Jodocus van Lodenstein was born February 6, 1620, in Delft, in the province of South Holland, in the western Netherlands. Delft was situated along the Schie River between Rotterdam and The Hague.¹ Jodocus’s father, Joost Cornelisz, was from a prominent family and served as mayor of Delft for a time. His mother, Maria van Voorburg, was also from a prominent aristocratic home. Though Jodocus lived simply, refusing to indulge in the luxuries of the aristocracy, he never denied his association with this social class.

Boyhood Years⤒🔗

Jodocus’s early years shaped his life in at least five ways:

• Godliness was his goal from early boyhood. He even took a vow of chastity in his pre-adolescent years so that he could serve the Lord single-mindedly all his life. His affluence and singleness shaped his unique ministry.²
   
• Suffering marked his life. Jodocus suffered through­out his life from what is now thought to have been an allergy that frequently caused bacterial infections. He also had a severe speech impediment. Since the speech problem hampered his ability to speak, his parents did not support his call to the ministry in its early stages. In time, however, God graciously healed him of this impediment. Carl Schroeder says this healing influ­enced Jodocus’s view of the Holy Spirit’s work.³
   
• Jodocus’s parents greatly influenced him and his theology. They raised him to see the necessity of truth and godliness: to understand, know, and experience truth was to live a life of holiness. This conviction became a dominant theme of Jodocus. His parents were pro­foundly interested in each of their children’s gifts and abilities and helped them develop those gifts. Jodocus’s father rallied behind him throughout his training and helped him acquire his first pastorate.⁴
   
• While a pre-adolescent, Jodocus heard the great Eng­lish Puritan, Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) preach, which was a lasting legacy. He developed a love for the English Puritans, which led to his calling as a pas­tor and his preaching on repentance.⁵
   
• Jodocus was an intelligent, intuitive, and caring per­son. From childhood to death, he was sensitive to the needs of others. That character trait shone through his musical gifts. He excelled in playing the lyre and wrote numerous hymns, many of which were sung by his congregations. He seldom showed his emotions to others, but his poetry revealed his heart and soul.

Education←⤒🔗

At age sixteen, van Lodenstein entered Utrecht Academy, where he first met Gisbertus Voetius. In an academic world permeated by scholasticism, Voetius reinforced van Loden­stein’s belief that piety should mark the true Christian. The writings of many English Puritans translated into Dutch also influenced van Lodenstein in that conviction.⁶

While van Lodenstein was at Utrecht, the Enlightenment stress on individualism began to permeate society. Though the Enlightenment was largely rejected by Dutch Further Reformation divines, Voetius had a tinge of indi­vidualism in his preaching. That was also evident in van Lodenstein’s later sermons and comforted him in his greatest hours of personal need.

After graduating from Utrecht Academy, van Lodenstein returned home because there were no empty parishes. His father arranged for him to study Eastern languages under the Ger­man pietist scholar, Johannes Cocceius, in Franeker. Though van Lodenstein wanted to go to England to learn more about Puritanism, he acceded to his father’s wishes. He boarded in Cocceius’s home and studied under him for two years. Eventu­ally, biblical and theological disagreements separated the two, though their friendship endured. Meanwhile, van Lodenstein increasingly felt the weight of his call to the ministry.⁷

First Pastorate: Zoetermeer (1644-1650)←⤒🔗

In 1644, van Lodenstein accepted a call to pastor Zoetermeer, a congregation of nearly three hundred people in a town of fewer than six hundred. Though his preaching there deeply impressed many, it also stirred up resistance. Zoetermeer’s for­mer pastor, Rev. Johannes Georgii, had died two years before van Lodenstein arrived. Without a pastor, the congregation began splitting into factions. Those factions were exacerbated by van Lodenstein’s attempt to enact two substantial changes.

