Petrus Serrarius
Encyclopedia
Petrus Serrarius was a Dutch millennarian theologian. He was a merchant by profession. He has been called the dean of the independent, dissident religious thinkers of Amsterdam
. He was a close associate and protector of Baruch Spinoza
. Popkin describes him as Spinoza's contact with the outside world.
to be of Scottish extraction; his name at birth was Serrurier, his family was Walloon
. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford
from 1617 to 1619.
, John Dury
, and Menasseh ben Israel
. He was a correspondent of Samuel Hartlib
. His involvement with Judaism led him to gematria
, and a belief in Sabbatai Zevi
, which may not have extended to his messianic claims.
. As well as being a philosemite, interested greatly in the issue of the Lost Tribes, he was on good terms with the Amsterdam Quakers, and had been in contact with William Ames
. He corresponded with the Baptist
Henry Jessey
.
, who had in Du règne de mille ans ou de la Prospérité de l'Église (1654) taken up a position against the millenarians of the time. Serrarius replied with Assertion du règne de mille ans (1657). He in turn was attacked by Samuel Maresius
, a pupil of Franciscus Gomarus
. Maresius attempted to undermine the appeal to the work of Joseph Mede
made by Serrarius.
He was also one of the critics of Lodewijk Meyer
.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. He was a close associate and protector of Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
. Popkin describes him as Spinoza's contact with the outside world.
Life
He was a Collegiant, and is said by Richard PopkinRichard Popkin
Richard H. Popkin was an academic philosopher who specialized in the history of enlightenment philosophy and early modern anti-dogmatism. His 1960 work The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Descartes introduced previously unrecognised influence on Western thought in the seventeenth century,...
to be of Scottish extraction; his name at birth was Serrurier, his family was Walloon
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
from 1617 to 1619.
Circle
He associated also with Adam BoreelAdam Boreel
Adam Boreel was a Dutch theologian and Hebrew scholar. He was one of the founders of the Amsterdam College; the Collegiants were also often called Boreelists, and regarded as a small sect...
, John Dury
John Dury
John Dury was a Scottish Calvinist minister and a significant intellectual of the English Civil War period. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism, hoping to succeed when he moved to Kassel in 1661, but he did not accomplish this...
, and Menasseh ben Israel
Menasseh Ben Israel
Manoel Dias Soeiro , better known by his Hebrew name Menasseh Ben Israel , was a Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, scholar, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, founder of the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam in...
. He was a correspondent of Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
. His involvement with Judaism led him to gematria
Gematria
Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...
, and a belief in Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
, which may not have extended to his messianic claims.
Views and contacts
He published works on the millenniumMillennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
. As well as being a philosemite, interested greatly in the issue of the Lost Tribes, he was on good terms with the Amsterdam Quakers, and had been in contact with William Ames
William Ames
William Ames was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist...
. He corresponded with the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Henry Jessey
Henry Jessey
Henry Jessey or Jacie was one of many English Dissenters. He was a founding member of the Puritan religious sect, the Jacobites. Jessey was considered a Hebrew and a rabbinical scholar.-Life:...
.
Controversy
Initially an orthodox Calvinist, he had left his church before coming to Amsterdam around 1630. He attacked the views of Moses AmyrautMoses Amyraut
Moses Amyraut , also known as Amyraldus, was a French Protestant theologian and metaphysician. He is perhaps most noted for his modifications to Calvinist theology regarding the nature of Christ's atonement, which is referred to as Amyraldism or Amyraldianism.-Life:Born at Bourgueil, in the valley...
, who had in Du règne de mille ans ou de la Prospérité de l'Église (1654) taken up a position against the millenarians of the time. Serrarius replied with Assertion du règne de mille ans (1657). He in turn was attacked by Samuel Maresius
Samuel Maresius
Samuel Maresius was a French-Dutch Reformed theologian ad controversialist.-Life:He was born at Oisement in Picardy, northern France. He studied in Paris, in Saumur Academy under Gomarus, and in Geneva at the time of the Synod of Dort. He was ordained in 1620, and preachedat Laon until a...
, a pupil of Franciscus Gomarus
Franciscus Gomarus
Franciscus Gomarus , was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius , which was formally judged at the Synod of Dort .-Life:His parents, having embraced the principles of the Reformation, emigrated to the Palatinate in 1578, in order...
. Maresius attempted to undermine the appeal to the work of Joseph Mede
Joseph Mede
Joseph Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow from 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist and Egyptologist...
made by Serrarius.
He was also one of the critics of Lodewijk Meyer
Lodewijk Meyer
Lodewijk Meyer was a Dutch physician, classical scholar, translator, lexicographer, and playwright. He was an Enlightenment radical who was one of the more prominent members of the circle around the philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza.He published an anonymous work, the Philosophia S. Scripturae...
.