THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
sermonis Hebraici tt Chaldaici, Amsterdam, 1669 and often.
Cocceius based his theory of hfe upon the Bible, and in this lies his significance. In contradistinction to devotion to church and orthodoxy, he recommends a life in and through the Scriptures. Against Hoornbeek's "Authority of the Church" he put that of the Bible only, which was to him a wonderful expression of the deeds and words of God. Consequently all his theological concepts received a Biblical coloring; and his peculiarity was not scholastic but Biblical in origin. Concordant with this was the essentially practical bent of his theology, in which lived a mild type of the German-Reformed spirit, deviating not in doctrine, but in disposition from later Calvinism. To be sure, Biblical theology does not operate through mere uniform exposition. Cocceius unlocked its treasure by means of the central idea of the covenant of God. Not that he originated "Federal Theology," the roots of which lay in the Reformation, while its outline had through Calvin's influence long passed current in Holland by means of the activities of Hyperius, Olevian, and BuUinger. Perhaps Cocceius received the idea from Raph. Eglin's De faedere 3. Doctrines, gratias (Marburg, 1613). What was new was the dynamic force of his Biblical theology, on the lines of which he carried out the conception, and the richness of knowledge of Biblical history with which he enriched it. His main work, De foedere et testamento Dei, portrays in bold and clear outline the whole Scriptural teaching on salvation. The relation between God and man is represented as a covenant at first existing as a divine order, then as a compact between God and man. Then came the covenant of works, under which developed the first step in sin, followed by the proclamation of the " covenant of grace." Though faith then took the place of works, this faith was no new law and Christ no new lawgiver. The power of the " Covenant of Grace " consists in this, that in contradistinction to the " covenant of works" it develops into a "Testament." This method runs through Cocceius's exegetical works; everywhere in the Old Testament he finds Jesus Christ. Though differing in the mode of interpretation, he nowhere departs from the doctrine of his Church. It is his merit to have turned from the abstract deductions of orthodoxy to the position of Calvin. In his doctrine of the Church, by keeping the sacraments in the background and by understanding law spiritually, he greatly assisted Pietism. Though he found a place in the covenant of grace for the decalogue, the New Testament idea of a sanctified life and disbelief in the necessity to keep special days led to the dispute upon the Sabbath question. It was through this that the Church became aware of the peculiarities of his doctrine; the polemical Maresius and the worthy puritanic Voetius entered the fray.
II. His School: Meanwhile Cocceius died, but the battle continued with renewed fury. A schism in the Church was narrowly averted; on the Sabbath question the pupils outdid the prudent, practical master, the affray involved the laity whom the Biblical sermons of Cocceius had made tlico-
logians, from there it entered politics, the " Voetians " being the Central party, and the Cocceians the Remonstrants. A change in the prayer-book was widely resented, and such Cocceians as Heidanus, W. Momma, and J. van der Waeyen were expelled from the universities. The neighboring synods urged peace ' ' in the name of the communion of the saints," and the consistory of Amsterdam observed strict impartiality; none the less in 1694 it was necessary for the Court to curb the parties. The practise was adopted, and continued until last century, of appointing a Voetian for the chair of systematic theology, a Cocceian for the chair of exegesis, and a Lampean for the chair of practical theology. The last-named school was founded by the moderate Cocceian Fr. A. Lampe (q.v.), who did much to heal the breach of the parties. A complete change for the better was brought about in the Cocceian system through Fr. Burmann's Synopsis Theologice, the text-book of later " Federalists." Among the friends and pupils of Cocceius were the Burmanns, father and son, Heidanus (d. 1760), J. Braun, and the great exegete Campegius Vitringa.
(E. F. Karl Mttlleb.) Bibliography: His autobiography, completed by his son, J. H. Cocceius, is prefixed to the " Collected Works," ed. of 1673-75. His life is also given in Nic^ron, Memoiret, viii. 193 sqq., and in A. J. van der Aa, Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden, iii. 518 sqq., Haarlem, 1852. Consult: F. A. Tholuck, Das akademische Leben des 17ten Jahrhunderts, ii. 226 sqq., Halle, 1853; G. Frank, Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie, ii. 240 sqq., Leipsic, 1865; H. L. J. Heppe, Geschi^te des Pietismus und der Mystik in der reformirten Kirche, pp. 216 sqq., Leyden, 1879; A. Ritschl, Geschichte des Pietismw in der reformirten Kirche, pp. 130 sqq., Bonn, 1880.
COCHL^US (DOBNECK, WENDELSTINUS), JOHANNES: Roman Catholic controversialist; b. at Wendelstein (near Schwabach, 9 m. s.s.w. of Nuremberg), in Middle Franconia, Jan. 10, 1479; d. at Breslau Jan. 10, 1552. He was the son of a peasant, and began his studies comparatively late. He first studied in Nuremberg, where Heinrich Grieninger, a humanist, was teacher of poetics. In 1504 he entered the University of Cologne where Count Hermann von Neuenar, Ulrich von Hutten, and other humanists were his associates. He also was on intimate terms with Carl von Miltitz who later became papal chamberlain. From 1510 tm 1515 he taught at St. Sebald in Nuremberg and edited several of his manuals, which were highly esteemed. During the years 1515-19 he traveled in Italy as tutor to three nephews of Willibald Pirkheimer. Here the laxity of morals and lack of religious zeal confirmed a dislike already formed for Italian and Roman affairs. Although repelled by scholastic theology, he studied with great zeal the Bible, Origen, Chrysostom, and Augustine, and, in 1517, acquired the degree of doctor of theology at Ferrara. At Rome he was consecrated priest and appointed deacon of the Church of Our Beloved Lady at Frankfort-on-the- Main. On his return to Germany he was inclined to side with Luther, but changed his mind to retain good relations with the episcopal court of Mainz and with Hieronymus Aleander of Worms, who applied to him personally for the purpose of