hich he was combating already
rested under the imputation of Crypto-Atheism. The hand of the
government interfered, and Cartesianism appeared to be extinguished. But
it had its secret admirers, especially in the academies of Northern
France, where its adherents occupied almost every chair of instruction.
Its last representative was Ruard Andala, 1701, at whose death Newton
and Leibnitz came into power.

The place assigned to reason by Cocceius led his foes to accuse him of
Cartesianism. He made the intellect the interpreter of Scripture in this
sense; that, since the words of the Bible are capable of many meanings,
reason must decide which are proper and which improper, and not be
forgetful to derive as much thought as possible from the sacred text;
"for," said he, "the Scripture is so rich that an able expositor will
bring more than one sense out of it." He aimed to find Christ and his
church in each biblical book; but he interpreted every statement as
allegorical, typical or prophetical. Reason as applied by him, became a
light to expose many sides of truth which had never been perceived by
the reigning dogmatism. The result of his labors was the overthrow, in
many minds, of philosophical Scholasticism, but the enthroning of
biblical Scholasticism in its stead. His allegorical method of
exposition led his followers into gross aberrations.

The Cocceians and Voetians were now the two great theological parties
which attracted to their standards nearly every man of promise or note
throughout Holland. The former were the Progressives, the latter the
Conservatives. The Cocceians favored the entrance of new ideas, and
effected the junction of philosophy and theology. The Voetians professed
to desire a reform, but their conduct was not in harmony with their
avowal. While they agreed with their antagonists in calling the Bible
the fountain of light and truth, they held that the fathers of Dort and
the Reformers had digested its contents and explained its meaning in
most excellent summaries, and that "it was for us to light our candles
at those great lights of the church." They were very properly called
"Traditionarians," a name of which they were proud. One of their writers
said, "We have caught up the last voices and words of our ancestors,
those Fathers of whom we are now glad to call ourselves the echo."[89]

The Cocceians studied the original text, and took leave to differ often
from the authority of the translators. Th