Theoretical-Practical Theology, vol. 2: Faith in the Triune God

by Peter Van Mastricht

Publisher:

Reformation Heritage

, 2019

Overview

Petrus van Mastricht’s Theoretical-Practical Theology presents one of the most comprehensive methods of treating Christian doctrine. In it, Mastricht treats every theological topic according to a four-part approach: exegetical, dogmatic, elenctic, and practical. As a body of divinity, it combines a rigorous, scholastic treatment of doctrine with the pastoral aim of preparing people to live for God through Christ. Students and pastors will find it a valuable model for moving from the text of Scripture to doctrinal formulation that will edify the people of God.

Key Features

• Examines the existence, essence and subsistence of God
• Considers the nature and necessity of saving faith
• Combines a rigorous, biblical, and scholastic treatment of doctrine

Contents

• Saving Faith
• The Existence and Knowledge of God
• The Essence and Independence of God
• The Names of God
• The Attributes of God in General
• The Spirituality and Simplicity of God
• The Immutability of God
• The Unity of God
• The Infinity and Greatness of God
• The Immensity and Omnipresence of God
• The Eternity of God
• The Life and Immortality of God
• The Intellect, Knowledge, and Wisdom of God
• The Truthfulness and Faithfulness of God
• The Will and Affections of God
• The Goodness of God
• The Love, Grace, Mercy, Longsuffering, and Clemency of God
• The Righteousness of God
• The Holiness of God
• The Authority and Power of God
• The All-Sufficiency or Perfection of God
• The Majesty and Glory of God
• The Blessedness of God
• The Most Holy Trinity
• God the Father
• God the Son
• God the Holy Spirit

Top Highlights

“It has been called saving faith not because it effects salvation or merits it, but because it is the condition, according to the pure good pleasure of God, that is prerequisite to conferring salvation.” (Page 7)

“Moreover, this reception of Christ consists in consent, namely when the will assents to Christ as he offers himself in the gospel, and does so by this law, that he be received as the one and only Mediator, in the way that a bride receives a bridegroom, that is, by assenting to him as he offers himself. For this reason, receiving, consenting, and desiring earnestly seem to be of equivalent force in the gospel (John 1:12; cf. Rev. 22:17; Matt. 23:37; 22:3).” (Page 9)

“In the same way vice versa, tenth, those attributes that are called communicable do not correspond to God and the creatures univocally, because there is no proportion at all between the infinite and the finite; nor also equivocally, such that they concur in name only, since from the knowledge of the one we can be led back to the knowledge of the other; but only analogically, such that the thing signified by the attributes belongs principally and originally to God, but to the creatures only participatively, and with a degree of diminution, just as health properly and in itself belongs to an animal, although on account of the animal it belongs to food, air, and medicine.” (Pages 119–120)

“It should be observed, ninth, that those attributes which are incommunicable include in their formal concept something so peculiar to the divine essence that not even a trace of it may be discovered in any creature. In this place are especially those attributes called negative—for example, infinity, immutability, independence—and from the affirmative attributes also several, such as omniscience, omnipotence, eternity, and any others of the same character.” (Page 119)

Endorsements

As to the books you speak of: Mastricht is sometimes in one volume, a very large thick quarto, sometimes in two quarto volumes. I believe it could not be had new under 8 or 10 pounds. Turretin is in three volumes in quarto, and would probably be about the same price. They are both excellent. Turretin is on polemical divinity, on the 5 points & all other controversial points, & is much larger in these than Mastricht, & is better for one that desires only to be thoroughly versed in controversies. But take Mastricht for divinity in general, doctrine, practice & controversy, or as an universal system of divinity; & it is much better than Turretin or any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion.

—Jonathan Edwards to Joseph Bellamy, January 15, 1747 (in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 16: Letters and Personal Writings)

With each translation of the formative Reformed theologians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries comes the possibility of our churches being renewed by forgotten treasures. This is one of those gold mines. So important is van Mastricht that even Descartes felt obliged to respond to his critiques and Jonathan Edwards drew deeply from the well of his Theoretical-Practical Theology. It is a distinct pleasure to recommend this remarkable gem.

—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

Van Mastricht is one of the greatest of the Reformed orthodox, exerting a profound influence on subsequent theologians, including Jonathan Edwards. His grasp of the tradition, his ability to interact with contemporary issues, and his careful articulation of orthodoxy exemplify the best of Protestant theology after the Reformation. Yet the lack of an English translation has meant that he has been known more by reputation than by content in the Anglophone world. Here at last is an English translation which will allow a whole new audience of pastors, theologians, and laypeople to draw once again on this profound theological source.

—Carl R. Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies, Grove City College

A new appreciation has grown in our time for the great post-Reformation theologians of the Reformed tradition, and Petrus van Mastricht was a towering giant among them. Jonathan Edwards thought he was better than Francis Turretin! Mastricht’s magnum opus Theoretical-Practical Theology, however, is virtually unknown and unquoted today, accessible only to competent and determined Latinists. This translation does for Mastricht what Giger and Dennison did for Turretin—it provides a readable, critical, annotated English translation that puts Mastricht within easy reach of pastors, seminarians, and other students of theology. A sound and experiential divine, who (it may surprise you to learn) interacts with and criticizes Kabbalah and Islam as well as Descartes and Socinians, Mastricht is always concerned to show that true theology is practical and never merely notional. Truth is unto godliness.

—Ligon Duncan, chancellor and CEO, John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

Any serious student of Reformed theology needs to sit at the feet of Petrus van Mastricht. The challenge has been that to do so you needed to know Latin or Dutch. Thanks to the herculean efforts of the folks at the Dutch Reformed Translation Society and Reformation Heritage Books, English readers can now learn the art of ‘living for God through Christ.

—Stephen J. Nichols, president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries

Product Details

• Title: Theoretical-Practical Theology, Volume 2: Faith in the Triune God
• Author: Peter Van Mastricht
• Series: Theoretical-Practical Theology
• Volume: 2
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 704
• Era: era:reformation
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Reformed Church › Doctrines--Early works to 1800
• Resource ID: LLS:RTCLPRCTCLTGD02
• Resource Type: Systematic Theology
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-06-18T00:34:35Z

About Peter Van Mastricht

Peter Van Mastricht (1630-1706) was a German-Dutch theologian who studied at Utrecht under Gisbert Voetius. He held pastorates in Germany and Denmark before accepting a position as professor of Hebrew and practical theology at Frankfurt, and later at his alma mater, Utrecht. Van Mastricht is probably best known for his Theologia Theoretico-Practica (1682-87), a comprehensive and infuential work that was translated into Dutch and won much acclaim. Van Mastricht deeply shaped the experiential piety of the “Nadere Reformation” in the Netherlands, as well as larger currents of Reformed theology, even within English-speaking divinity from the late 17th century onward.

(From Theopedia.com. Freely redistributable under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.)