Of the many claims on posterity of this distinguish- ed man, we have only to consider those which relate to theology. Grotius applied himself to various branch- es of theology. We notice, first, his exefjelical writ- ings. His "Annotations on the O. and N. T." {An^ notat. ill libros evaiigelionnn et varia loca S. Scriptii- rcE [Amst. 1641]), Annotat. in Epist. ad Phikmonem (il). 1642, 8vo ; 1646, 8vo), Annot. in vet. Test. (Paris, 1664, 3 vols, fol., with Yogel's and Doderlein's additions. Hal. 1775-1776, 3 vols. 4to), Annot. in N. T. (Par. 1644, 2 vols., often reprinted ; late ed. Groning. 1827-1829, 7 vols. 8vo) remained for a long time unknown almost to all except Arminian divines, and some Calvinists even spoke of them as dangerous works ; for instance, Abr. Calov in 7:libl. V. et N. T. illvstrat. The chief cause of the i)resent popularity of Grotius's exegesis is its purely philological and historical character. In this respect Grotius may be considered as the forerunner of Ernesti. Valuable, however, as these writings are in this re- spect, they have many defects. As to form they are mere comments (as is indicated liy the title Annota- tiones), and do not constitute a complete exposition of biblical doctrine. Grotius fails to get at the connec- tion of the thought in his elucidations, and often ap- proaches to a rationalistic mode of treating Scripture. It was well enough in Grotius to compile classical par- allels to the maxims given by Jesus in the Sermon on
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the Mount, but this should onh' have been the prepara- tory step to a full elucidation of the points wherein the moralitj' of Christ differs from that of antiquity. Thus, also, it was quite correct in the elucidation of the O.-T. prophecies to reject the practice of an arbitrary typol- 01^3' of separate passages taken without regard to their original historical connection. But Grotius went to- wards the other extreme, and gave at least a show of ground for the remark that " Coccejus found Christ everywhere in the 0. T., while Grotius found him no- where." On Grotius's merits as an interpreter, see Segaar, Oratio de Ihigone Grotio, illuslri humanorum et divinorum N. T. scriptornm interprete (Ultraj. 1785, 8vo) ; Meier, Gesch. d. Schrifterhldrung (iii, p. 434 sq.). His canon for the interpretation of the prophecies of the O.T. is contained in his exposition of the Vj/a TrAf/pwSj; in tlie Annotations on Matt, i, 22, which is worthy of being studied.
In the field of Apolofjetics Grotius achieved a great and enduring success \>y the publication of his treatise De veritate religionis chiistiame (1G27 ; often reprinted). The best editions are those of Clericus (1700, 1717, 1724, 8vo) and of J.C. Kocher (Jena, 1727, 8vo; Halle, 1734- 39, 3 vols. 8vo). It was translated into German hy Hohl (Chemnitz, 1768, etc.) ; French, hy Le Jeune (1724), Goujet (1724); English, by Patrick (1G67), by Clarke (1793), by Middleton (Lond. 1849, 12mo); Ar- abic, by Pocock (16G0), etc.; and even into Chinese and INIalay. The first plan of it was drawn up lij^ Grotius in 1022 while a prisoner at Loevestein. The original object of this prison work, which was written in verse, was to furnish seafaring men, who should come in contact with the heathen, arguments in de- fense of their faith. But when translated into Latin prose it found its way into the highest circles of edu- cated men, and was, until very recentl}', a standard text-l)Ook on the Evidences of Cliristianit}'. In this work Grotius may be said to have erected apologetics into a science, and thus rendered immense service, even though his treatment of the subject does not meet all the wants of the present age. It is divided into six books, of which the first treats of the existence and attributes of God ; the second, of the excellence of the doctrine and ethics of Christianity ; the third, of the authenticity of the books of the New Testament; the last three, of objections supposed to be made on the part of pagans, Mohammedans, and Jews.
In Doctrinal Theology Grotius accepted the Arminian sj'stem as regards the doctrine of predestination. He pronounced clearly for the universalit}' of divine grace, without, however, falling into Pelagianism, an accusa- tion often brought against him, but which he vigor- ously repelled. Sec his Conciliatio Dissidentium de re Predesiinarin et gratia opinionum (1613), and his Dis- quidtio an Pelagiana slnt ea dogmata qtim nunc sub eo nomine traduntur. Both treatises are given in his Opei-a Theologica, vol. iii. He also refuted in his Christology the accusation of inclining to Socinianism in his views of the doctrine of redemption. He de- fended the doctrine of the expiatory nature of the death of Christ against the Socinians in his Defensio jidei catholicce de sati^factione Christi adversus F. Soci- num (Leyden, 1617 ; often reprinted). The Socinians answered in the person of Crell by the Responsio ad Lihrum Grotii de Sati^factione, which was refuted by Stillingfleet, etc. But the orthodox, on the other hand, attacked Grotius on account of his theory of the atonement; and it is certainly true that he differs as well from the theory of satisfaction of Anselm as from the orthodox system both of the Lutheran and IJe- formed churches. In place of a real satisfaction (sat- t^/iictio), Grotius substitutes a solutio on the part of God for the sake of Christ ; he saw in the deatli of Christ more a suhstitntoig than a satiafactorg act ; it was II penal example, by which, on the one hand, the majest}' of God's law was vindicated, and, on the other, his horror of the sin of the world was exempli-