Gisbertus Voetius was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, pastor, and professor.
13 Facts About Gisbertus Voetius
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Gisbertus Voetius was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 1611 became Protestant pastor of Vlijmen, whence in 1617 he returned to Heusden.
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In 1634, Voetius was made professor of theology and Oriental science at the University of Utrecht.
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Gisbertus Voetius was an advocate of a strong form of Calvinism against the Arminians.
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Gisbertus Voetius was provoked into getting Martin Schoock to produce a book-length assault on Descartes and his work, the Admiranda methodus.
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Descartes associated the quarrel with the part Gisbertus Voetius was playing with another controversy with Samuel Maresius, who was at least sympathetic to some Cartesian ideas.
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Gisbertus Voetius pursued the faith-seeking-understanding program whereas Descartes repudiated the faith-lacking-understanding project.
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The primary concern of Gisbertus Voetius was not to preserve Aristotelianism but to keep the biblical truth that, as he put it, was received from orthodox tradition.
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Gisbertus Voetius argued that whoever embraced the articles of faith for incorrect reasoning would commit a sin no less grave than those who rejected them.
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Gisbertus Voetius believed that his method of doubt would provide a firm road to perfect knowledge.
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Gisbertus Voetius argued that human reason was surrounded by error and sin, so perfect knowledge was impossible for humans.
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Gisbertus Voetius maintained that human beings would be able to learn the truth from divine revelation, which was the only principle in the pursuit of truth.
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Therefore, for Gisbertus Voetius, Cartesianism was primarily confronted with scriptural truth, not with Aristotelianism.