ALTHING, JOHAN HEINRICH. — Dutch Calvinist theologian, b. 17 Feb. 1583 at Emden, where his father Menso (1541-1612) was a Protestant preacher, d. at Groningen on 25 Aug. 1644. He first studied at Groningen, then from 1602 at Herborn. In 1608 he was entrusted with the education of the future Elector Palatine, Frederick V, first at Sedan (1608-10), later at Heidelberg when the fourteen-year-old prince had already assumed government, and in 1612 he accompanied him to England for his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of James I. Returning to Heidelberg, he was appointed there (1613) professor of dogmatic theology at the university and director of the seminary in the *Collegium Sapientiae* (1616). When Tilly sacked Heidelberg in 1622, A. managed to flee to Holland, where Frederick V entrusted him with the direction of the studies of his firstborn at Leiden (1623-27). There he also collaborated on the official Dutch version of the Bible (Staatenbijbel). In 1627 he obtained a chair of theology at Groningen, which he held until his death. Opposed to scholastic subtleties and the semi-Pelagianism of the Lutherans, he followed a biblical and practical approach, adhering strictly to traditional Calvinist doctrine. At the Synod of Dordrecht (1618), in which he participated as representative of the Palatinate, he upheld the most resolute predestinarianism and combated the innovating ideas of the Remonstrants.
Among his works, most of which were published after his death by his son, we note: *Notae in decadem problematum Jacobi Behm* (Heidelberg 1618); *Scripta theologica Heidelbergensis*, 3 vols. I; *Loci communes*; II, *Problemata theologica*; III, *Explicatio cathechesos Palatinae* (Amsterdam 1646); *Exegesis Augustanae confessionis*, with a *Syllabus controversiarum quae Reformatis hodie intercedunt cum Lutheranis* (Amsterdam 1652); *Theologia historica sive systematis historici loca quattuor usque ad Costantinum Magnum* (Amsterdam 1664), notable as a pioneering work in modern studies of the history of dogma; *Historia Ecclesiae Palatinae a prima Reformatione usque ad Joannem Castimurum administratorem*, i.e., until 1583, in *Monumenta Pietatis* (Frankfurt 1701), very important for local religious history. All of A.’s works are on the Index (decr. 25 Jan. 1684; 10 May 1757).