Exchanges in Scotland, the Netherlands, and America: The reception of the theoretico-practica theologia and a history of the work of redemption

Abstract

This article explores the theological connections between the Netherlands, Scotland and early America, relevant to academics, translations, publications, correspondence and cross-influences. It provides representative examples of these connections, traces the development and reception of two works that crossed the Atlantic and were known in Scotland, and important for both fields of scholarship, that on Edwards and Post-reformation Reformed studies: The theoretico-practica theologia of Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706) and the Work of the history of redemption of Jonathan Edwards. The aim is to discover if any undercurrent is present before, during, and after the periods of eighteenth-century intercontinental correspondence and revivals. In particular, the question is raised whether there is a kinship present among these New England, Scottish and Dutch theologians, pastors and religious practitioners - and if so, what kind of kinship?