Conrad Mel

Conrad Mel in the Johann Christoph Brotze collection

Conrad Mel (born August 14, 1666 in Gudensberg ; † May 3, 1733 in Bad Hersfeld ) was a Reformed theologian , educator , writer and machine designer in the early 18th century . In addition to an extensive collection of sermons, he was characterized by the management of the Hersfeld grammar school and the introduction of the Halle pedagogy there, the establishment of an orphanage based on the Halle model and the construction of various machines.

Life

Origin and studies

Mel was the son of the metropolitan of the city and class Gudensberg Johannes Mel and his wife Maria Jorenius, daughter of the preacher Conrad Johrenius. He had attended grammar school in Hersfeld since 1676 and began studying theology and oriental languages ​​at the Lutheran University of Rinteln in 1681 . Mel continued his studies at the University of Bremen in 1685 , where he came into contact with the Reformed-Pietist theologian Theodor Undereyck . He had worked at the court of Landgravine Hedwig Sophie von Brandenburg in Kassel from 1667 to 1670 and had contributed to a connection between Dutch Pietism and the Reformed understanding of faith in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel . After a summer semester in Rinteln in 1688, Mel continued his studies at the University of Groningen , where he joined Johannes Braun, a student of Johannes Coccejus . During this time he took part in numerous conventicles , in which, among other things, the research on script was devoted.

Mitau and Memel

1690 Mel received the call of the Princess Marie Amalie in a spiritual activity in Mitau . Contrary to his planned trip to England, he accepted the offer and worked there as court preacher until 1692. During this time Mel got to know life at the court in Hessen-Kassel and was influenced by the social commitment of the landgrave, with whom he founded the orphanage in Bad Hersfeld in 1709. From 1692 Mel was employed in the German Reformed community in Memel . There he married Anna Jursky, the daughter of his predecessor Dr. Paul Andreas Jursky. From this marriage there were eight sons and sixteen daughters, of which only one son and three daughters survived the father.

Koenigsberg

In 1697 Mel was appointed court preacher to Königsberg at the court of Elector Friedrich III. called. Characterized by the pietistic atmosphere at the Prussian court as well as the contact with Philipp Jakob Spener , Mel founded the collegia pietatis and the collegia philobiblica in Königsberg. These meetings should the believers for the edification used by exchanged views on the Christian life and help was given to the Christian life. During his stay in Königsberg, Mel developed his preaching activities and published an extensive edifying collection of sermons, in which he referred to aspects of the Kassel church order from 1539 and the Kassel agenda from 1657. Mel paid particular attention to the topics of visitor service, confirmation lessons and presbyterial order, for which he provided various innovative impulses.

In 1701 he experienced the foundation and establishment (1703) of the Königsberg orphanage by Friedrich I, to whose motives of social commitment and religious sentiment he often referred in his later work. Another focus in 1701 was Mel's scientific-academic activity, with his interest particularly in oriental languages, biblical archeology and linguistic questions, but also natural science topics. After submitting his dissertation in 1702, Mel was appointed associate professor of theology at the Albertus University in Königsberg.

Close contact with the universal scholar Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz developed in Königsberg . In an extensive correspondence, Mel and Leibniz exchanged views on the subject of the mission and developed plans for the so-called "Heidenmission". As a result, Leibniz proposed Mel for admission to the Prussian Academy of Sciences , whereupon he was appointed a foreign member.

Bad Hersfeld

In 1705 Mel returned to the Calvinist Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, where he took over the office of inspector of the churches in the Principality of Hersfeld and the management of the local high school (today's Konrad-Duden-Schule). Since his office as inspector of the churches was not very demanding on him, Mel was able to compose another extensive collection of sermons and edification books, which were translated into Dutch, among other things. One of the most popular works is the devotional book The Lust of the Saints in Jehovah , which was published in 17 editions in 1783.

