Synopsis of a Purer Theology: Vol. 2

“The Leiden theology faculty was the ‘Sorbonne’ of Reformed orthodoxy. And the Leiden Synopsis represented the consensus after the Synod of Dort. Weaving into its exegetical arguments support from patristic and medieval sources, the authors display the catholic and evangelical spirit of Reformed theology. Avoiding internecine disputes, the Synopsis focuses on the doctrines that all Reformed Christians confess. Given its spirit, scope and learned arguments, it deserves to inform the tradition today as it did so persuasively in the past.” Synopsis of a Purer Theology , otherwise known as “the Leiden Synopsis,” is one such work. Collecting theological disputations delivered at the University of Leiden in the early 1600s, it is one of the most historically important and theologically comprehensive handbooks of Reformed theology, being a key influence for many Reformed theologians including Herman Bavinck, Abraham Kuyper, Karl Barth, Louis Berkhof, and Richard Muller. And yet, it has remained largely forgotten and left to a handful of Latin-reading scholars. Now for the first time, the Davenant Press has published this significant work in a full English-only translation, in an affordable and concise two-volume set that includes introductory material to orient the reader to the text. The Synopsis offers both a snapshot of the state of confessional theology in the 17th-century Dutch Reformed tradition, and also an enduring example of how the project of systematizing doctrine can serve the church. The Leiden professors modeled thoroughness and clarity of thought in the face of confusion, and a vision of irenic Christian unity over brittle doctrinal uniformity. As Protestants endeavor both to recover their forgotten heritage and to pass it down to the next generation, we need examples of how this has been done before us. The Synopsis of a Purer Theology will serve to bring such illumination and perspective to a generation desperately in need of its boldness, clarity, and wisdom.

This is volume 2 of 2, containing Disputations 32-52. Volume 1 is also available, containing Disputations 1-31.