VOETIUS, GISBERTUS

born 1589, Heusden, Holland died 1676 Dutch Reformed theologian, scholar in Semitic languages, and educator who upheld uncompromising Calvinist views on predestination and condemned as atheistic the rationalist thought of the 17th-century French philosopher Ren Descartes. Voetius studied in Leiden and in 1611 became pastor of Blymen, after which he returned to Heusden in 1617. In 1619 he played an influential part in the Synod of Dort, and 1634 he became professor of theology at Utrecht. Three years later he became pastor of the Utrecht congregation. His writings, Politica Ecclesiastica (4 vol., 166376) and Diatriba de Theologia (1668; Discourse on Theology) strongly censured any concession to Roman Catholic doctrine.