Gotthilf Traugott Zachariae

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Gotthilf Traugott Zachariae , also: Gotthelf Traugott Zachariä (born November 17, 1729 in Tauchardt , † February 7, 1777 in Kiel ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian and university professor .

Life

Gotthilf Traugott Zachariae was born as the son of the Protestant pastor and later superintendent of Parchim Carl Heinrich Zachariä (* Crossen; † October 15, 1782) and received his first lessons from his father. He made such rapid progress in the Greek and Hebrew languages ​​that even in his youth he could read the Old and New Testaments in the original language. So he dealt with the works of the best church historians and profane writers. He also dealt with the French language and mathematics and came to know the philosophical and theological sciences in his parents' house. In 1747 he began to study theology at the University of Königsberg . There, Franz Albert Schultz , Georg David Kypke , Daniel Heinrich Arnoldt , Daniel Salthenius and Johann Heinrich Daniel Moldenhawer were his teachers in the field of theological sciences.

He heard philosophy and mathematics from Christoph Langhansen , physics from Johann Gottfried Teske . His knowledge of the oriental languages, especially the Chaldean and Syrian languages, was further developed by Kypke. After two years, Zachariä decided to go to the University of Jena . But he got stuck at the University of Halle on the journey there in 1749 . At the local theological faculty he attended lectures by Johann Georg Knapp , Christian Benedikt Michaelis and Johann Heinrich Callenberg . Most decisively, however, had Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten , in whose house he lived, influenced his development. He was able to use its extensive library for several literary writings, which appeared from 1750 to 1753 as essays in Baumgarten's news about a library in Halle and its news about strange books .

In 1752 he acquired the academic degree of a master's degree in philosophy in Halle and in 1753 became an adjunct at the philosophical faculty of the Halle alma mater. As a lecturer, he gave lectures on philosophy, mathematics and the Hebrew language. At the same time he gave exegetical lectures on individual writings from the Old and New Testaments. In 1755 he followed a call to Stettin , where he took over the rectorate of the local council school with the speech de malo methodo, ingenia corrumpente discentium . Despite the adverse circumstances caused by the Seven Years' War at the time, he proved himself in that position. 1760 he was appointed to the University of Bützow to professor of theology, after which he in 1761 with the signature de peccato originali for doctor doctorate of theology.

His far-reaching achievements earned him a position as full professor of theology at the University of Göttingen in 1765 . Here he rose to the second theological professorship. In 1775 he was appointed to the church council and took over the professorship of theology at the University of Kiel . His lectures at that time dealt with the harmony of the evangelists, the psalms, theological morals, polemics, hermeneutics, dogmatics, Christology of the Old Testament and some exegetical lectures, especially on the Epistle to the Romans.

The constant academic activity left traces of physical deterioration, so that he finally died of a stroke at the age of forty-seven. Before that he was dean of the theological faculty and prorector of the Kiel alma mater.

Act

Zachariae made a name for himself above all in posterity as the first author of a biblical theology. The work, which appeared under the title Biblical Theology or Investigation of the Biblical Grounds of the Most Noble Theological Doctrines in four parts from 1771 to 1775, was reprinted three times and in 1786 a fifth part was added by Johann Karl Volborth . It arose from the tendency of the older Enlightenment theology, which sought to improve dogmatics by going back to the correctly understood Bible. This work was not without a predecessor. In 1757, in his Epitome theologiae e solis sacris literis concinnatae et ab omnibus rebus et verbis scholasticis purgatae , Anton Friedrich Büsching set up a dogmatic system taken solely from scripture. In 1769 Karl Friedrich Bahrdt , at that time not yet taking his later radical standpoint, wrote an attempt at a biblical system of dogmatics .

Zachariae, on the other hand, formulated his task somewhat differently. He wanted to provide a preliminary work for improving the theological form of teaching through a solid and in-depth exegetical examination of the biblical material from which the dogmatics is built. For him, too, biblical theology was not yet an independent historical discipline. He also examined the religious beliefs related to the Bible. He did not differentiate between the various biblical doctrinal terms, but dealt with these only dogmatically important passages from the Bible. He made historical sense insofar as he warned urgently against reading traditional dogmatic opinions into Scripture; rather, one should forget all learned truth, as it were, in order to be impartial enough, only to recognize and pass what the Scriptures teach as true .