Head of the grammar school

When Mel took over the management of the Hersfelder Gymnasium in 1705, he planned to expand it into a preparatory course for future theologians and missionaries. This could not be realized, but instead Mel succeeded in introducing the so-called Hallesche model, developed by the Halle Pietist August Hermann Francke , into the school lessons of the Hersfelder Gymnasium. This happened a few years after Francke founded the Halle orphanage in Halle. The theologians Francke and Mel, who are in close correspondence, agreed in the conviction of a learnable faith in the school as well as in the congregation. Pious exercises were integrated into school lessons to influence the religious attitudes of students and teachers. Mel also criticized the neglect of the natural sciences and made realism a bigger part of the timetable. In addition, the classical languages ​​as well as the modern languages ​​were given a higher priority. He himself taught Dutch and English in the beginning as well as Hebrew, logic, pure and applied mathematics, mechanics, optics, astronomy, German spelling and grammar.

Mel's educational program made high demands on the students, but prohibited any kind of coercion - this pedagogy brought him some criticism from the Hersfeld population and the teachers of the grammar school. As a result of these changes, especially due to the shift in focus to natural science subjects, the reputation of the school improved and more students from various fields came to Hersfeld. This new type of school was supported by the landgrave family. Landgrave Karl provided both money and staff for Mel's plans, even though the neighboring high schools in Kassel, Marburg and Waldeck appealed.

Founding of the orphanage

In 1709, Mel founded an orphanage in Bad Hersfeld with the support of Countess Marie Amalie. In the Hersfeld orphanage, the children and young people were to be prepared for future professions. After Mel had noticed the low level of education and the lack of piety among the orphans during the weekly bread distribution, he decided to give them school lessons, in which he again oriented himself on the Halle model. The underprivileged sections of society thus received a learning opportunity and future prospects, with which the Pietatis practice demanded by the Pietist movement found its implementation. The new type of school found support from the landgrave family. Landgrave Karl provided both money and personnel for Mel's plans. Charles's wife Marie Amalie supported the orphanage by bequeathing him the annual fruit intake of 60 quintals of grain and a large sum of cash. Under Mel's influence, various diaconal aids were set up, such as feeding the poor and the so-called Stiftsbrot. For his achievements in theological, educational and social fields, he received an honor from the English " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts " in 1706 and an honorary theological doctorate from the University of Frankfurt / Oder .

Construction of machines

In addition to his educational work, Mel distinguished himself through his scientific commitment. He took an active part in contemporary scientific discourse, which was promoted, among other things, by his membership in the Prussian Society of Sciences . In addition, he constructed various machines during his work in Hersfeld, most of which were dedicated to Landgrave Karl. This in turn supported Mel by leasing him a farm on which Mel dealt with agriculture, soil chemistry and botany. Mel constructed various machines for creating maps and sea maps, such as the Pantometrum Carolinum and agricultural implements such as the self- cultivating plow . His technical interest was shaped by interrelated religious and economic motives, which he discussed on the one hand in his works but also in the numerous correspondence with Leibniz, Francke and Landgrave Karl. Mel's scientific and technical occupation was based on his image of man and history. He represented the medieval view, which saw scientific and technical occupation as a means of overcoming original sin . By means of the mechanical arts, human needs should be satisfied and lost knowledge regained. The necessity of the technology arose from the nature also affected by the curse of God, which humans could only inhabit and cultivate with effort and sweat. Mel's inclusion in the theological discourse about Adam's lost knowledge and the punishment imposed by God for arduous labor as a result of paradisiacal sin can be demonstrated in various of his works. The science given to man by God was regarded by Mel as a means of reducing punishment, so that the pursuit of technological progress did not conflict with his religious convictions, but was driven by it. Furthermore, Mel's pietistic convictions motivated the purposeful occupation with science and technology.

theology

The Holy Providence of God

Mel's theological thinking was shaped by belief in the "Providence" - that is, the providence of God in this life. In this conception, Mel combined the topos of the acting relation to the world (providentia) with divine care (procuratio). This theological view determined Mel's thinking in various areas and is found in almost all of his writings. Through his numerous contacts with representatives of Pietism and shaped by a Calvinist upbringing, Mel combined in his theological thinking the Reformed doctrine of predestination with the Pietist belief in God's guidance. Based on the belief in the providence of God and guided by the conviction that the highest destiny of the believer is the promotion of the well-being of the neighbor as well as the honor of God, the duty for people to believe in everyday life resulted practically, i. H. to implement through charitable and diaconal activities. Through this lived piety (Pietatis practice), man should come closer to his existential destiny.