The first major change was his pressing for stricter Sab­bath observance. With the dawning of the Golden Age of the Netherlands, the congregation was flourishing. But as is so often true of prosperity, unholy living quickly followed. Thus, the second major change van Lodenstein asked of his congregation was to listen monthly to repentance sermons. Influ­enced by the English Puritans (especially Thomas Hooker) to preach a monthly “penitential sermon,” van Lodenstein repeatedly admonished his congregation to repent of their ungodly ways and be more spiritually committed. He said it was important to cultivate holiness but also to continually repent for failing to live godly in Christ Jesus.

These changes were not well received by some people, while others reticently accepted them in respect for their ear­nest new minister. More liberal people in the congregation viewed him as a legalist who was challenging their lifestyle, while more conservative people viewed him as an Arminian who implied that a believer could sanctify himself of his own free will. Less than three months into his first pastorate, van Lodenstein was brought before the regional classis and charged for his so-called “heretical doctrine of repentance.” The Classis of Delft ruled in favor of the dissenters; however, the church consistory, which had approved van Lodenstein’s changes, refused to obey the classis injunction to read an announcement against van Lodenstein from the pulpit.⁸

Rather than allowing this divisiveness to destroy the church, van Lodenstein held steadfast, helping his own cause by walking humbly rather than defensively among his people and generously giving to the poor. He kept himself busy with catechizing, visitations, preaching, conventicles, teaching, and hymn writing. At no point did he relinquish his convictions. Feeling the church’s need for renewal, he spent much time preaching the need for repentance.

Second Pastorate: Sluis (1650-1653)←⤒🔗

After six years at Zoetermeer, van Lodenstein accepted a call to Sluis in Flanders, in the province of Zeeland. People here were sympathetic to pietistic leanings, due to the prior preaching of Willem Teellinck (1579-1629) and Godefridus Udemans (c. 1581-1649). Van Lodenstein made a smooth transition to the congregation of about 1,200 people, which was about four times the size of Zoetermeer. He prayed that Sluis would help him further his goal of spreading spiritual renewal throughout the Netherlands.

Van Lodenstein formed a close bond with the congrega­tion as he shepherded them with loving discipline. While at Sluis, van Lodenstein published Memoriale versen over de his­torijboucken des Ouden Testaments (“Memory Verses from the History Books of the Old Testament”).

Van Lodenstein’s preaching set the foundation for spiritual renewal. But before he could see this come to fruition, his time at Sluis was cut short.⁹

Third Pastorate: Utrecht (1653-1677)←⤒🔗

After less than three years at Sluis, van Lodenstein received a call to minister in the Domkerk (the Tower Church), a very large congregation in Utrecht, which was the geographical and ecclesiastical center of seventeenth-century Netherlands.

Eugene Osterhaven writes,

The Domkerk (cathedral) at the city’s cen­ter, could hold several thousand auditors, and capacity crowds came to hear van Lodenstein expound the Word of God.¹⁰

Nearly 10,500 people in the city of 20,000 attended the Domkerk. Van Lodenstein would spend twenty-four years at this church, where he was the younger colleague of Voetius.¹¹

Van Lodenstein was very busy at the church. Services on Sunday mornings began at 7:30 a.m., with the main service being just before noon. A staff of fifteen other pastors taught close to twenty catechism classes on Sunday afternoons, four of which were taught by van Lodenstein. On Tuesdays, he taught classes for people who wanted to become members of the church. On Wednesdays, he catechized again and preached mid-week sermons. On Fridays, he taught classes on spiritual­ity, using either Willem Teellinck’s Sleutel der Devotie (“Key of Devotion”) or William Ames’s Marrow of Theology as texts.¹² He also published a booklet in which he showed his congregation how to read through the entire Bible in one or two years. He helped his congregation memorize the Scriptures, sometimes putting texts to music to aid memorization. In addition to all this, van Lodenstein visited thousands of church members and called on the poor, orphans, and the sick.¹³

Van Lodenstein was a captivating preacher.

Voetius once said,

Our colleague van Lodenstein can do it like none of the rest of us can say or do.¹⁴

His preaching was simple and direct. He avoided lengthy introductions and spent little time on the historical details of a text.

