Andreas Birch

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Andreas Birch

Andreas Birch (born November 6, 1758 in Copenhagen , † October 25, 1829 in Aarhus ) was a Danish Lutheran clergyman, most recently a bishop. He is also known in the professional world for his work in the field of textual criticism of the New Testament .

Studies, trip abroad

Birch's father was also named Andreas Birch (1716–1763) and was a mineralogist . Birch lost both parents at the age of four. His uncle, the brewer AT Gardenholtz, took care of him and in 1774 he began his studies in Copenhagen. Five years later he finished his theological studies in Copenhagen and traveled to Göttingen to continue his theological and philological studies with Johann David Michaelis and Christian Gottlob Heyne . Michaelis had great expectations of his scientific abilities and sent him to Italy to study the "hidden and previously unused manuscripts of the New Testament". Funding was secured with the support of the Danish Prime Minister Ove Høegh-Guldberg , and in 1781 he left Göttingen and went to Italy via Switzerland and southern France. The journey went via Turin , Genoa and Livorno to Rome and Naples . In Rome he found support from Monsignor Stefano Borgia , secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , who did him many friendship services, and made the acquaintance of Pope Pius VI. The way back went via Florence , Bologna , Parma , Venice , Vienna , Prague , Dresden and Leipzig to Göttingen and from there back to Copenhagen in 1783. He examined 40 manuscripts in the Vatican libraries, 10 in the Barberini library, 17 in other libraries in Rome, 38 in Florence and other Italian places, and 12 in Vienna. Wherever he went he spent his time collecting books, collating and studying ancient New Testament manuscripts and apocryphal Gospels.

New Testament edition

Variae Lectiones ad Textum IV Evangeliorum , Haunie 1801

After his return in 1783, King Christian VII, following Guldberg's proposal, commissioned him to publish a new text edition of the New Testament at royal expense. This was one of the last official acts of Guldberg as Prime Minister. This edition should be a representative edition with an extensive critical apparatus, which should show the learned world that Denmark is up to date in studying the Christian Bible.

The Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen at that time owned a considerable collection of text variants of the New Testament. Not only General Superintendent Jacob Georg Christian Adler , who studied the Syrian-Palestinian translation, Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer , professor in Copenhagen, who studied the manuscripts of the New Testament in the Escorial , and Christian Gotthilf Hensler, professor in Kiel, who studied Copenhagen, worked in this area Compared manuscripts with the known text. Building on the work of these predecessors and with his own collections, Birch completed the four Gospels, which appeared in 1788 as the first part of the planned extensive edition, both in folio format and as a quarto edition. As early as 1785 in Copenhagen with Kritisk Beskrivelse over græske Håndskrifter af det nye Testamente, a kind of introduction to this work appeared.

For the large edition of the four Gospels, Birch used the John Mills edition of the New Testament as a text basis. It caused a sensation in the scientific world, and many saw the young scholar as a respected scientist at a university in his home country. In the same year that his first volume appeared, an associate professor of theology was established. Birch applied, but the position went to Friedrich Münter instead .

Since the trial lectures of both competitors were printed, the critic Niels Ditlev Riegels (1755–1802) was, as usual, dissatisfied with the choice. In his work Tanker ved Gjennemlæsningen af ​​Prøveforelæsningerne for det overordentlige theologiske professor, he alluded to the fact that Münter had already received the position and the whole competition was only performed to justify that “the university is once again enriching with a German has been". An impartial comparison shows that Münter's trial lecture actually did not meet his usual standard, but his later publications showed that he was the right choice for this position.

Further career

Birch became a preacher at the orphanage in Copenhagen in 1789. In 1789 he received the title of Dr. theol. and in 1792 that of an associate professor. In 1797 he became provost of the cathedral in Roskilde . In 1798 he published a collection of readings on the Acts of the Apostles and the New Testament letters, including the Codex Vaticanus . A collection of readings on the Apocalypse followed in 1800 and a collection of variants on the four Gospels in 1801.

Birch was appointed bishop of the newly formed diocese of Lolland-Falster in 1803 . As early as 1805 he moved to the diocese of Aarhus , where he served as bishop until his death. In 1817 he was awarded the Dannebrogorden (commander).

From Birch's marriage to his niece Charlotte Marie Birch in 1797, the son Frederik Sneedorff Birch (1805–1869) emerged.

Fonts

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ C. Nyrop: Birch, Andreas . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 2 : Beccau – Brandis . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1888, p. 279-280 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
  2. ↑ Bibliotheca Biblica: A Selected List of Books on Sacred Literature (Edinburgh 1824), p. 47
  3. ^ Gustav Moritz Redslob:  Hensler, Christian Gotthilf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 7.
  4. ↑ See Johann David Michaelis: New oriental and exegetical library . Vol. VI, p. 104 ff .; Johann Gottfried Eichhorn : General Library of Biblical Literature . Vol. II, p. 116 ff.
  5. ^ Samuel Prideaux Tregelles : The Printed Text of the Greek New Testament . London 1854, p. 87.
  6. ^ Skeel & Kannegaard Genealogy
personal data
SURNAME Birch, Andreas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish theologian and bishop
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1758
PLACE OF BIRTH Copenhagen
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1829
Place of death Aarhus