1568-1646
Polyander was a Dutch Calvinist who studied under Francis Junius at Heidelberg, and earned a doctorate in 1590 under Theodore Beza. Polyander taught at the renowned University of Leiden from 1611, succeeding Francis Gomarus. Polyander was one of the four authors of the influential theology textbook, The Leiden Synopsis, and a delegate of the Synod of Dort.
The Leiden Synopsis, vol. 1, edited by Dolf te Velde, translated by Riemer Faber, published by Brill, 2015, originally printed in 1625.
22. On the Gospel
p. 559, this quote was compiled by Andrew Myers.
Secondly, the word [Gospel] is used for the joyful teaching and preaching of the reconciliation of sinful people with God through the free remission of sins obtained for them by the expiatory death of Christ. It is offered to one and all without restriction; it is revealed to the poor in spirit and to little children, and actually applied individually to those who believe, for their salvation and the revelation of God’s mercy and accompanying justice, and for his eternal praise (1 Corinthians 9:14,15, etc.).
p. 561
The impelling cause whereby God within Himself moves to declare the Gospel is God’s unrestricted mercy and goodwill with which he purposed to embrace the wretched human race that had fallen into sin by the guilt of Adam.
The object to which God reveals his unrestricted mercy and goodwill in his Gospel is the wretched human race that had fallen headlong into deadly sin by the Devil’s deception, and to which God announced the grace of his redemption, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.
[Webmaster’s Note: Note that the Synopsis is not speaking of the elect (who are nowhere in the passage’s larger context), but of the indiscriminate declaration of the gospel to man generally.]
p. 565
The destruction of unbelievers, however, is not a goal of the Gospel; that is an unconnected outcome from elsewhere, from their sins. For in his Gospel God declares that he takes no delight in the destruction of any sinner, but he delights in transferring everyone to salvation through repentance and faith from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Related Pages
The Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel
Historic Reformed Quotes on the Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel