Antonius Walaeus (Antoine de Waele, Anton van Wale) (October 1573,

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

– 3 July 1639,

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

) was a Dutch Calvinist minister, theologian, and academic.

Early life

He was born at

, where his father Jacques de Waele had moved from Brussels, after the execution of

Lamoral, Count of Egmont Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavere (18 November 1522 – 5 June 1568) was a general and statesman in the Habsburg Netherlands, Spanish Netherlands just before the start of the Eighty Years' War, whose execution helped spark the national up ...

in 1568. Jacques de Waele being a supporter of

William I, Prince of Orange William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, the family left for

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

in 1585. :de:s:ADB:Walaeus, Antonius Walaeus was educated at Middelburg school, where he was taught by Jacobus Gruterus and Murdisonius, and then at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

, under Franciscus Junius, Lucas Trelcatius, and

Franciscus Gomarus 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 ...

. He travelled to France and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, staying with Charles Perrot. After a time at

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

he returned to the Netherlands in 1601, and became minister at the

Dutch reformed church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

in Koudekerke in 1602. He then taught at Middelburg.Grotius, p. 46
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Religious conflict

In the period of rising theological tension between

Remonstrants The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that 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 or ...

and Contra-Remonstrants, Walaeus was on good terms with

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

, despite the latter's

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

views. In 1615 Walaeus published ''Het Ampt der Kerckendienaren'', against the leading Remonstrant and ally of Grotius, Johannes Wtenbogaert, taking up the relationship of church and state.Grotius, pp. 48–9
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It replied to the ''Ampt ende Authoriteyt'' of Wtenbogaert, but also implicitly took aim at the '' Pietas Ordinum'' of Grotius. Its tone was quite peaceable and open to compromise; the work put Walaeus at the centre of the theological debate, but Wtenbogaert decided on a polemical reply. Gerard Vossius wrote a private letter to Grotius about ''Het Ampt'', unsympathetic to Walaeus, which was published much later as ''Dissertation epistolica de iure magistratus in rebus ecclesiasticis''.(1669). In 1617 Walaeus became prominent on the Contra-Remonstrant side as a preacher at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. After the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a European transnational Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. ...

of 1618–9 he was appointed to the theological faculty at Leiden. The formulation of the Five Points of Calvinism in the ''

Canons of Dort The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled ''The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands'', is an exposition of orthodox Reformed soteriology against Arminianism, by the Nat ...

'' has been attributed to Walaeus, Godefridus Udemans, and Jacobus Triglandius. In the aftermath of the Synod, Walaeus ministered to Johan van Oldenbarneveldt before his execution. Oldenbarneveldt, Grotius, and other leaders of the Remonstrants were sentenced to death; Walaeus was asked to communicate the sentence to Oldenbarneveldt, Grotius, and Rombout Hogerbeets. In the case of Grotius he felt his position was too difficult, and refused. Grotius and Hogerbeets then had their sentences commuted. In the final days of Oldenbarneveldt, Walaeus acted as intermediary with

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Lordship of Frisia, Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became P ...

who had brought the religious conflict to a head as a political matter.

At Leiden

He was a New Testament and Apocrypha translator for the '' Statenvertaling'', working with Festus Hommius and Jacobus Rolandus. In 1622 he was asked to establish a training college for missionaries at Leiden, for the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

. Among his students was Robertus Junius the missionary. It has been stated that Walaeus was concerned to minimise the differences between the Dutch Reformed Church and the views of John Robinson, minister to an English congregation in the Netherlands. After Robinson's death (1625), Walaeus wrote, in a letter published in translation by Henry Martyn Dexter, to the effect that Robinson had looked to bridge divisions between local congregations, and wished one of his sons to train for the Dutch Reformed ministry. It has been argued that this claim (endorsed by Hommius) was made in the hope of getting funding for the education of the Robinson family, of which three sons registered at Leiden; of these, one became a minister but was not trained at Leiden. Walaeus, with Johannes Polyander and Anthony Thysius of the Leiden faculty, gave advice as an eirenic moderate on other matters concerning the English congregations, in 1633–4. They questioned the means used to effect liturgical changes, and advised that the ''De conscientia'' of

William Ames William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Ca ...

should be revised for its aggressive tone against the Church of England. His portrait was painted by David Bailly.

