Friedrich Spanheim the elder (January 1, 1600,

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under ...

– May 14, 1649,

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 w ...

) was a

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

theology professor at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

Life

He entered in 1614 the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

where he studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

, and in 1619 removed to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

to study

theology 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 th ...

. In 1621 he became tutor in the house of Jean de Bonne, Baron de Vitrolle, governor of Embrun in Dauphiné, and after three years he visited Geneva, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, returning to Geneva in 1626 and becoming professor of philosophy. In 1631 he went over to the theological faculty, and was rector of the academy from 1633 to 1637. In 1642 he moved to

as professor of theology. There Spanheim became one of the most prominent defenders of the Calvinistic doctrine of

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...

against Amyraldism.

Works

He published anonymously, ''Le Soldat suedois'' (1633), a history of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

until 1631 and ''Le Mercure suisse'' (1634); ''Commentaire historique de la vie et de la mort de . . Christofle Vicomte de Dohna'' (1639). His principal theological works are: *''Dubia evangelica'' (3 vols., Geneva, 1631-1639) *''Disputatio de gratia universali'' (3 vols., Leiden, 1644-1648) *''Epistola ad Buchananum super controversiis...in ecclesiis Anglicanis'' (Leiden, 1645). Against the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s he wrote ''Variae disputationes anti-Anabaptisticae'' (1643) and ''Diatribe historica de origine, progressu, sectis et nominibus anabaptistarum'' (1645; English translation, ''Englands Warning by GermaniesIn that spelling
/ref> Woe'', London, 1646).

References

* A. Heiden, ''Oratio funebris in obitum...F. Spenhemii'', Leiden, 1849. *

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Histori ...

, ''Dictionary'', v. 193-195. * Nicéron, ''Mémoires'', xxix. 35 * J. Senebier, ''Hist. littéraire de Genève'', ii. 191 sqq., Geneva, 1786 *Lichtenberger, ''ESR'', xi. 656. ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Spanheim, Friedrich 1600 births 1649 deaths 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians Heidelberg University alumni Leiden University faculty University of Geneva faculty People from Amberg