Christoph Wittich or Christophorus Wittichius (1625, in Brieg – 1687, in

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

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theologian. He is known for attempting to reconcile Descartes' philosophy with the

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

Life

He studied theology in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and

, and taught theology, mathematics, and Hebrew at Herborn (1651–1653),

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

(1653–1655),

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

(1655–1671) and Leiden (1671–1687). Starting from his 1653 publication ''Dissertationes Duæ'' he defended a non-literal interpretation of the Bible texts that were quoted by

Voetius Gisbertus Voetius ( Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet ; 3 March 1589 – 1 November 1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, pastor, and professor. Life He was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 16 ...

to prove the unscriptural nature of Descartes' Copernican beliefs, and tried to reconcile philosophy and theology.

Works

*''Dissertationes Duæ'', Amsterdam, 1653. *''De Stylo Scripturae'', Amsterdam (?), 1656 *''Consensus veritatis in Scriptura divina et infallibili revelatae cum veritate philosophica a Renato detecta'', Nijmegen, 1660 *''Theologia pacifica'', Leiden, 1671. *''Anti-spinoza'', Amsterdam, 1690 (posthumous).

Ernst Bizer, D. ref. Orthodoxie u. d. Cartesianismus, in: ZThK 55, 1958, 306-372 Roberto Bordoli s.v., The Dict. of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Philosophers, II, 2003, 1083–1086. Cellamare, Davide, "A theologian teaching Descartes at the Academy of Nijmegen (1655–1679): class notes on Christoph Wittich’s course on the Meditations on First Philosophy", ''Intellectual History Review'', 30:4, 585-613 Cuno, "Wittich, Christoph" in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 43 (1898), S. 631-635 nline-Version Kai-Ole Eberhardt, Art. Wittich, Christoph. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon Band XXXVII (2016) 1493–1507. Kai-Ole Eberhardt, Christoph Wittich (1625–1687). Reformierte Theologie unter dem Einfluss von René Descartes, Göttingen 2018 (Reformed Historical Theology 47).() Kai-Ole Eberhardt, Vernunft und Offenbarung in der Theologie Christoph Wittichs (1625–1687). Prolegomena und Hermeneutik der reformierten Orthodoxie unter dem Einfluss des Cartesianismus, Göttingen 2019 (FSÖTh 164) Jacob Gronovius, Laudatio Funebris recitata post obitum ..Christophori Wittichii .. Leiden 1687. Georg Pape, Christoph Wittichs Anti-Spinoza. Diss. Rostock 1910. Jan Rohls, Descartes u. d. ref. Theol., in: Sonderforschungsbereich 573 „Pluralisierung u. Autorität i. d. Frühen Neuzeit“ an d. LMU München, Mitteilungen 2/2006, München 2006, 24-34 Theo Verbeek, Descartes and the Dutch. Early Reactions to Cartesian Philosophy, 1637–1650. Published for the Journal of the History of Philosophy, Carbondale 1992 Rienk H.Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans. The reception of the new astronomy in the Dutch Republic, 1575–1750, Amsterdam 2002

References

External links

* Willem Frijhoff,

Marijke Spies Marijke, sometimes Germanized as Mareike, is a Dutch feminine given name. It is originally a diminutive of Mary. Phonetically, the name is said ''muh-rye-kah/keh'', preferably with a rolling “r”.Workingwritersandbloggers.comInterview Marijke ...

Dutch Culture in a European Perspective 1: 1650: Hard-Won Unity
Uitgeverij Van Gorcum 2004, pp 310–11. 1625 births 1687 deaths 17th-century Dutch philosophers Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of Leiden University Leiden University alumni University of Groningen alumni Dutch people of German descent People from Brzeg German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German male writers People from the Habsburg monarchy {{Germany-academic-bio-stub

Life

Works

Further reading

References

External links