Invitation

Symposium “From Predestination to Preaching:
A Presentation of Synospis Purioris Theologiae (1625), vol. 2

Since 2010 a group of fifteen scholars – classicists, theologians, philosophers, and historians – has been working towards making the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae again accessible in a bilingual (Latin-English) edition. The second volume of the three-partite series treats the Reformed understanding of salvation beginning with predestination and ending with the preaching of the gospel. Henk van den Belt, extraordinary professor of Reformed Theology at the University of Groningen is the volume-editor of this part. On Friday, 25 November, the book will be presented at a symposium in Groningen.

The Symposium will be opened by Prof. Dr. Andreas J. Beck (Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven), chairman of the Research Group Classic Reformed Theology, who is one of the General editors of the Synopsis. The Amsterdam historian of religion, Prof. Dr. Fred van Lieburg (VU University) will then explain the social implications of the underlying theological conflict. The translator of the Synopsis, the classicist Prof. Dr. Riemer Faber (Waterloo University, Canada), will then focus on the question concerning the authorship of the disputations looking at the various styles of writing. The reception and the relevance of the soteriology in the Synopsis is the topic treated by the theologian Prof. Dr. Rinse Reeling Brouwer (Protestant Theological University, Groningen and Amsterdam). Finally, the Groningen medievalist Dr. Suzan Folkerts will speak about the medieval saint Christina Mirabilis, whose testimonies played a role in the theological debates over purgatory.

At the end of the Symposium, the rector magnificus of Groningen University, Prof. Dr. Elmer Sterken, will receive the first copy of the book and give a short reflection on the importance theology for the University.

Practical information