It led him to deny this meaning to certain passages of the Bible that were used as dogmatic evidence. For him, a truly biblical theology only emerged if one simply adopted the biblical expressions. Rather, he looked at the context in which a Bible passage stands, from which it often emerged that it did not want to set up a general teaching. Above all, however, he pointed out that the Scriptures were conditioned in terms of time and place and that they conformed to the views of their time. Therefore, for him a true biblical theology was the task of translating what the Bible says into our language. In doing so, figurative expressions (such as sacrifice, the designation of Christ as a high priest or the eschatological statements of the Scriptures) are to be replaced by real and reasonable ones.

Also, in Zachariae's opinion, a number of cumbersome biblical expressions essentially boil down to a single easily understood term. In the recognition of the temporal and national character of the Bible and the occasional character of numerous biblical writings, the historical meaning of Zachariah branches out again. However, his tendency to detach the actual opinion of writing from its temporal shell and to replace its visual language with easily understandable expressions leads to a modernist and flattening reinterpretation of the same. The discipline of New Testament theology founded by Zachariae was continued by Johann Philipp Gabler , Christoph Ammon , Georg Lorenz Bauer and Gottlieb Philipp Christian Kaiser .

According to his theological position, Zachariae was a supranaturalist who clung to the main dogmas, revelation, miracles, original sin, sons of God and the Trinity. With his return to the Bible he certainly wanted to contribute to an improvement in theological teaching. Nevertheless, he did not consider the dogma in need of significant change, as his work Doctrinae christianae institutio, published in 1773, shows. Despite his conservative position on dogma, his orthodox piety was like that of so many supranaturalists of the Enlightenment, little different from that of the rationalists. Blissful morality was a major concern for him in religion and in Christianity. Zachariae's views are thus very close to the views of Johann August Ernesti , Johann Salomo Semler and Romanus Teller in his earlier time. The same ideas of his biblical theology also contain his explanatory descriptions of the explanations of the Psalms, Pauline and other letters of the New Testament, written on the English model.

