This book is a first monograph on the life and work of Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706). Expanding the new interest in Protestant scholasticism this book portrays Mastricht as a post-Reformation reformed theologian, philosopher and Christian Hebraist. The result provides a fresh appraisal, in particular, on the relationship of biblical exegesis, doctrine, polemic, and praxis.

Petrus van Mastricht (1630–1706): Text, Context, and Interpretation »is not just a statement of the state of the art on Mastricht studies. It also points the way forward for further exploration of Mastricht's thought and the history of Reformed Orthodoxy in general« from the Preface by Carl R. Trueman. This volume presents collected essays from scholars around the world on various aspects of Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706) theology, philosophy, and reception in the context of the challenges of orthodoxy in his day. This book, then, locates Mastricht's ideas in the context of the theological and philosophical currents of his day. The pre-Revolutionary status of theology and philosophy in the wake of the Enlightenment had many of the same problems we see in theology today as relating to the use and appropriation of classical theology in a 21st-century context. Ideas about the necessity of classical primary sources of Christianity in sustaining Reformed theology are once again becoming important, and Mastricht has many insights in this area. The last thirty years have witnessed a remarkable revolution in the study of Reformed Orthodoxy, that broad movement of theological consolidation which took place in the two centuries between the early breakthroughs of the Reformation and the reorganization of intellectual disciplines within the university world heralded by the arrival of the various intellectual and cultural developments known collectively as the Enlightenment. The old models which tended to prioritize one or two figures in the Reformation. In place of this older scholarship, we now have a growing number of studies which seek to place Reformed thinkers of the period in a much wider context. One of the results of this is that serious scholarly attention is now being directed at figures who were previously neglected, such as Petrus van Mastricht, a German-Dutch theologian, who has emerged as significant voices in shaping the Christianity of his day. He was the author of a major system of divinity. This work is in the process of being translated into English (two volumes are available at the time of writing). Mastricht is also the subject of a growing body of literature in English, of which this volume is a fine example. The essays contained in book work represent precisely the range of scholarly interests that the new approach to Reformed Orthodoxy has come to embody. Dealing specifically with the areas of theology, philosophy, and reception, this book points toward three critical areas of study.

Petrus van Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology presents one of the most comprehensive methods of treating Christian doctrine. In it, Mastricht treats every theological topic according to a four-part approach: exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic, and practical. As a body of divinity, it combines a rigorous, scholastic treatment of doctrine with the pastoral aim of preparing people to live for God through Christ. Students and pastors will find it a valuable model for moving from the text of Scripture to doctrinal formulation that will edify the people of God. Volume 3, The Works of God and the Fall of Man, is a book of origins—origins of the created order and of sin. Mastricht begins with a discussion of the decrees of God and how they establish His eternal purpose for everything. He then shows how the decrees are carried out in creation and in God’s continual providence. The volume concludes with Mastricht’s treatment of the apostacy of Adam from his original estate and the devastating effects of sin that followed. This is an important volume for learning how God governs all things, even the rebellious actions of those good things He created. Table of Contents: Part 1 Continued: Prolegomena and Faith Book 3: The Works of God The Actions and Decrees of God Predestination Election Reprobation Creation in General The World and the Work of the Six Days The Good Angels The Evil Angels Man and the Image of God The General Providence of God Special Providence The Covenant of Nature Book 4: Man’s Apostasy from God The Violation of the Covenant of Nature Original Sin Actual Sin The Penalty and State of Sin

Petrus van Mastricht’s Theoretical and Practical Theology presents one of the most comprehensive methods of treating Christian doctrine. In it, Mastricht treats every theological topic according to a four-part approach: exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic, and practical. As a body of divinity, it combines a rigorous, scholastic treatment of doctrine with the pastoral aim of preparing people to live for God through Christ. Students and pastors will find it a valuable model for moving from the text of Scripture to doctrinal formulation that will edify the people of God. Volume 2, Faith in the Triune God , delivers a thorough treatment of the doctrine of God. Mastricht begins his consideration of theology proper with a substantial chapter on saving faith, reminding readers that contemplating God apart from true faith will fall short of the salvation of their soul. Mastricht then discusses the subject of God in three main divisions. First, he treats the existence of God and our knowledge of him. Second, he discusses the divine essence as it is revealed through the names and attributes of God. Third, Mastricht carefully details the Trinitarian nature of the one God who subsists in three persons.

This book examines the thinking of several Reformed theologians on theological issues that are, historically or by content, related to philosophy. Three Dutch authors from successive generations are considered in particular: Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676), Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706), and Anthonius Driessen (1684-1748). A diversity of issues in Christian doctrine is discussed. These include the relationship between theology and philosophy, creation, Divine providence, the human being, and Divine and natural law. By reconstructing the views of these three theologians, this book highlights similarities and differences within Reformed orthodoxy, both in doctrine and in relation to philosophy. The changes that thus become visible also suggest that biblical Christianity outlives the philosophical apparatus by whose assistence it is explained.

Over the course of thirty years, Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694-1768) secretly drafted what would become the most thorough attack on revelation to date, ushering the quest for the historical Jesus and foreshadowing the religious criticism of the new atheism of the twentieth century. Peeling away the layers of Reimarus’s radical work by looking at hitherto unpublished manuscript evidence, Ulrich Groetsch shows that the Radical Enlightenment was more than just an international philosophical movement. By demonstrating the importance philology, antiquarianism, and Semitic languages played in Reimarus’s upbringing, scholarship, and teaching, this new study provides a vivid portrayal of an Enlightenment radical at the cusp of the secular age, whose debt to earlier traditions of scholarship remains undisputed.