Adolf Arbogast

Adolf Arbogast (* unknown, in Neuweiler , Zabern district; † July 28, 1531 - probably in Hanau , also: Adol ph Arbogast ) was the first cleric who worked in Hanau with a Reformation approach and with it the Reformation in the city and the county Hanau-Munzenberg prepared.

education

He studied at the University of Heidelberg from 1511 and was there in 1514 a master's degree in theology . In 1523 he was appointed pastor to Hanau by Count Philipp II of Hanau-Münzenberg on the recommendation of the Heidelberg University . As a preamble he received the St. Nicholas altar of the church “Our Lady” in the Kinzdorf at the gates of the city of Hanau.

Reformation impulse

When he took office he declared that he wanted to have as little as possible to do with the daily masses and vespers , so he saw himself more as a learned theologian and preacher. This alerted his ecclesiastical superior, the Archbishop of Mainz , Albrecht von Brandenburg , who complained to the Hanau Count as early as 1524 and suspected Arbogast of belonging to the " Lutheran sect ". Count Philip II defended Arbogast against his bishop. Arbogast never mentions Martin Luther in his sermons, he adheres to the Gospel and teaches how " one should do good works for a right reason ". Since there were a number of other pastors in the Hanau churches in addition to Adolf Arbogast, the altar service and the fair reading were not neglected there.

Rating

Adolf Arbogast was not a reformer, but personally withdrew from a series of acts that were criticized by the Reformation, but were expected by a Roman Catholic priest at the time. He also saw - like the theologians of the Reformation - primarily the gospel as the basis of his work, not tradition or canon law . Unlike the reformers, however, he only drew consequences for his personal actions as a pastor, without attempting to enforce this attitude in his still Roman Catholic environment.

literature

• Max Aschkewitz after Lorenz Kohlenbusch: Pastor history of the Hanau district ("Hanauer Union") until 1968. First part (= publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse , Volume 33). Elwert, Marburg 1984, ISBN 3-7708-0788-X , p. 2.