Cattenburgh, Adriaan van (1664-1743)
Adriaan van Cattenburgh, born 2 November 1664 at Rotterdam, died 5 March 1743, at Utrecht. After completing his study at the Athenaeum and the Remonstrant seminary at Amsterdam, he became Remonstrant minister at Rotterdam and later professor (1712-1737) at the Remonstrant seminary in Amsterdam. He is honored as the father of Remonstrant historiography. He sought to remove from his denomination once and for all the suspicion of Socinianism as entertained by the Reformed clergy.
Mennonite students preparing for the ministry also attended his lectures, for at this time there was not yet a Mennonite seminary. They attended his classes with many good results, as they had those of his predecessor, the renowned Philippus van Limborch. In 1726, however, Cattenburgh began to take an open and in many respects hostile attitude toward the Mennonites on the issue of the nonswearing of oaths. In his book, Specilegium theologiae christianae (Amsterdam, 1726; Liber IV), Chap. 29, "De Juramento," and in the translation of this chapter, "Verhandelingen van den Eedt" (Discourses Concerning the Oath, 1729), he gave clear expression to his views. His antipathy to adult baptism also made difficulties because he became more and more partisan in the defense of infant baptism. On this matter he was opposed by Herman Schijn, Gerardus Maatschoen, and especially by Abraham Verduin.
The attitude of Cattenburgh, which was said to be "hostile to the name and the distinctive doctrines of the Mennonites," contributed appreciably to the fact that in 1735 the Mennonite Lamist congregation in Amsterdam took action to found its own Mennonite seminary.
Bibliography
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1868): 54; (1918): 73.
Visscher, H. and L. A. van Langeraad. Het protestantsche vaderland: biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, 8 vols. Utrecht, 1903-1918: v. II, 30-32.
| Author(s) | Nanne van der Zijpp |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1953 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Cattenburgh, Adriaan van (1664-1743)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1953. Web. 30 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Cattenburgh,_Adriaan_van_(1664-1743)&oldid=120674.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1953). Cattenburgh, Adriaan van (1664-1743). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 30 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Cattenburgh,_Adriaan_van_(1664-1743)&oldid=120674.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p. 535. All rights reserved.
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