Aegidius Hunnius the Elder

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Aegidius Hunnius the Elder

Aegidius Hunnius the Elder, also: Hunn (born December 21, 1550 in Winnenden ; † April 4, 1603 in Wittenberg ) was a German Lutheran theologian, professor of theology in Marburg and Wittenberg, provost and general superintendent of the Saxon spa district in Wittenberg.

Life

Hunnius was the eldest son of the master dyer Egidius (Gilg, Gilles) Hunnius and his wife Apollionia NN. born. After being baptized by Kapar Leyser, the father of Polycarp Leyser the Elder , he first spent the first years of his life in his hometown. From 1563 he attended the monastery school in Adelberg and Maulbronn, where he acquired the maturity to attend university. On November 1st, he enrolled at the University of Tübingen and received a scholarship from Duke Christoph von Württemberg . After he had obtained the academic degree of a master's degree in 1567, he became a repetent at the Tübingen monastery with Jacob Heerbrand . After further studies with Jakob Andreae and Dietrich Schnepf , he became a deacon in 1574 and, on the recommendation of Heerbrand, went to the University of Marburg as professor of theology . In order to have the appropriate academic degree, he received his doctorate in theology on July 16, 1576 in Tübingen and began lecturing on the Gospel of John on August 8.

Hunnius, who was shaped by Lutheran Orthodoxy , did not find a satisfactory religious environment in Marburg. According to the Hessian church order, there was no further development in church life. The Wittenberg Agreement and the will of Landgrave Philip of Hesse determined church affairs. However, Hunnius was reluctant to do so, for whom the conditions were not good enough Lutheran and he tried to expand them. Thereupon he got into a dispute with Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel over the doctrine of ubiquity , in addition there was the fact that Hunnius advocated the introduction of the concord formula and Wilhelm did not allow it, which led to a political and confessional split in Hessen. Therefore Wilhelm was very happy when Hunnius was made an offer by the Saxon administrator Friedrich Wilhelm von Sachsen-Weimar on November 19, 1591 to go to the University of Wittenberg as professor of theology and released him in the spring of 1592.

He arrived in Wittenberg on May 1st, 1592, gave his first sermon on May 4th, and held his first disputation on May 25th. Then he was elected provost at the Wittenberg Castle Church on June 4 and as professor primarius on June 5, making him a member of the Wittenberg consistory . The argument with Samuel Huber , whom he initially supported , began immediately . Huber spread that the concord formula was crypto-calvinistic and advocated his doctrine of "universalism of grace". Hunnius and his friend Polykarp Leyser the Elder, who also worked at Wittenberg University, called a colloquium. However, all attempts at mediation failed in the dispute with Huber, so that he was released from the university in 1594 and from Electoral Saxony in 1595 . Hunnius himself took care of the further development of Lutheran orthodoxy and, after Leyser's departure in July 1594, took over as court preacher to Dresden, his position as pastor at the city ​​church in Wittenberg and general superintendent of the Saxon spa district .

After Heerbrand resigned from office in 1599, Hunnius was called back to Tübingen by his Württemberg employer, Friedrich I. Nevertheless, Christian II of Saxony managed to keep Hunnius in Wittenberg. Hunnius also turned down an offer as general superintendent in Leipzig in 1594. Because in Wittenberg Hunnius had settled down through the donation of the house to the Wittenberg provost. The city of Wittenberg also granted him privileges, such as B. an additional brewing right that should keep him in Wittenberg. Hunnius himself took part in the religious discussions in Regensburg , which the Lutheran Philipp Ludwig von der Pfalz-Neuburg had called. There he dealt with the Jesuits Jakob Gretser and Adam Tanner . As a result of constant revision, Hunnius died in 1603 in his Wittenberg house while still writing poignant sermons on his deathbed. Salomon Gesner gave him the funeral sermon, which also appeared in print.

Act

Postille by Hunnius with ex libris by Georg Tranoscius

Hunnius was one of the most important representatives of early Lutheran Orthodoxy. Even Martin Chemnitz praised him as a Lutheran theologian and his students recognized him as the authority of the fourth Lutheran generation. His stamp of Lutheran orthodoxy is based on the ability to have profoundly shaped the Concordian Lutheranism. In doing so, Hunnius relies on justifying faith, where God is the only condition of salvation and thus in fact stands out as the predestined logical component of his persistent faith. With this, Hunnius differentiates between the aspects of communion in the church, which gives him lasting success in dogmatics. Nevertheless, it must also be said that Hunnius did not deal with the metatheoretical questions of theology with sufficient urgency. But it is his right to be the actual founder of Lutheran orthodoxy in Wittenberg.