Universal theological view of the seven-period theory

Mel develops a universal theological view of history. In his work Kurtzer Concept of the Church History of the Old and New Testaments (1712) he formulated his authoritative historical theological views. Based on the seven letters of Revelation , Mel represented the federal theological view of the seven periods of church history, both for the Old and for the New Testament . This doctrine of seven periods was developed by the Campegius Vitringa in Franeker, who was in contact with Mel . Mel classified himself in the VII. Period of church history , what he called the "Magnificent Laodicea", in which the age of Pietism dawned. With the execution of the missionary mandate, the spread of pietism and confessional unification, the promise of God was to be fulfilled. Ruling discord, strife and temptation were to be overcome, the path to salvation should be trodden, eternal peace draw closer and God should lead the church to perfection. Thus the seventh phase represented the end times in which the kingdom of God will be established. Before the Second Coming of Christ ( Parousia ), part of the Church would once again decline into “security and decency” before the end of the “Glorious Laodicea” was the Second Coming of Christ and the Last Judgment.

Rebirth

When it came to rebirth , Mel was primarily influenced by pietistic motives. He took the view that a person should check whether he is actually born again and is living in a new birth. Mel was concerned with an internalized piety. Thus, only personal eventual conversion could lead to the experience of bliss. After the individual conversion experience, all people should be converted through the mission. With this view, Mel agreed with August Hermann Francke's view, who assumed that the conversion of the individual would result in the conversion of the rest of the world. Mel believed that being born again was the only way to happiness . This demand for conversion resulted from the Pietistic view of history, which describes a process of decay of Christianity on its way from the early community to the present church. This manifests itself in the purely ceremonial Lord's Supper and the otherwise only outwardly practiced piety, which has split off from true faith, so that God's holiness does not find reverence but contempt. As a result, Mel saw himself to be called to conversion and rebirth and in this way took the office of penitential preacher .

The two-book teaching

Mel took the view of the teaching of the two books of God, which he presents in his work Schau-Bühne Der Wunder Gottes in der Wercken der Natur: Or, Teutsche Physic from the year 1732: “This is how the great God turned out to be in two books revealed: In the book of holy scriptures / and the book of nature [...] ”. The first book was the Holy Scriptures , which serve to learn the way to salvation. But only through understanding the second book - the book of nature - can God's holiness be recognized. Let the book of nature also guide you in the service of the advancement of the salvation of the soul . Mel emphasized the power of nature as evidence of the omnipotence and goodness of God. So the miracles of God were revealed in the “works of nature”. According to Mel, the ability to recognize these miracles is only possessed by the "children of God", that is, the born again. The “world children”, on the other hand, would see heaven and natural phenomena without any edification. Mel believed that Adam's knowledge of nature was lost as a result of the Fall , but that sanctified children could still find many traces of God's plan and omnipotence in the second book. As a result of the assumption that only the "children of God" could recognize the omnipotence of God in the works of nature, the duty arose for those born again to pass on these insights to the "weak children of the world". This duty was given a framework by the desired improvement of social conditions and the education system. Mel's motives for engaging in science and technology thus largely coincided with those of August Hermann Francke. In their theology, Mel and Francke integrated Sabundes and Arndt's views of the mutually complementary elements of faith and reason, which on their own remained imperfect, and saw in the exploration of the "elements of nature" that which was regulated by the purposefulness of the "Providence of God" World an edifying occupation.

Economy

Mel represented a late cameralist view, which was fed by the different systems of thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries, English mercantilism , French physiocracy and German cameralism . In his machine book The Self-Ackering Plow , Mel listed the most important objectives of a promising economic policy as reducing poverty, achieving optimum yields, population growth and economic independence from abroad ( self-sufficiency ).

As a representative of late cameralism, Mel saw pure productivity in the agricultural sector through improved technology and optimal land use as well as the pursuit of cost reduction, a means to wealth. Foreign trade played a subordinate role in his writings.