Works

  • Diss. (Praes. SJ Baumgarten) de fraternitate Christiana. Hall 1750
  • Commentatio de diebus atris ac faustis apud veteres. Hall 1752
  • Diss. Philos. De propagatione religionis armata. Hall 1752
  • Diss. Historica de propag. rel. poor. Hall 1752
  • Diss. Philol. De multis diis ita vocatis, ad I Corinth. VIII, 5th hall 1753
  • Diss. De verbis humarme sapientiae persuasoriis, ad I Corinth. II, 4th hall 1753
  • Diss. Philol. Ad illustrandum locum Actor. XVII, 26th Hall 1754
  • Diss. De more veterum in locis editis colendi Deum. Hall 1754
  • Progr. De caussis, cur peius culta sit ars poëtica, quam reliquae litterae. Szczecin 1756
  • Progr. Of Taste in the Sciences. Szczecin 1756
  • Progr. From the origin of the diversity of the ability of people. Szczecin 1756
  • Diss. De externo prophetarum veteris Testamenti habitu. Szczecin 1756
  • Diss. Refutation of the reasons for the natural equality of the ability of all people. Szczecin 1757
  • Contemplation on Pred. I, 18; at the death of the soul. SJ Baumgarten. Szczecin 1757
  • Diss. Vindiciae argumentorum pro discrimine ingeniorum humanorum naturali. Szczecin 1758
  • Diss. Continued refutation of the reasons for the natural equality of ability. Szczecin 1758
  • Diss. Novae additiones ad vitas Jo. Garcei utriusque. Szczecin 1759
  • Treatise on Theological Evidence. Berlin 1759
  • Historical news from the council and city school to old Stettin and from the teachers of the same. Szczecin 1760
  • Theological explanation of God's condescension to man. Wismar 1760
  • Progr. Demonstrans contra Humium odium religiosum ex doctrina de unico Deo non oriri. Wismar 1760
  • Treatise on the Right Use and Abuse of the Little Lutheran Catechism. Bützow 1761
  • Progr. De Christo πςοτοτοχφ. Bützow 1761
  • Progr. De Christo πςοτοτοχφ έχ υεχςωυ. Bützow 1762
  • Progr. De Christo hominum fratre. Bützow 1762
  • Progr. Fata praedictionum Christi de inslante resurrectione sua. Bützow 1763
  • Diss. De falute infantum non baptizatorum. Bützow 1763
  • Progr. De prudentia theologica circa tropum paediae. Goettingen 1765
  • Congratulations to Epistola. Senectus a Deo ipso honorata. Goettingen 1765
  • Progr. De creatura gemebunda. Goettingen 1766
  • Commentatio exegetica ad Roman. XIII, 23. Göttingen 1766
  • Diss. De formula baptismali. Goettingen 1766
  • Progr. De doni prophetici variis gradibus in Ecclesia Chriftiana. Goettingen 1767
  • Diss. I. de usu dogmatico nominis filii Dei. Goettingen 1768
  • Diss. Notio fidei biblica. Auct. et Resp. JFL Schnobel. Goettingen 1768
  • Paraphrased explanation of the letter to the Romans; on the use of the exegetical lectures on this letter. Göttingen 1768, 3rd (actual, 2nd) edition, Göttingen 1787
  • Progr. De fide miraculosa, dono Spiritus Sancti extraordinario, commentatio. Goettingen 1769
  • Paraphrased explanation of the two letters to the Corinthians; for use in exegetical lectures on these letters. Göttingen 1769, reissued, and provided with theological and philological notes by Job. Karl Volbort 2 parts of Göttingen 1784–1785
  • Academic sermon of thanks at the 32nd foundation festival of the König, Georg Augustus University. Goettingen 1769
  • Diss. De quaestione: num decalogue sit omnium legum moralium corpus? Auct, et Resp. CLF Trendelenburg. Goettingen 1769
  • Paraphrased explanation of Paul's letters to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. Göttingen 1770, 3rd edition Göttingen and Leipzig 1788
  • Paraphrased explanation of the letters to the Hebrews. Göttingen and Kiel 1771, reissued and with additional notes v. EFK Rosenmüller. Götting, and Leipzig 1793
  • Drafting a comprehensible doctrine of faith; for use in catechetical exercises at academies. Göttingen and Kiel 1771
  • Biblical theology, or investigation of the biblical basis of the most distinguished theological teachings. 1st chapter. Göttingen 1771; 2nd edition, Göttingen 1775; Part 2. Göttingen 1772; 3 part. Göttingen 1774; 4th part Göttingen 1775; 3 edition 4 parts. Göttingen and Leipzig 1786; 5th part prepared by JK Volborth. Göttingen and Leipzig 1786
  • Freye and explanatory translation of the Psalms. Göttingen and Gotha 1773
  • Doctrinae christianae institutio. Göttingen 1773 Editio secunda correction Göttingen 1782
  • Progr, de Christo homine, filio Dei. Goettingen 1773
  • Diss. De iustitia Dei. Goettingen 1773
  • Brief explanation of the Pauline letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, on the use of academic lectures on these letters. Goettingen 1774
  • Progr. De divina ad humana ingenia in verae religionis introduction ... Göttingen 1774
  • Progr. De morte Christi solemniter asserta Joh. XIX, 35. Göttingen 1774
  • Christian history of religion and teaching to teach children to be brought up sensibly. Göttingen 1775, 2nd edition, Göttingen 1778
  • Brief explanation of the letters Jacobi, Petri, Judas and Johannis, for use in academic lectures. Goettingen 1776
  • Philosophical-theological treatises, to be used as appendices to biblical theology . Collected after approval of the Rev. Mr. Writer, read through, with preface and notes published by Christ. Gottli. Perschke. Lemgo 1776
  • Introduction to the interpretation of the Heil. Script (edited by MJCW Diederichs, with a preface, corrections and comments). Göttingen 1779, 2nd edition Göttingen 1787

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Zachariae, Gotthilf Traugott
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zachariä, Gotthelf Traugott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1729
PLACE OF BIRTH Tauhardt
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1777
Place of death Kiel