Osterhaven says,

His messages were built around Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the need for and reality of renewal.¹⁵

His main focus was application, particularly the need for conversion and sanctification.¹⁶

Schroeder notes six characteristics of van Lodenstein’s preaching: he was scriptural, he was faithful to the Reformed confessions, he spoke with great authority, he preached pro­phetically, he emphasized repentance, and he discouraged the observation of church feast days. He preached both the law and gospel, using the law to convict nominal Christians of hypocrisy and sloth. He also used the law to bring unre­generate, worldly, and self-seeking people to Christ.¹⁷ For those who were converted, he offered the promises of God. With this double-edged sword, van Lodenstein preached in a discriminatory manner, classifying his congregation into a variety of categories, as was typical of Voetian preachers and other proponents of the Nadere Reformatie.¹⁸

While in Utrecht, van Lodenstein joined the famous “Utrecht Circle,” sometimes called “Voetian Circle,” which included Justus van den Bogaert (c. 1623-1663), who became van Lodenstein’s closest friend; Johannes Teellinck (c. 1623-1694), son of Willem Teellinck, father of the Dutch Further Reformation; Andrew Essenius (1618-1676), a professor of theology at the Utrecht Academy; Theodore à Brakel (1608-1669), author of several edifying works and father of the better known Wilhelmus; Abraham van de Velde (1614-1677), and Johannes Hoornbeeck (1617-1666), co-author with Voetius of Spiritual Desertion. Also involved were some laypeople, most notably Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678), a highly educated German-Dutch scholar, poet, painter, and engraver who served for some time as Jean de Labadie’s assistant. She dropped out of the fellowship when de Labadie fell out of favor with the Utrecht Circle.

The circle was a means to share spiritual experiences, foster fellowship, and discuss important issues that faced the church, particularly the need for the church’s renewal. Van Lodenstein established close spiritual relationships with sev­eral colleagues in the Utrecht Circle, who became spiritual encouragers to him. By 1660, however, the Utrecht Circle was in decline, due to the death of some of its members as well as the disappointing experience with de Labadie and the concurrent wars and struggles of the Netherlands that presaged the decline of the Golden Age in the Netherlands.¹⁹

In Utrecht, van Lodenstein experienced two national cri­ses. The first, in 1672, was France’s retaliation against the Dutch for losses suffered the previous year. By June 1672, the French occupied Utrecht and were using the Domkerk to conduct Roman Catholic masses. Van Lodenstein viewed this as a dreadful divine chastisement.

By 1674, the French were forced to leave Utrecht, but before doing so, they threatened to ransack the city. Eventually, they agreed not to do so but instead took hostage several prominent citizens, including van Lodenstein, until the Netherlands could pay them 450,000 guilders (five tons of gold). In November 1673, the hostages were taken to Fort Rees in Cleves. Three months later, the ransom was finally paid.²⁰ Van Lodenstein viewed those three months as profitable, though trying, for his soul. During this time he wrote Meditatien over eenige van’s Heeren Gods eygenschappen (1674; “Meditations on some of the Lord God’s Attributes”). He also wrote spiritually edifying poetry. The city of Utrecht did not share van Lodenstein’s view on the situation; despite the French occupation and van Lodenstein’s call to repent, most people remained unbelievers.

The second major crisis was in 1674. A huge hurricane passed through the Netherlands, destroying much in Utrecht, including a large section of the Domkerk. Many citizens were left homeless. Van Lodenstein used the loss to preach against sin, yet his efforts did not result in much spiritual renewal.²¹

Van Lodenstein suffered poor health periodically through­out his life. It affected his ministries in significant ways. For example, when he accepted the call to Utrecht, he could not be installed until the next year. He viewed his sicknesses as a God-given cross.

In the spring of 1677, van Lodenstein became seriously ill. With the help of a secretary, he continued to work until the end of July. When asked how he was doing, van Lodenstein would often respond,

It is enough for me that I know and believe that in God is the fullness and all-sufficiency of everything; I feel nothing, but I know that in the Lord Jesus is the fullness of grace, and I lay myself down on that covenant that is unchange­able.²²

On August 10, 1677, he passed into eternal glory. His last recorded words were: “I am so full of thoughts!”²³.