The conception of the so-called political economy can be found in Mel's views . However, he did not see them as a social system. Rather, it served as a theory of political-economic reflection, from which certain strategies for action, powers and rules of state policy arose. As a supporter of political economy, Mel's princely rule and the community were in a dynamic reciprocal relationship and were viewed as coherent parts of an organism. In the self-plowing plow , Mel states that a “wise government” is supported by the community, for whose well-being the prince is responsible. Mel saw the state economy as a domestic community. This economic and political interpretation resulted in a system in which the community was no longer viewed solely as a community ruled by the prince, but in which it appeared as a unified economic area. The prince was responsible for ensuring that the organism was efficient. He was able to achieve this by promoting science and technology. Technical innovations were therefore closely linked to increasing the power of the prince and thus also to the welfare of the state.

Aftermath

Conrad Mel died in 1733. The educational program, which focused on realities, continued after his death. He also gave the financially disadvantaged children the chance of training at a secondary school. As a result of his scientific research, Conrad Mel contributed, among other things, to the introduction of potato cultivation in Hersfeld. In his honor a street in Bad Hersfeld Conrad-Mel-Str. called.

Quote

Conrad Mel wrote about love:

"Love is the greatest virtue and a mother of many others."

- From: Conrad Mel: Zion's love and miracles, or sermons about the Sunday and feast day Evangelia . Frankfurt aM with Heinrich Ludwig Brönner 1795, ninth edition p. 664

Works

• BCD Antiquarius sacer de usu antiquitatum Iudaicarum, Graecarum et Romanarum, in explicandis obscurioribus S. Scripturae dictis, ad antiquitates ecclesiasticas, politicas & oeconomicas veterum alludentibus / delineatus a Conrado Mel 1707
• Antiquarius sacer, quamplurima dubia atque obscuriora sacrae scripturae dicta, ex statu ecclesiastico, politico, militari atque oeconomico Hebraeorum, Romanorum atque Graecorum illustrans explicans: cum mantissa dissertationum, 1719
• Show stage of the miracles of God in the Wercken der Natur, or Teutsche Physicus / by Theodor, a member of the royal. prussia. Society of Sciences, 1732
• The lust of the saints in Jehovah, or, Gebätt book: useful at all times, in all classes and in all kinds of matters / made out with many beautiful leaves and increased by Doctor Conrad Mel, Inspector zu Herssfeld, 1763 and 1767
• Conrad Mel Inspector zu Herssfeld, Art of True Pleasure: it shows how a person can achieve righteous peace of mind: for all those who dunk themselves happily, who like to be happy for useful edification and those in the That amused are to supplement, 1712
• The tabernackel or thorough description of the Stifft's hut: samples all of its parts and holy implements. Made with coppers by Conrad Mel, SS. Theol. D and Inspector zu Herssfeld, 1711
• Dasœ Life of the Patriarchs 1: Explanation of the First Book of Moses: What is the life of the ancestors, Adam. Abrachams, Isaacs, and Jacobs Delivered Through Sermons, 1714
• The opened mercy throne: Or communion sermons, Before, Bey and After the use of the Venerable Last Supper held over selected texts of salvation. Schrifft, What to find within, How a communicant should prepare himself worthily for this holy work beforehand, appear at the Lord's Supper in a godly soul form, and after its use should keep his renewed covenant constantly in holy walk, 1743
• Sermons on Some Power Proverbs Scriptures, Explained, 1733
• Kurtzer Concept of the Church History of the Old and New Testaments. Along with a biblical cautious book and attached biblical questions, 1712
• Viewing stage of God's miracles in the Wercken of nature, 1732
• Salem's temple. Or description of the glorious temple of Solomon, as well as the house of God in Jerusalem, which was erected again by Zorobabel and improved by Herod: And its structure, division and courtyards, including the holy device and its mysterious meaning: With proper demolitions and copper plates, 1724
• The life of the patriarchs / 2: Brief explanation and appropriation of the mysterious events that happened with the patriarch Jacob and his family in Egypt, bit at the end of his life, 1716
• The songs in the higher choir: Or explanation of the psalms of the stages, and their prophetic fulfillment, 1725
• Remarques on the Zeylonian Monument or Adam's funerary inscription, 1719
• The opened mercy throne: Or communion sermons, Before, Bey and After the use of the Venerable Last Supper held over selected texts of salvation. Schrifft, What to find within, How a communicant should prepare himself worthily for this holy work beforehand, appear at the Lord's Supper in a godly soul form, and after its use should keep his renewed covenant constantly in holy walk, 1743
• Kurtzer Concept of the Church History of the Old and New Testaments. Along with a biblical cautious book and attached biblical questions, 1712
• This is what happened at the book auctions of the shameful fraud, reprinted in 1920
• Trumpets of Eternity or Sermons of Death, Resurrection of the Dead, 1868
• Conrad Mel, The self-plowing plow or the invention of a plow that treads through the bare footsteps of a farmhand without a horse and with easy effort, and drives it through the country, and properly plowing the same for sowing, Hersfeld 1710/1720 (2 * Ms. Math . 39)

