[Disputatio Theologica de Divina Hominum Praedestinatione, quam, Deo Ter. Opt. Max. favente, sub praesidio nobilissimi, clarissimi, doctissimique viri, D. Joannis Makowsky, S. S. Theol. Doct. eximii, ejusdemque Facultatis in Illustri Frisiorum Academia Franequerana Professoris primarii, praeceptoris sui omni observantia colendi, publicè disſcutendam proponit Joannes Fridericus Herbst, Herbornâ Nassovius. Ad diem 2 Septembris, horis locoque consuetis; (Franekere: Excudebat Idzardus Alberti, Typographus in Academia Franeckerana, 1643)]
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.
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THESIS I. Since we are about to treat of the divine predestination of men, we have deemed it worthwhile first to treat of the word predestination, which in Greek is called προορισμός, from προορίζειν, and comprehends two meanings in its signification; first it denotes to establish something certain concerning a matter before it happens, then to direct the same matter to a certain end or scope. In the former signification, see Acts 2:23; in the latter, Genesis 50:20.
THESIS II. The Fathers generally understanding this word accommodate it to both election and reprobation, so that it expresses both. Thus Augustine in book 15, chapter 1, Of the City of God: “We mystically call them two cities, that is, societies of men, one of which is predestinated to reign eternally with God, the other to undergo eternal judgment with the Devil.” And in the Enchiridion chapter 100, he teaches: “God uses well even evil things as supremely good, both for the damnation of those whom he justly predestinated to punishment, and for the salvation of those whom he benignly predestinated to grace.”
THESIS III. In vain therefore are some fastidious concerning the word predestination, contending that it denotes only election and is said only of the good; since the Holy Scripture has used the same word, insofar as it is said of the evil, in Acts 4:28. For predestination is the destination of a thing to its end, which they deny to be the outcome of the reprobate, as being evil, and therefore badly accommodated to that word predestination. RESP. Although we concede that it is indeed evil with respect to the reprobate, yet not with respect to God reproving, who intends their destruction as the best end, namely the declaration of his justice and power, Proverbs 16:4; Romans 9:17, 21, 22.
THESIS IV. This divine predestination also embraces the Angels, some of whom are called elect, 1 Timothy 5:21. The rest, however, are said to be kept in eternal chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day, Jude verse 6. But we shall treat only of the predestination of men.
THESIS V. Predestination of men is the eternal and immutable decree of God concerning the ultimate end of man and the means tending to it, Romans 9:21, 22, 23.