[A Polish born Dutch/German Reformed Franekerian Universalis Divine]

Johannes Maccovius (c. 1588–1644), born Jan Makowski in the year of our Lord 1588 in Lobzenic, Great Poland, emerged as a radiant star in the firmament of Reformed scholastic theology. Of noble Polish lineage, he was nurtured in learning first at the gymnasium of Danzig under the tutelage of the renowned Bartholomaeus Keckermann, wherein he laid a strong foundation in the arts and the philosophy of Aristotle. Ever zealous for wisdom, he journeyed as a peregrinus academicus through the academies of Germany, including Prague, Marburg, Heidelberg, and Leipzig, before at length attaining the celebrated University of Franeker in Friesland. At Franeker he attained his doctorate in sacred theology in 1614, being speedily advanced to the office of professor ordinarius, where he exercised his gifts for near thirty years. Maccovius did tenaciously defend the purity of Reformed doctrine, being noted for his supralapsarian convictions concerning predestination and for his subtlety in scholastic method, wherein he was esteemed above many. With keen intellect and ardent zeal, he contended for the faith against Jesuits, Socinians, Arminians, and all adversaries of orthodox Calvinism. His disputations were many, and his classes thronged with students from Poland, Hungary, Transylvania, and beyond, whom he instructed with rigor and piety. Throughout his course he was not without controversy: his method, logical distinctions, and strong assertions occasioned strife, notably with Sibrandus Lubbertus and William Ames, as well as censure at the Synod of Dordrecht. Yet he was acquitted of heresy and confirmed in his teaching. His principal works, Collegium Theologicum and Distinctiones et Regulae Theologicae, endure as monuments of Protestant learning. Having completed his pilgrimage, he fell asleep in Christ at Franeker in 1644, leaving an enduring legacy among the Reformed.

Johannes Maccovius (c. 1588–1644), born Jan Makowski in the year of our Lord 1588 in Lobzenic, Great Poland, emerged as a radiant star in the firmament of Reformed scholastic theology. Of noble Polish lineage, he was nurtured in learning first at the gymnasium of Danzig under the tutelage of the renowned Bartholomaeus Keckermann, wherein he laid a strong foundation in the arts and the philosophy of Aristotle. Ever zealous for wisdom, he journeyed as a peregrinus academicus through the academies of Germany, including Prague, Marburg, Heidelberg, and Leipzig, before at length attaining the celebrated University of Franeker in Friesland. At Franeker he attained his doctorate in sacred theology in 1614, being speedily advanced to the office of professor ordinarius, where he exercised his gifts for near thirty years. Maccovius did tenaciously defend the purity of Reformed doctrine, being noted for his supralapsarian convictions concerning predestination and for his subtlety in scholastic method, wherein he was esteemed above many. With keen intellect and ardent zeal, he contended for the faith against Jesuits, Socinians, Arminians, and all adversaries of orthodox Calvinism. His disputations were many, and his classes thronged with students from Poland, Hungary, Transylvania, and beyond, whom he instructed with rigor and piety. Throughout his course he was not without controversy: his method, logical distinctions, and strong assertions occasioned strife, notably with Sibrandus Lubbertus and William Ames, as well as censure at the Synod of Dordrecht. Yet he was acquitted of heresy and confirmed in his teaching. His principal works, Collegium Theologicum and Distinctiones et Regulae Theologicae, endure as monuments of Protestant learning. Having completed his pilgrimage, he fell asleep in Christ at Franeker in 1644, leaving an enduring legacy among the Reformed.

HIS WORKS:

Dogmatical Theologies:

Theological Common Places;  (Amsterdam, 1658)

Volume of Theological Theses Disputed According to the Common Places at the Academy of Franeker; (Franeker: Uldericus Balck, 1639)

On Predestination:

*Theological Disputation on the Divine Predestination of Men; (*Franeker: Idzardus Alberti, 1643)