named Hendrik Brouwer.
  • Casper Heidanus I († young)
  • Abraham Heidanus I († young)
  • Carel Heidanus (* 1634 in Leiden) became secretary in Leiden in 1672 and had met with Christina Jacoba Swanenburg, the daughter of the Leiden citizen Dr. Paul van Swanenburch and his wife Adriana van Egmont van der Nijenburch married
  • Johannes Heidanus (* 1637 in Leiden; † July 11, 1711 in Hoorn) married. September 28, 1661 with Cornelia van Schilperoort (born April 3, 1641 in Leiden; † March 15 (or April?) 1712 in Hoorn), the daughter of the Leiden citizen Wilhelm van Schilperoort
  • Casper Heidanus II († young)
  • Abraham Heidanus II († young)

Works

  • Proeve en nielegginghe of the Remonstrant catechismi. Leiden 1641; 3rd edition 1645
  • De Causa Dei. Dat is: de sake Godts verdedight against people. Often neitherlefginge van de Antwoorde van S.Episcopius. Mitsgaders een digressu tegen het: Klaer ende volkomen written look report van J. Batelier. Suffering 1645
  • Oratio inauguralis de singularibus Scripturae (...). Suffering 1648
  • Oratio funebris in obitum Friderici Spanhemii (...). Suffering 1649.
  • Disputationes de sabbato et die dominica. Leiden 1658; Dutch: Eenige stellingen aengaende den rustdagh en den dagh des Heeren, onlanghs betwist-reedent onder (...) AH. Amsterdam 1658
  • Consideratien over de heyliging van den sabbat end the dagh of the armies, tot vrede der kercken. 2. Parts of Leiden 1659 Dutch under the title: Consideratiën over de Heyliging van den Sabat ende den dagh des Heeren, tot vrede der Kercken. Leiden 1659, 2nd vol.
  • Fasciculus disputationum de Socianismo. Leiden 1659 ( online )
  • Predicatie gedaen op de doodt van Lud. de Dieu, eighth diens Tractaet tegen de gierigheyt. Amsterdam 1660
  • Louse perroationis. Amsterdam 1660
  • Advys van de Theol. Facultteyt tot Leyden, op het versoeck vande Staten van Hollant en W.-Frieslant Gegeven, rakende het bewuste boeck, called the Uyt-legger of the H. font. 1669, with J. Coccejus,
  • Oratio de luctuosa calamitate quae anno MDCLXIXcivitatem Leydensam curiam, ecclesiam et academiam graviter afftixit (...). Suffering 1670
  • Oratio de componenda inter dissidentes christianos aliquali pace et concordia (...). Suffering 1672
  • Oratio gratulatoria. Auctoritate et nomine senatus academici in nobilissimo et confertissimo omnis ordinis virorum conventu, dicta coram serenissimo Arausionensium et Nassoviorum Principe etc. Gulielmo III (...). Leiden 1674 ( online ); Dutch: Leiden, 1674 ( online )
  • Consideratien about some sacks onlanghs voorgevallen in de universiteyt in Leyden. Leiden 1676 (3rd ed., ( 2nd ed. Online )); Latin: Considerationes ad res quasdam nuper gestas in Acad. Lugd. Bat. (...). Hamburg 1678.
  • Corpus theologiae christianae in XV locos digestum. Leiden 1676, (2 vol.); Leiden 1682, Leiden 1686
  • De origine erroris libri octo (...). Amsterdam 1678 ( online )

literature
personal data
SURNAME Heidanus, Abraham
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heydanus, Abrahamus; Heyden, Abraham van der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German reformed theologian
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1597
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankenthal (Palatinate)
DATE OF DEATH October 15, 1678
Place of death Suffer