Abraham van Heyden or van Heiden ( la, Abraham Heidanus or '; 1597–1678) was a Dutch

Calvinist 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 Ca ...

minister and controversialist, sympathetic to

Cartesianism Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. Descartes i ...

Life

He was born in

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...

in the Palatinate, son of Gaspar van der Heiden the Younger, a Reformed minister and

Counter-Remonstrant Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...

who moved to

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 ...

in 1608. Abraham studied theology 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 L ...

from 1617, travelled to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

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. Situ ...

and Paris, and was influenced by Ramism and

Jean Daillé Jean Daillé ( Dallaeus) (6 January 1594–15 April 1670) was a French Huguenot minister and Biblical commentator. He is mentioned in James Aitken Wylie's ''History of Protestantism'' as author of an ''Apology for the French Reformed Churches''. ...

. He returned to an appointment as minister in

Naarden Naarden () is a city and former municipality in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren since 2016. History Naarden was granted its city rights in 1300 (the only ...

in 1623, moving to Leiden in 1627. In 1648 Heidanus was appointed professor of theology at the

. In 1650 he invited Johannes Cocceius to join him on the faculty there. Battle lines were being drawn up for an extended series of controversies, in which Gisbertus Voetius of Utrecht took the other side. In 1655 Johannes Hoornbeeck contributed to the debate between Voetians and Cocceians a sabbatarian pamphlet. Heidanus wrote ''De Sabbate'' (1658 in Latin, later in Dutch) in reply; Andreas Essenius attacked Heidanus, and Cocceius became drawn in, to what became a long controversy.Israel, pp. 662–3. The position Heidanus held for decades as leader of Leiden

eventually led to his dismissal by the university in 1676. This happened after he with Burchard de Volder and

Christophorus Wittichius Christoph Wittich or Christophorus Wittichius (1625, in Brieg – 1687, in Leiden) was a Dutch theologian. He is known for attempting to reconcile Descartes' philosophy with the Scriptures. Life He studied theology in Bremen, Groningen and Leid ...

published a rebuttal of the university's condemnation of Cartesian and Cocceian views.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Jonathan I. Israel (1995) ''The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477-1806''.

External links

Old Dictionary article
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heidanus, Abraham 1597 births 1678 deaths 17th-century Dutch Calvinist and Reformed ministers Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University People from Frankenthal