Georg Scherer (Jesuit)

Georg Scherer (* 1540 in Schwaz ( Tyrol ), † 1605 in Linz ) was a Jesuit and preacher against the Reformation .

Life

The family was poor; Scherer could only afford his studies in Vienna with public support; In 1559 he joined the Jesuits . In 1564 he received his doctorate in philosophy and was ordained a priest a year later.

Soon he became court preacher in Vienna and Graz . In this position he tried to influence the group of people working at court for a policy in the spirit of the Counter Reformation . In 1590 Scherer was appointed rector of the Viennese religious house; after four years he was deposed because he was too strict. In 1600 Scherer went to Linz.

Georg Scherer died in 1605 when he was struck by a blow at a witch's sermon on the pulpit of the Jesuit Church in Linz.

Ernst Tomek describes him in his church history as "the most capable of the Jesuits in Austria". Karl Eder sees Scherer as one of the most skilled polemicists and pastors of his time, even if his personality was edgy. Werner Drobesch judges Scherer more critically, calling him a "Jesuit fundamentalist".

Sermon against the Reformation

In the second half of the 16th century, about a century after the invention of printing , printed sermons began to become mass media and to influence public opinion. This also changed the intention and aim of the sermon: a political task was added to the theological task. Scherer fights the Reformation extremely hard in his sermons and writings. In various works he provides the following arguments for the Catholic Church and against the Protestants :

• In A Christian Conversation on Baptism Ceremonies , he mentions the long tradition of the Church, which "has never been contested by any legal believer for the past fifteen hundred years".
• In Actual Abcontrafeyung a new unheard of monstrance , Scherer makes the Protestants look ridiculous and tells the story of a Protestant preacher who would have had a doll with him from which he would have given communion. He cleverly uses the appearance of the male to represent the “mistakes” and “vices” of the Protestants.
• In The Lutheran Beggar's Coat , Scherer compares the teaching of the Protestants with the coat of a beggar, which was patched up from many pieces of clothing. In the same way, the followers of Luther had brought "all kinds of heresies [of] hundreds of years ago" to light and thereby created "a miserable piece-light, ragged and tattered faith".

Later commentators on Scherer's preaching activity found his attitude too marked by hatred of the Protestants. Unlike his colleague Abraham a Sancta Clara , Scherer was quickly forgotten by posterity.

Witch preacher

In a sermon about the liberation of a woman from 12,652 devils, Scherer claims that only the rituals of the Catholic Church are effective in protecting against Satan .

In 1583, during the time of witch persecution , Scherer held a sermon in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna against witches in general, and against Elisabeth Plainacher in particular. The excited people now demanded that they should be tortured in order to force a confession. His preaching activity led to the death of Elsa Plainacher.

Fonts

• Report of the miraculous victory, the Doctor Paulus Florenius , against Georgen Scherer Jesuits, who received the recently expired fasts in Vienna in Austria, with a dispute , Graz: Widmanstetter, 1590
• Christian remembrance of the histories of the recent eradication of a virgin possessed by twelve thousand six hundred two and fifty devils. In: Georg Scherer's von Schwatz der Societ IESV Theologi Other Part. Bruck Monastery 1600, pp. 189–206.
• The Lutheran beggar's coat. In: First part of all writings, books and tracts which Georg Scherer Societas IESV Theologus have so far had the truck output at different times. Bruck Abbey 1599, pp. 455–460.
• Actual Abcontrafreyung of a new unheard of monstrance . In: First part of all writings, books and tracts which Georg Scherer Societas IESV Theologus have so far had the truck output at different times. Bruck Abbey 1599, pp. 117–148.
• A Christian talk about the baptismal ceremonies between a Catholic pastor and a Lutheran midwife. In: First part of all writings, books and tracts which Georg Scherer Societas IESV Theologus have so far had the truck output at different times. Bruck Abbey 1599, pp. 1–43.
• Catechism or teachings for children in which all articles of our Christian Catholic Faith are thoroughly and clearly explained and confirmed against all heresies. By RP Georgium Schärer Societatis Jesu Theologum, to seed carried and written in this form , Passau, 1626. in full text online at the University Library of the University of Vienna ( eBooks on Demand ).

literature

• Werner Drobesch: Statements on social policy in the collections of sermons of the Counter Reformation. In: France M. Dolinar (Ed.): Catholic Reform and Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria 1564–1628. Klagenfurt 1994, pp. 491-507.
• Karl Eder: religious division and estates in Austria above the Enns 1525–1602. Linz 1936.
• Franz M. Eybl: Sermon - Collection - Literature Program. To Florentius Schilling's collection of sermons “Amardulcis” (1658). In: Jean Marie Valentin (Ed.): Reformation and Literature. Amsterdam, 1979, pp. 299-346.
• Franz M. Eybl: Functional functions of baroque sermon literature. Studies on the Catholic collection of sermons using the example of Latin and German translations of Pierre de Besse. Vienna 1982.
• Gernot Heiss: Denominational propaganda and church magic. In: Roman historical communications. Vienna 1990/1991, pp. 51-103.
• Gernot Heiß: Importance and Role of the Jesuits in the Course of the Inner Austrian Counter Reformation. In: France M. Dolinar (Ed.): Catholic Reform and Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria 1564–1628. Klagenfurt 1994, pp. 63-77.
• Gottfried Miereau: The journalistic work of Georg Scherer SJ dissertation. Vienna 1968.
• Paul Müller: A preacher against the times. Georg Scherer. Vienna, Leipzig 1933.
• Robert Pichl:  Scherer, Georg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 689 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Franz Heinrich Reusch :  Scherer, Georg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, p. 102 f.
• Joachim Werz: The sermon rules Georg Scherer SJ (1540-1605). A denominational attempt to establish a professionalized habitus among post-Tridentine preachers of the 16./17. Century. In: Dagmar Hänel, Christiane Aka (Ed.): Preachers, Charismatics, Appointed People - Role and Influence of Religious Virtuosos. Münster 2018, pp. 75–100.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ernst Tomek: Church history of Austria. Part 2: Humanism, Reformation and Counter-Reformation . Tyrolia, Innsbruck 1949.
2. ^ Karl Eder in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna : Religious division and estates in Austria above the Enns 1525–1602. Linz 1936
3. ↑ Werner Drobesch: Statements on social policy in the collections of sermons of the Counter Reformation. In: France M. Dolinar (Ed.): Catholic Reform and Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria 1564–1628. Klagenfurt 1994, pp. 491-507

Web links

• Literature by and about Georg Scherer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Georg Scherer  in the German Digital Library