Philipp van Limborch (19 June 1633 – 30 April 1712) was a Dutch

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that had split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Biography

Limborch was born on 19 June 1633 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where his father was a lawyer. He received his education at

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, at

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, in his native city, and finally at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, which he entered in 1652. In 1657 he became a Remonstrant pastor at Gouda, and in 1667 he was transferred to Amsterdam, where, in the following year, the office of professor of theology in the Remonstrant seminary was added to his pastoral charge. He was a friend of

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

, whose

A Letter Concerning Toleration ''A Letter Concerning Toleration'' by John Locke was originally published in 1689. Its initial publication was in Latin, and it was immediately translated into other languages. Locke's work appeared amidst a fear that Catholicism might be taking ...

was likely addressed to, and first published by, Philipp van Limborch. He died in Amsterdam on 30 April 1712.

Theology

In theology, Limborch diverged radically from

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. H ...

and Arminianism. He embraced

Rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...

and

Semi-Pelagianism Semi-Pelagianism (or Semipelagianism) is a Christian theological and soteriological school of thought on salvation. Semipelagian thought stands in contrast to the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation, Pelagianism (in which people are born unt ...

. Practically he didn't believe in

total depravity Total depravity (also called radical corruption or pervasive depravity) is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from the concept of original sin. It teaches that, as a consequence of man's fall, every person born into the world is enslav ...

, and assimilated prevenient grace to

common grace Common grace is a theological concept in Protestant Christianity, developed primarily in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Reformed/Calvinistic thought, referring to the grace of God that is either common to all humankind, or common to everyone w ...

Works

His most important work, ''Institutiones theologiae christianae, ad praxin pietatis et promotionem pacis, christianae unice directae'' (Amsterdam, 1686, 5th ed., 1735), is a full and clear exposition of the system of

Simon Episcopius Simon Episcopius (8 January 1583 – 4 April 1643) was a Dutch theologian and Remonstrant who played a significant role at the Synod of Dort in 1618. His name is the Latinized form of his Dutch name Simon Bisschop. Life Born in Amsterdam, in 16 ...

and Stephan Curcellaeus. The fourth edition (1715) included a posthumous ''Relatio historica de origine et progressu controversiarum in foederato Belgio de praedestinatione''. Limborch also wrote: *''De veritate religionis Christianae amica collatio cum erudito Judaeo'' (Gouda, 1687) (the "erudite Jew" in question was

Isaac Orobio de Castro Balthazar (Isaac) Orobio de Castro (c.1617 in Bragança, Portugal – November 7, 1687 in Amsterdam), was a Portuguese Jewish philosopher, physician and religious apologist. Life While still a child, he was taken to Seville by his parents, wh ...

) *''Historia Inquisitionis'' (1692), in four books prefixed to the ''Liber Sententiarum Inquisitionis Tolosanae'' (1308–1323) *''Commentarius in Acta Apostolorum et in Epistolas ad Romanos et ad Hebraeos'' (Rotterdam, 1711) An English translation of the ''Theologia'' was published in 1702 by William Jones (''A Complete System or Body of Divinity, both Speculative and Practical, founded on Scripture and Reason'', London, 1702); and a translation of the ''Historia Inquisitionis'', by

Samuel Chandler Samuel Chandler (1693 – 8 May 1766) was an English Nonconformist minister and pamphleteer. He has been called the "uncrowned patriarch of Dissent" in the latter part of George II's reign. Early life Samuel Chandler was born at Hungerford in ...

, with a large introduction concerning the rise and progress of persecution and the real and pretended causes of it prefixed, appeared in 1731. See Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopädie''.

Editorial work

In 1689 Limborch edited the compilation of

Socinian Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...

Samuel Przypkowski Samuel Przypkowski (Przipcovius, Pripcovius) (1592–19 April 1670, Königsberg) was a Polish Socinian theologian, a leading figure in the Polish Brethren and an advocate of religious toleration. In ''Dissertatio de pace et concordia ecclesiae'', ...

's works in the last volume of the ''

Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum The ''Bibliotheca antitrinitariorum'', or ''Antitrinitarian Library'', first published in 1684, is a posthumously published work of Christopher Sandius (English: Christopher Sand), an exiled Prussian Antitrinitarian in Amsterdam, who chronologicall ...

'' or ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum'' of the

Polish Brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called " Arians" or " Socinians" ( ...

. Previous volumes had been edited after the death of

Christopher Sandius Christopher Sandius Jr. (Königsberg, October 12, 1644 – Amsterdam, November 30, 1680) was an Arian writer and publisher of Socinian works without himself being a Socinian. His name was Latinized as Christophorus Sandius, though his German name ...

Benedykt Wiszowaty Benedykt Wiszowaty (c.1650 – after 1704 Kosinowo) was a Polish Socinian, nobleman, author and publisher. After the Sejm expelled the Socinians from Poland, he left the country with his father. From 1666, they lived in Amsterdam, where he cond ...

in 1684. His editorial labors included the publication of various works of his predecessors, and of ''Epistolae ecclesiasticae praestantum ad eruditorum virorum'' (Amsterdam, 1684), chiefly, by

Joannes Uytenbogardus Johannes Wtenbogaert (Also Jan or Hans, Uytenbogaert or Uitenbogaert.) (11 February 1557 – 4 September 1644) was a Dutch Protestant minister, a leader of the Remonstrants. Life Born at Utrecht, he was brought up a Roman Catholic, and attended ...

Konrad Vorstius Conrad Vorstius (german: Konrad von der Vorst; la, Conradus Vorstius; 19 July 1569 – 29 September 1622) was a German-Dutch heterodox Remonstrant theologian, and successor to Jacobus Arminius in the theology chair at Leiden University.'Vorsti ...

(1569–1622), Gerhard Vossius (1577–1649), Hugo Grotius, Simon Episcopius (his grand-uncle) and Caspar Barlaeus; they are of great value for the history of Arminianism. His edition of the ''Liber Sententiarum Inquisitionis Tolosanae'' is still considered important nowadays for its meticulous transcription of a manuscript by the Dominican inquisitor

Bernard Gui Bernard Gui (), also known as Bernardo Gui or Bernardus Guidonis (c. 1261/62 – 30 December 1331), was a Dominican friar, Bishop of Lodève, and a papal inquisitor during the later stages of the Medieval Inquisition. Due to his fictionali ...

long regarded as lost forever, but rediscovered in London (

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, ms. Add. 4697). Recently a new edition has appeared (''Le Livre des sentences de l'inquisiteur Bernard Gui (1308-1323)'' edited by Annette Palès-Gobillard (2 volumes, Paris 2003).

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Limborch, Philipp 1633 births 1712 deaths Christian writers Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch male writers Remonstrants Writers from Amsterdam 17th-century Protestant theologians