The author

Hunnius was a very polemical author who spoke out loudly, especially against Calvinism . In the camp of Lutheran theologians, he argued above all with Daniel Hoffmann about ubiquity and with Samuel Huber about his opinion of the universality of the divine choice of grace. Also against the Catholic Church and its theology in his writings on the Pope, indulgences, etc. a. contrary, which is also reflected in the Regensburg Religious Discussion in the discussion with the Jesuits Gretser and Tanner and is continued in his treatise relatio historica de habito nuper Ratisbonae colloquio (1602). In his son-in-law, Hunnius found a careful editor of his dogmatic writings, which have appeared in five volumes. Above all, he liked to deal with the Pauline exegesis and also wrote biblical dramas to compensate for this.

In the 17th century he was also known for his postils , which appeared in three editions and were widely used alongside those of Luther.

genealogy

Hunnius' grandfather Michael Hunn († after 1551), as well as his father Johann Hunn (1484–1518?) Were mayors in Marbach am Neckar , the former also in 1539 Vogtamtsverweser. Michael Hunn's marriage resulted in four daughters and two sons.

Agnes Hunn († 1564 or later) married to Michael Wolfhard (Wolfhardt) († 1586), court relative and mayor of Waiblingen
Barbara Hunn married since 1557 to the Marbach town clerk Theodor Kaul († 1574)
Anna Hunn married the Marbach town clerk Ulrich Ruthardt
Katharina Hunn married to Blasius Pechler from Marbach
Alexander Hunn son-in-law of Valentinus Vannius
Egidius Hunn

The marriage of Egidius Hunn and his wife Apollionia NN. the children come from:

M. Johann Castolus Hunn (around 1561-1615 in Tuttlingen)
M. Anastasius Hunn (around 1566–1608 in Schlierbach)
Anna Hunn (* 1563)
Maria Hunn (* 1565)
Aegidius Hunnius the Elder

From his marriage to Eleonore (* 1554 in Schönbuch, Württemberg; † November 27, 1620 in Wittenberg), the only daughter of the ducal bailiff in Waldorf Johann Felder and his wife Bertha Thörs, he had eight children. We know of these:

  • Ludwig Hunnius (born February 23, 1577 in Marburg; † June 30, 1596 in Wittenberg) fell ill as a master's degree.
  • Sabina Hunnius (born September 3, 1579 in Marburg; † October 11, 1621) married in 1604 to Helwig Garth (1579–1619), last pastor in Prague
  • Hedwig Hunnius (born September 10, 1581 in Marburg, † December 13, 1583 in Marburg)
  • Helfrich Ulrich Hunnius
  • Nikolaus Hunnius
  • Elenora Hunnius (born March 10, 1588 in Marburg; † March 27, 1650) married to the Mecklenburg court councilor Dr. Christoph von Hagen.
  • Margarethe (born August 30, 1590 in Marburg, burial. November 13, 1637 in Wittenberg) married to Saxon Altenburger councilor Kaspar Facius (1573– November 28, 1643)
  • Aegidius Hunnius the Younger

Works (selection)

  • Propositiones de praecipuis christianae religionis capitibus, Marburg 1585
  • Libelli IIII de persona Christi eiusque ad dextram Dei sedentis divina maiestate, Marburg 1585
  • Comoediarum libellus (Josephus, Ruth), 1586;
  • Josephus, Comedia Sacra, undated (preface on September 2, 1584, expanded in 1586, reissued by Eduard Schröder in Marburg 1898, 1899, 1900)
  • Confessio v. of the Person of Christ, 1577, printed 1609;
  • Calvinus judaizans, 1593;
  • Controversiae inter theologos Wittenbergenses Wittenberg 1594
  • Articulus de Providdentia Die et aeterna Praedestinatione seu electione filiorum Die ad salutem, Wittenberg 1596
  • Articulus de libero arbitrio seu humani artitriii viribus, Wittenberg 1597
  • Postilla, or interpretation of the Sunday epistles, Wittenberg 1602 (further editions 1607 and 1612)
  • Opera Latina - Bibl. Komm. - GA der Lat. Schrr., Ed. v. Helvicus Garthius (Helwig Garthe Hunnius son-in-law), 5 volumes, Wittenberg 1607-09;
  • Cygnea cautio or Christian. Thoughts of death represented by song, 1615.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georg Dedeken, Johann Ernst Gerhard (Ed.): Thesauri Consiliorum . 2nd Edition. Appendix Nova, 1671, pp. 694 .
personal data
SURNAME Hunnius, Aegidius the Elder
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hunn, Aegidius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lutheran theologian, provost and general superintendent of the Saxon spa district in Wittenberg
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1550
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnenden
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 1603
Place of death Wittenberg