Adam White

The title of this article is ambiguous. For Adam Weiss see Pelzhaus A. Weiss .

Adam Weiß (* around 1490 in Crailsheim ; † September 25, 1534 there ) was a Protestant theologian and reformer.

Life

As the son of the local mayor, Weiß received a thorough education and received theological training at the University of Mainz . There he gave lectures on the Sententiae of Petrus Lombardus . He was friends with Kaspar Hedio . In 1521 he left the university when the Margraves Georg and Casimir von Brandenburg offered him the parish office in his hometown. Here he began to preach in the spirit of the Reformation and introduced a new order of worship.

Together with Johann Rurer , he determined the Ansbach state parliament through his evangelical advice. As an upright man he knew how to speak clearly with his sovereign, who therefore trusted him and gave him further assignments. When Margrave Casimir was in the field and the governorship was run in a reactionary sense, he was still unchallenged, while other married priests were driven out.

After Margrave Georg took office, he and Andreas Althamer drafted the instructions for visiting the church. He worked out a further basis for visits with the Nuremberg pastors Andreas Osiander and Dominicus Schleupner , which consisted of 23 articles. According to this form, the visitation was held in 1528. From then on, Weiß worked as superintendent , accompanying the margrave to the Reichstag in Speyer in 1529 and in the next year in 1530 to Augsburg , where he also preached alongside the other margrave theologians Johann Rurer and Johannes Brenz .

He had been friends with Brenz since 1523 and with him promoted the Reformation movement in the area, especially in Württemberg. He also became friends with numerous other reformers, such as Theobald Billicanus and Kaspar Löner . Initially devoted to Ulrich Zwingli , since the Lord's Supper controversy, he joined Brenz entirely on Martin Luther's side. He avoided any radicalism and achieved more than others through his cautious and determined manner. With all his determination and steadfast demeanor, he knew how to avoid unnecessary arguments. That is why he enjoyed great respect in his homeland, but Luther also held him in high regard as a thorough theologian and good church organizer. He was already suffering at the Reichstag in Augsburg . His life came to a quick end.

literature

• Gustav Bossert:  White, Adam . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 41, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 554-556.
• Martin Brecht: Adam Weiss. The Crailsheimer Reformer (= Historical Series of the City of Crailsheim , Volume 10). Crailsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-942081-08-5 .
• Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church . Volume 21, p. 73.
• Wolfgang Huber :  Weiss, Adam. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 34, Bautz, Nordhausen 2013, ISBN 978-3-88309-766-4 , Sp. 1493-1501.