As a supplement to John L. Heilbron’s account, I will argue that, although the label ‘experimental physics’ can be rightfully used to describe aspects of Petrus van Musschenbroek’s (1692-1761) work, the latter’s understanding of ‘physica’ is to be situated within a broader framework in which theological, philosophical and teleological considerations continued to play an important role. First, I will draw attention to Musschenbroek’s views on the scope of physica and especially to his conception of a law of nature. It will be shown that by radicalizing certain aspects of Isaac Newton’s methodological ideas van Musschenbroek no longer considered physics as the discipline that uncovered causes from effects, as Newton did, but as the discipline that studies the effects of unknown causes. In addition, I will show that van Musschenbroek endorsed the view that the laws of nature are contingent on God’s free will and that they are knowable due to his goodness. Second, it will be argued that for van Musschenbroek physics, alongside with teleology, had clear physico-theological repercussions. Along the way, van Musschenbroek’s views on the principle of sufficient reason will be discussed for the first time.

According to a dominant view in the scholarly literature, Musschenbroek is to be considered a follower of Newton’s methodology, i.e. as a natural philosopher who, although he occasionally departed from Newton’s doctrines, aligned himself to Newton’s methodological views. Few scholars have, however, explained in full detail what it means to claim that Musschenbroek followed Newton’s method. The purpose of this essay is to get more grip on this matter.

The Netherlands have a long and proud history in Chinese studies. This volume collects not only articles that trace the historical development of Chinese studies in the Netherlands from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present and beyond, but also studies that deal with Dutch research in specific disciplines within Chinese studies. Chinese studies in the Netherlands originated from the needs of the Dutch colonial administration in the Dutch East Indies, but developed a strong philological emphasis in the first part of the twentieth century, to turn increasingly towards disciplinary research on modern and contemporary China in the last few decades.

The total solar eclipse of 18 August 1868 was one of the most important eclipses in the history of solar physics, and observations of it led to a new understanding of the nature of the chromosphere, prominences and the corona. Among other places, this eclipse was visible from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Soon after the 1868 event came the total solar eclipse of 12 December 1871, which also was visible from the Dutch East Indies and offered a further opportunity to build on the achievements of 1868. Both solar eclipses were observed from the Dutch East Indies by teams led by J.A.C. Oudemans, and in this chapter we provide biographical details of Oudemans before examining the scientific instruments used and observations made in 1868 and 1871 by Oudemans and other local observing teams. We end by assessing the international importance of Oudemans’ published scientific results.

The growing scholarly debate on emotions and the development of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in the Global South are just two reasons that urge systematic theology to relate more concretely to faith experiences. Potkay and others present joy as a typical Christian emotion, but it is not a key theme in systematic theology, although it plays far more prominent a role in spiritual and practical theological works. In this paper, the author presents the understandings of joy from the perspectives of Blaise Pascal, A.A. van Ruler and Pentecostals from Ecuador and explores the implications for theological anthropology. Based on the study of these three perspectives, the author defends the thesis that joy offers a new focus in the field of theological anthropology that places different traditional theological perspectives on the human being in a fresh relation to each other and lays a foundation for a theological contribution to emotion studies.