Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, a strict

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at 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. ...

(or Dordrecht) (1618–19).

Life

Gomarus was born in

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. His parents, having embraced the principles of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, emigrated from Bruges to the

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in 1578, in order to enjoy freedom to profess their new faith, and they sent their son to be educated at

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under Johann Sturm. He remained there three years, and then went in 1580 to Neustadt, from which the professors of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

had been driven by the elector-palatine because they were not

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s. Here his teachers in theology were Zacharius Ursinus (1534–83), Hieronymus Zanchius (1560–90), and Daniel Tossanus (1541–1602). Crossing to

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towards the end of 1582, he attended the lectures of

John Rainolds John Rainolds (or Reynolds) (1549 – 21 May 1607) was an English academic and churchman, of Puritan views. He is remembered for his role in the Authorized Version of the Bible, a project of which he was initiator. Life He was born about ...

(1549–1607) at

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, and those of William Whitaker at

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. He graduated from Cambridge in 1584, and then went to Heidelberg, where the faculty had been re-established by this time. He was

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of a

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 ...

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from 1587 until 1593, when the congregation was dispersed by

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

. In 1594 he was appointed

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theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

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 ...

, and before going there received the degree of doctor from the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

Theology

Gomarus taught quietly at Leiden until 1603, when Jacobus Arminius came to be one of his colleagues in the theological faculty, and began to teach what Gomarus viewed as essentially Pelagian doctrines and to create a new school of theology within the university. Gomarus immediately set himself earnestly to oppose these beliefs in his classes at college, and was supported by Johann B. Bogermann (1570–1637), who afterwards became professor of theology at Franeker. Arminius sought to make election dependent upon faith, whilst they sought to enforce absolute

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 Go ...

as the rule of faith, according to which the whole Scriptures are to be interpreted.J. A. Dorner (translated by G. Robson and S. Taylor), ''History of Protestant Theology, Particularly in Germany (etc.)'', 2 vols (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh 1871), I
p. 417
(Google). Gomarus then became the leader of the opponents of Arminius, who came to be known as Gomarists (Dutch: ''contra-remonstranten''). He engaged twice in personal disputation with Arminius in the assembly of the States of Holland in 1608, and was one of five Gomarists who met five Remonstrants ( Arminians) in the same assembly of 1609. On the death of Arminius shortly after this time, Konrad Vorstius, who sympathized with Arminius's views, was appointed to succeed him, in spite of the opposition of Gomarus and his friends. Gomarus took this defeat badly, resigned his post, and went to Middelburg in 1611, where he became preacher at the Reformed church, and taught theology and Hebrew in the newly founded Illustre Schule. He was then called in 1614 to a chair of theology at the Academy of Saumur, where he remained four years, and then accepted a call as professor of theology and Hebrew at

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 ...

, where he stayed until his death in Groningen on 11 January 1641. Gomarus, despite his position as a professor of Hebrew, urged that restrictions be placed on the Jews.

Synod of Dort

Gomarus took a leading part in the

(or

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

), assembled in 1618 to judge of the doctrines of Arminius. He was a man of ability, enthusiasm and learning, a considerable Oriental scholar, and also a keen controversialist. He took part in revising the Dutch translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

in 1633. After his death, the ''Lyra Davidis'' was published, in which he sought to explain the

meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

of Biblical Hebrew poetry, and which created some controversy at the time, having been opposed by Louis Cappel. His works were collected and published in a one volume folio, in Amsterdam in 1645. He was succeeded at Groningen in 1643 by his pupil Samuel Maresius (1599–1673).

References

External links

*
Treatise, "Of God's Predestination"
in English translation.

– Article on his life, ministry and controversy with Arminius
Treatise, "An Examination of the Controversy Regarding Christ's Genealogy"
in the original Latin.
"David's Harp"
a work on the poetical portions of Old Testament Scripture, in the original Latin
An alternative copy is also available

''Accoort Vande Recht-sinnige Leere der Voorsienicheyt Gods''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomarus, Franciscus 1563 births 1641 deaths 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Dutch Calvinist and Reformed theologians Supralapsarians Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Participants in the Synod of Dort Clergy from Bruges Academic staff of the University of Groningen Clergy from the Spanish Netherlands