Synopsis of a Purer Theology 2 Vols.

Synopsis Purioris Theologiae / Synopsis of a Purer Theology

by Johannes Polyander, Dolf te Velde, Antonius Thysius

Over the past decade, the project of Protestant resourcement has exploded, giving pastors, scholars, and lay-people access to the great thinkers who shaped their tradition. Despite this great progress, many treasures of Reformed theology remain obscured from the lay-person, confined to academics with a working knowledge of Latin and Biblical languages–or, if translated, affordable only by libraries with large budgets. Synopsis of a Purer Theology, otherwise known as “the Leiden Synopsis,” is one such work. Collecting theological disputations delivered at the University of Leiden in the early 1600s, it is one of the most historically important and theologically comprehensive handbooks of Reformed theology, being a key influence for many Reformed theologians including Herman Bavinck, Abraham Kuyper, Karl Barth, Louis Berkhof, and Richard Muller. And yet, it has remained largely forgotten and left to a handful of Latin-reading scholars. Now for the first time, the Davenant Press has published this significant work in a full English-only translation, in an affordable and concise two-volume set that includes introductory material to orient the reader to the text. The Synopsis offers both a snapshot of the state of confessional theology in the 17th-century Dutch Reformed tradition, and also an enduring example of how the project of systematizing doctrine can serve the church. The Leiden professors modeled thoroughness and clarity of thought in the face of confusion, and a vision of irenic Christian unity over brittle doctrinal uniformity. As Protestants endeavor both to recover their forgotten heritage and to pass it down to the next generation, we need examples of how this has been done before us. The Synopsis of a Purer Theology will serve to bring such illumination and perspective to a generation desperately in need of its boldness, clarity, and wisdom.

Genres: Theology

856 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Sean Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historic Reformed theology is full of surprises! The chapter on saving faith was a favourite: faith is a composite of intellect and will, they say. The chapter on the civil magistrate was great, though it would probably be anathematised by not-a-few evangelical bloggers these days…

A point that grated me somewhat was the way that "heaven" was presented as the final eternal state of the blessed, actually denying as "absurd" that we will inhabit the renewed earth. Oy vey!

Another point that was brought home to me was how much Reformed orthodoxy developed in conscious opposition to the papists. In certain matters (such as the Lord's Supper, or the identity of Antichrist) it seems as though the papists simply live rent-free in their heads, and certain texts are interpreted to provide ammunition for a fight.

Still, I have found older books like this highly valuable because they show you how much you live within your own moment. As I say, historic Reformed theology is full of surprises, and I always enjoy digging them up.

[Andrzej Stelmasiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars is not enough. I'm grateful to one my elders who gifted me with this set for my birthday last year!

Rich in exegesis of the Bible, great engagement with church history (from the Fathers through medieval and Reformation), and in their polemics with Rome and Socinians (among others) they sought to 'straw man' anyone - it all adds up to make a very engaging read. And, it's thoroughly Reformed in theological conclusions. It was not boring and dry, but rather doxological and mind-stretching.

I wanted to read a book of this sort in 12 months, and it was easy to do so as there are 52 disputations, so 1 per week.

[Jacob Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

747: And so, it says that "we are going to see Him face to face, and we shall know Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). And clear reasoning also furnishes proof, because no thing that has been created can be our highest good, but only the uncreated God is able truly to fulfill and satisfy man's longing and mind.

[Jared Baergen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential Reformed reading!