Theocracy and Toleration A Study of the Disputes in Dutch Calvinism from 1600 to 1650

Originally published in 1938, this book gives an engaging account of the main controversies within Dutch Calvinism between 1600 and 1650. Although the relation of Church and state was debated throughout the seventeenth century in the Netherlands, two disputes in the first half were most significant because both began in the Calvinist Church itself. The first of these disputes arose out of the Arminian challenge in the Calvinist Church and lasted from 1609 to 1618, when the Synod of Dort expelled the Arminians from the Church and Maurice the Stadholder drove the leaders out of the Netherlands. The second dispute began in 1637 when Vedelius taught at Deventer a theory of the Christian magistracy which was alien to the Calvinist tradition since 1618. Detailed information is provided on both of these controversies and the surrounding historical context.

Introduction; 1. The orthodox theory; 2. Arminianism and Erastianism; 3. The Christian magistracy; 4. The voluntary church and the secular state; 5. The Erastian criticism; Conclusion; Appendix. Great Britain and the Dutch controversies; Bibliography; Index.