literature

Sources of quotation

• Ulrich Schoenborn , "... I see the footsteps of God's Providence". On the life and work of the Hessian theologian Conrad Mel (1666-1733) in Mitau, Memel and Königsberg, Berlin 2006 (work on historical and systematic theology 10).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Cuno:  Mel, Konrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 267 f.
• Werner Raupp :  Mel (Mell), Conrad. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1179-1184.
• Walther Killy (Ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia . Volume 7, KG Saur, Munich et al., 1995, p. 49.
• Fritz Roth : Complete evaluations of funeral sermons and personal documents for genealogical purposes. Volume 1, 1959 p. 3, R6.
• Werner Raupp: Art. Mel, Conrad (1666-1733), in: The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers. Edited by Heiner F. Klemme and Manfred Kuehn, Vol. 2, London / New York 2010, pp. 783–784.
• Old monastery school Bad Hersfeld (Ed.): “Conrad Mel: Born 14 Aug 1666. Gest. May 3, 1733. Director d. High school and inspector of the churches and schools of the Principality of Hersfeld from 1705–1733 ”, commemorative publication on his 300th birthday in 1967.
• Winfried Zeller, Piety in Hessen, Contributions to the Hessian Church History, Marburg 1970.

General

• Friedrich Wilhelm Cuno:  Mel, Dr. Konrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 267 f.
• Werner Raupp: Mel (Mell), Conrad. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1179-1184.
• Walther Killy (Ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 7, KG Saur, Munich et al., 1995, p. 49
• Fritz Roth: Complete evaluations of funeral sermons and personal documents for genealogical purposes. Volume 1, 1959 p. 3, R6
• Werner Raupp: Art. Mel, Conrad (1666-1733), in: The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers. Edited by Heiner F. Klemme and Manfred Kuehn, Vol. 2, London / New York 2010, pp. 783–784.
• Old monastery school Bad Hersfeld (Ed.): “Conrad Mel: Born 14 Aug 1666. Gest. May 3, 1733. Director d. High school and inspector of the churches and schools of the Principality of Hersfeld from 1705–1733 ”, commemorative publication on his 300th birthday in 1967
• Winfried Zeller, Conrad Mel as a Protestant theologian, in: Conrad Mel. Commemorative publication on his 300th birthday, ed. v. the old monastery school Bad Hersfeld, Marburg 1966, pp. 9–35.
• Matthias Freudenberg, J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenswaay, Diakonie im Reformed Protestantism: Lectures of the 11th International Emden Conference on the History of Reformed Protestantism [Volume 17 of Emder Contributions to the History of Reformed Protestantism], Göttingen 2018.
• Johann Friedrich Gerhard Goethers, The Reformed Pietism in Germany 1650-1690, in: The Pietism from the seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, ed. v. Martin BRECHT, Göttingen 1993 (History of Pietism 1).
• Ulf Lückel, the reformed theologian Conrad Mel (1666-1733) and the orphanage in Hersfeld. An early pietistic-diaconal institution in Hesse, in: Diakonie im reformed Protestantism, ed. v. Matthias Freudenberg / J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenswaay (Emden Contributions to Reformed Protestantism 17), ISBN 978-3-7887-3231-8 , pp. 111–125.
• Anna-Lena Geisel, unpublished. Bachelor thesis, Kassel 2017.
• Ansgar Stöcklein, guiding principles of technology. Biblical tradition and technical progress, Munich 1969.
• Dieter Groh, Divine World Economy. Perspectives of the Scientific Revolution from the 15th to the 17th Century, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-29545-8 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Conrad Mel in the catalog of the German National Library
