Elias Grebenitz

Elias Grebenitz, engraving by Heinrich Jakob Otto

Elias Grebenitz (also Grebnitz and Grebenicius ; born May 15, 1627 in Hanseberg near Königsberg in Neumark , † December 31, 1689 in Frankfurt (Oder) ) was a German Protestant theologian and author of religious works.

Life

Elias Grebenitz came from a noble family that had settled in the Duchy of Mecklenburg . After the introduction of the Reformation, his great-grandfather Christoph Grebenitz accepted the evangelical creed, renounced his title of nobility and embarked on a spiritual career. Christoph's descendants also devoted themselves to a theological career. His descendant, also named Christoph Grebenitz (the younger), became a Reformed pastor in Hanseberg and married Gertrut, b. Strutz, from which marriage Elias Grebenitz was born. He grew up at the time of the Thirty Years' War and was initially only able to go to school in Wriezen for two years due to the difficult conditions it caused . From 1645 he attended the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin , where he had the rector Adam Spengler as his teacher from 1646. The main focus of the lessons here was on logic , metaphysics , ethics and political science .

In 1648 Grebenitz began studying for four years at the University of Frankfurt / Oder - called Viadrina - where he had already enrolled in 1645. In order to secure his pecuniary security, he also worked as a tutor at the time. Among his students was the later General Field Marshal Hans Adam von Schöning . At that time he also worked as court master for the von Leschbrand family. In April 1652 he obtained his master's degree from the University of Wittenberg . He had converted from the Lutheran creed to the Reformed faith and was therefore more easily given a teaching post at the Calvinist University of Frankfurt / Oder as early as 1653. Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg appointed him extraordinary professor of metaphysics in November 1654. In 1655 Grebenitz became a full professor for logic and metaphysics. He also held the office of dean of the university's philosophical faculty three times.

Grebenitz gained an important reputation for himself through his treatises on metaphysics, logic and politics. Therefore, in 1661 he was offered the rector's office of the grammar school in Zerbst . Due to a decree from Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, he was not allowed to take up this position, but was given a professorship in theology at the Frankfurt University in August 1661 , which he held until his death. On September 29, 1662 he obtained the degree of doctor of theology and was elected rector of the Viadrina at the same time. He later served four more times, most recently in 1685, as rector of the university. On the same day that he obtained his theological doctorate, he married Emerentia, daughter of the Brandenburg district councilor Hermann Lange. He and his wife had two sons and eight daughters, five of whom survived.

Several disputations and dissertations defended under Grebenitz's chairmanship as theology professor have been preserved. Among his theological works, it is worth mentioning his teaching by the Reformed and Lutheran churches (Frankfurt an der Oder 1678; 4th edition 1701). In this writing he polemicized against the use of the Chinese script , since it is a pictorial script and therefore violates a command of the Reformed when quoting the name of God. In connection with this polemic was Grebenitz's dispute with the provost and orientalist Andreas Müller , who at that time, as an important sinologist, contributed a great deal to the knowledge of Chinese in northern Germany. Müller was working on a work ( Clavis Sinica ) which, as a "Chinese key", should enable a quick learning of the Chinese script. For lack of money he could not work on this work quickly and got into a scholarly dispute with Grebenitz, who accused his adversary of being ignorant and even dragged him to insult to majesty and blasphemy . In Müller's opinion, Grebenitz intrigued against him at the court of the Brandenburg Elector and did his best to prevent the realization of his “Chinese key”. Grebenitz also carried out a learned conflict with the superintendent of Gardelegen, Friedrich Gesenius , about the religious disputes between the two Protestant churches.

In the last years of his life, Grebenitz held the dignity of a senior in the theological faculty of the University of Frankfurt an der Oder. On December 31, 1689, at the age of 62, he died of a violent asthmatic attack. Gottfried Hartmann, who is an important source of information for the writings left by Grebenitz, gave the funeral sermon for the deceased on January 12, 1690 . Several university colleagues also wrote funeral poems for Grebenitz.

literature

• Philipp H. Külb : Grebenitz (Elias) . In: Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , 1st section, vol. 88 (1868), p. 458.
• Grebenitz, Elias , in: Lothar Noack, Jürgen Splett (Eds.): Bio-Bibliographien. Brandenburg scholars of the early modern period , Mark Brandenburg 1640–1713 , Walter de Gruyter, 2001, pp. 222–235.