Thursday, February 12, 2026

It is the 12th of February 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

I apologize for the title of this show referencing an “Arminian who thought he was made of glass” because the story of Caspar Barlaeus is much more than that. I promise I’ll explain what “Arminian” means and how he thought he was made of glass, but first, some context.

 

Caspar Barlaeus was born on the 12th of February in 1584. He was born in Antwerp, but this was amidst the 80 Years' War. It pitted the Spanish Catholic Habsburgs (of Charles V fame) and the Dutch provinces united in a desire for independence and a reformed church of the Calvinist variety. The war lasted from 1568 to 1648, with Dutch Independence, the same year Caspar tragically died.

 

His family fled Antwerp (in the south, taken by Catholics) to Leiden in the north. There, Caspar attended the Latin school where his father was a headmaster. His father died, but his uncle, also a schoolmaster, raised him. Like his family, he was firmly in the Reformed camp- but a division was coming. By 1605, he was at the University of Leiden, where he studied both theology and philosophy. Amongst his professors were Franciscus Gomarus and Jacob Arminius. In 1609, a truce was called between the Dutch and Spanish- a 12-year truce. But a war broke out within the Dutch Reformed church.

 

Arminius died that same year, but his followers criticized a particular reading of the doctrine of predestination- preferring a more moderate stance that placed more emphasis on the human will. These would be the “Arminians” or “Remonstrants” whose “5 Points” would be countered with the so-called “5 Points of Calvinism” at the Synod of Dordt in 1618.

 

Back to Caspar Barlaeus. After graduating from Leiden, he was married to Barbara in 1608 and then became a pastor for a time in the coastal town of Nieuwe‑Tonge. But the Academy called, and he was soon back at his alma mater at Leiden. Now, with the debate between his old professors raging, he would side with the Remonstrants- or the Arminians. When the Synod of Dordt sided with the Calvinists, Barlaeus and others lost their jobs.

 

We know from his own correspondence that this led to his first bout of depression and what he termed “melancholia”. He quickly turned to medicine. He needed an income for his growing family- he earned a degree, but as he began to practice, he came to find that he had a paralyzing fear of seeing others in trauma.

 

He turned to work as a private tutor and as a writer of epigrams and panegyrics for others- a kind of side hustle in his time. One of his school friends, the famous scholar Hugo Grotius, called Barlaeus the “Prince of Poets”. This kind of reaction made him a favorite of Prince Frederick Henry. Caspar’s reputation was rehabilitated with this image of him as the poet to the prince and patriot. It also helped that the Arminian/Calvinist rift was subdued with the resumption of war and the broader context of the 30 Years' War.

 

Barlaeus would accept a call in 1630 to the new institute in Amsterdam. There was no proper university in the city- it had long been associated with the less-than-Christian mercantile trades. Even then, Amsterdam is a (perceived) hive of scum and villainy.

 

In his new position as professor at the Athenaeum, he gave a famous public lecture- the Mercator Sapiens, or the “wise merchant”. In it, he gives a famous defense of both the liberal arts and the practical merchant arts, and rather than sequester the two, they should be united with the Christian virtues for the development of a good society. “Mercator sapiens” is still used in reference to this lecture and idea.

 

Unfortunately, the melancholy persisted. He wrote many letters giving us an insight into his rages of mania and what seems like a kind of schizophrenia. One of the alleged maladies was that he believed he was made of glass. This was a strangely common affliction that goes back to, at least, Charles VI of France in the 1400s. One historian has suggested that there are often conditions that develop that mirror new materials and technology- from a fascination with glass in the Renaissance to cement in the 19th century to theories about WiFi today. Locke and Descartes both make mention of people afflicted with this particular glass delusion.

 

Unfortunately, it was only one aspect of his illness that progressed when he was widowed. He became a celebrated public scholar and helped develop the Athanaeum into what would become the University of Amsterdam, but died suddenly in 1648, drowning in a small pool of water, seemingly trying to extinguish imagined flames.

 

A troubled man in troubled times, but a one-time pastor and professor- a “Prince of Poets” Caspar Barlaeus- born on this day in 1584- was 63 years old.

 

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Hebrews 8:

3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 12th of February 2026, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who is spying on you via wifi and your phone camera right now… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by someone who knows and understands Blondie’s Heart of Glass as just melancholic… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.