HUGO GROTIUS AS APOLOGIST FOR THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOUNDED BY HEIKO A. OBERMAN † EDITED BY ROBERT J. BAST, Knoxville, Tennessee IN COOPERATION WITH HENRY CHADWICK,Cambridge SCOTT H. HENDRIX, Princeton, New Jersey BRIAN TIERNEY,Ithaca, New York ARJOVANDERJAGT,Groningen JOHN VAN ENGEN, Notre Dame, Indiana VOLUME CXI J.P. HEERING HUGO GROTIUS AS APOLOGIST FOR THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION HUGO GROTIUS AS APOLOGIST FOR THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION A STUDY OF HIS WORK DE VERITATE RELIGIONIS CHRISTIANAE (1640) BY J.P. HEERING TRANSLATED BY J.C. GRAYSON BRILL LEIDEN•BOSTON 2004 Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) for the financial support that made this publication possible. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heering, Jan-Paul. [Hugo de Groot als apologeet van de christelijke godsdienst. English] Hugo Grotius as apologist for the Christian religion : a study of his work De veritate religionis Christianae, 1640 / by Jan-Paul Heering ; translated by J.C. Grayson. p. cm. — (Studies in the history of Christian thought ; v. 111) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13703-3 1. Grotius, Hugo, 1583-1645. De veritate religionis Christianae. 2. Apologetics—History—17th century. I. Title. II. Series. BT1103.G763H4413 2003 239—dc22 2003069558 ISSN 0081-8607 ISBN 90 04 13703 3 © Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Coverdesign: Thorsten’s Celine Ostendorf All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands Dedicated to Monique This page intentionally left blank ‘Meaning is a kind of constant flickering of presence and absence together.’ T. Aegerton This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Foreword .................................................................................... xiii List of Abbreviations .................................................................. xv Introduction ................................................................................ xix Chapter One. Bewijs van den waren godsdienst ............................ 1 a. Background ............................................................................ 1 The political fall of Hugo Grotius ...................................... 1 In prison ................................................................................ 3 Dutch poems .......................................................................... 5 b. The writing of the apologetic work (Bewijs) .......................... 8 Geloofs Voorberecht .................................................................... 11 c. Editions .................................................................................. 15 First edition (BG no 143) ...................................................... 17 Second edition (BG no 144) .................................................. 19 d. Dedication .............................................................................. 20 Fatherland .............................................................................. 21 Summary .................................................................................... 25 Chapter Two. De veritate religionis christianae .............................. 26 a. Latin editions ........................................................................ 26 Translation ............................................................................ 26 First edition (BG no 944) ...................................................... 30 Second edition (BG no 946) .................................................. 32 Third edition (BG no 947) .................................................... 33 The making of the Notes .................................................... 35 New edition (BG no 950) ...................................................... 36 Unauthorised editions (BG nos 951–3) ................................ 38 b. Development of the text ...................................................... 40 Bewijs (1622)—Sensus(1627) .................................................. 40 Sensus (1627)—De veritate (Leiden 1629) ................................ 42 De veritate (Leiden 1629)—De veritate (Leiden 1633) ............ 44 De veritate (Leiden 1633)—De veritate (Paris 1640) ................ 45 Conclusion .................................................................................. 46