• Publications by and about Conrad Mel in VD 17 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ulrich Schoenborn,, "... I see the footsteps of God's Providence". On the work of the Hessian theologian Conrad Mel (1666-1733) in Mitau, Memel and Königsberg, Berlin 2006 (work on historical and systematic theology 10), ISBN 978-3-8258-9655-3 , p. 13.
2. ↑ Johann Friedrich Gerhard Goethers, The Reformed pietism in Germany 1650-1690, in: Pietism from the seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, ed. v. Martin BRECHT, Göttingen 1993 (History of Pietism 1), p. 248.
3. ^ Winfried Zeller, Piety in Hesse. Contributions to Hessian church history, Marburg 1970, ISBN 978-3-7708-0398-9 , p. 154.
4. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 44.
5. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 16.
6. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 16.
7. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 17.
8. ↑ See also: The lust of the saints in Jehovah, or, Gebätt book: useful at all times, in all classes and in all kinds of matters / made with many beautiful leaves and increased by Doctor Conrad Mel, Inspector zu Herssfeld, 1763 u .1767.
9. ↑ Martin Brecht, August Hermann Francke and the Hallische Pietismus, in: in: The Pietism from the seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, ed. v. Martin Brecht, Göttingen 1993 (History of Pietism 1), pp. 439-527.
10. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 20.
11. ↑ Ulf Lückel, The Reformed theologian Conrad Mel (1666-1733) and the orphanage in Hersfeld. An early pietistic-diaconal institution in Hesse, in: Diakonie im reformed Protestantism, ed. v. Matthias Freudenberg / J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenswaay (Emden Contributions to Reformed Protestantism 17), ISBN 978-3-7887-3231-8 , pp. 111–125.
12. ↑ Lückel, Mel and the orphanage in Hersfeld, p. 115.
13. ↑ See: • Conrad Mel, The self-arable plow or invention of a plow, which treads without a horse and ox, with little effort, and is driven through the country, and driven through the country, and appropriately to plow the same for sowing, Hersfeld 1710/1720 ( 2 * Ms. Math. 39).
14. ↑ Anna-Lena Geisel, unpublished. Bachelor thesis, Kassel 2017, pp. 19–22.
15. ↑ Schoenborn, Providentz Gottes, p. 85.
16. ^ Zeller, Piety in Hessen, Contributions to Hessian Church History, Marburg 1970, pp. 188–191.
17. ↑ Zeller, Piety, pp. 180–185.
18. ↑ Zeller, Piety, p. 181.
19. ↑ Conrad Mel, "Show stage of God's miracles in the works of nature: Oder / Teutsche Physic", Cassel 1732, online zgl. at: http://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/werkansicht?PPN=PPN668296666&PHYSID=PHYS_0003&DMDID=DMDLOG_0001&view=overview-info , October 27, 2018, p. 25.
20. ↑ Christian wisdom meant in the sense of the Halle Pietist, the training and the use of one's own understanding on the basis of a firm belief.
21. ↑ As evidence of this responsibility, the theologian refers to the "wise King Solomon" (Ecclesiastes Book Cap. 5, No. 8), according to which a wise government is always concerned about the welfare of its subjects (the community), see: Mel, self-arable plow, pp. 32–33.
22. ↑ Simon, Mercantilism, p. 75.
23. ↑ Theologically, this view was fed, among other things, by the Lutheran thought of authority, in which state authority was left to the secular government and in this way princely dirigism was justified. Just as decisive for Mel was his pietistic outlook, in which Lutheran belief in authority was combined with Calvinist professional ethics . Mel's economic view can be understood as an interplay of economic policy goals with individual indications of welfare state elements and religious underpinning, see: Geisel, Bachelor thesis, p. 35.