Works

His ''Compendium ethicae Aristotelicae'' was based on courses at Middleburg school. In defining an eclectic

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

that would nevertheless be acceptable to Christians, Walaeus chose the ''

Nicomachean Ethics The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; , ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics: the science of the good for human life, that which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. () It consists of ten sections, referred to as books, and is closely ...

'' of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

as a basis, to be corrected, despite a view that

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

was the superior moral philosopher as Aristotle was the better physicist; he used Aristotle's classification of

virtues A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is valued as an end purpose of life or a foundational pri ...

rather than the Protestant Lambert Daneau's reliance on the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

. Plato's purifying virtues were matched to the account in the

Beatitudes The Beatitudes () are blessings recounted by Jesus in Matthew 5:3–10 within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings. In ...

; but in the end Plato was found to lack Christian theological concepts. In discussing the supreme good he defended the tenet of

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

that it consists of good habits; the

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

view might be corrected in its more abstract form of "mental joy", though not as physical pleasure. Moral philosophy included politics and economics, as well as ethics. In his ''Enchiridion religionis reformae'', an introductory seminary text, Walaeus gives a simplified form of the arguments of Zacharias Ursinus on

natural theology Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as ...

; and relies little on Scripture for the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

. His ''Loci communibus sacrae theologiae et consiliis'' is a more advanced text, and develops a philosophical

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of at least one deity. In common parlance, or when contrasted with '' deism'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of God that is found in classical theism—or the co ...

. Along with

, Walaeus accepted a theory of middle knowledge of God (''scientia media''), more often associated with Molinism. ''Synopsis purioris theologiae disputationibus quinquaginta duabus comprehensa'' (1625) with his colleagues Johannes Polyander, André Rivet and Anthony Thysius attempted to settle the Leiden view on controversial issues as a united front. Further, the '' Leiden Synopsis'' was intended to provide a Dutch Reformed orthodoxy, providing a manual of 880 pages covering 52 disputations, a resource for

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their f ...

. The posthumous ''Opera Omnia'' (1643) contains ''De opinione chiliastarum'' with views on millennarianism. Walaeus had corresponded with

Joseph Mede Joseph Mede (1586 in Berden – 1639) was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist ...

, and his attitude to Cerinthus, Johannes Piscator and

Johann Heinrich Alsted Johann Heinrich Alsted (March 1588 – November 9, 1638), "the true parent of all the Encyclopedia, Encyclopædias",s:Budget of Paradoxes/O. was a Germany, German-born Transylvanian Saxon Calvinist minister and academic, known for his varied inte ...

in this area was negative, instead placing the

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

away from terrestrial events. Johannes Cocceius followed Walaeus in his interest in prophecy.Jeffrey K. Jue, ''Heaven upon Earth: Joseph Mede (1586–1638) and the legacy of millenarianism (2006), p. 228
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/ref> Controversy with the Remonstrants continued, especially with Simon Episcopius and Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus.

Family

The physician Johannes Walaeus (Jan de Wale) was his son.

References

, Guillaume Henri Marie Posthumus Meyjes (1988), ''Meletius, sive, De iis quae inter Christianos conveniunt epistola''
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*Jill Kraye, ''Moral Philosophy'', pp. 303–386 in Charles B. Schmitt,

Quentin Skinner Quentin Robert Duthie Skinner (born 26 November 1940) is a British intellectual historian. He is regarded as one of the founders of the Cambridge School of the history of political thought. He has won numerous prizes for his work, including ...

(editors) (1991), ''The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy''
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Notes

External links

WorldCat pageOpen Library page
*
Biography portal

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walaeus, Antonius 1573 births 1639 deaths Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Participants in the Synod of Dort Clergy from Ghent Academic staff of Leiden University 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians