Jacob Schenck

Jakob Schenck (* around 1508 in Bad Waldsee ; † 1554 in Leipzig ) was a Protestant theologian and reformer.

Life

After Schenck had attended school in Memmingen , he went to study in Wittenberg , where he was matriculated in 1526. He listened to Martin Luther , Philipp Melanchthon and Justus Jonas the Elder and also achieved his master's degree . When Duke Heinrich of Saxony was looking for a Protestant preacher, the choice fell on him. He was welcomed with joy not only at court, but also by the citizens of Freiberg in 1536.

In Wittenberg he obtained the theological doctorate on October 10, 1536 after a disputation "De potestate Concilii", for which Luther had put forward 30 theses. Duchess Katharina bore the doctoral costs . Schenck was a zealous and brave preacher who was true to Luther's teaching. The church ordinance for Saxony-Freiberg was written by him and the implementation of the Reformation was entrusted to him as visitor and superintendent .

Theological differences soon arose between him and Melanchthon. Suspected of being an antinomer in Wittenberg, his recall from Freiberg was soon requested. His relationship with Luther also deteriorated. Luther thought he was presumptuous. After Schenck had left Freiberg, he worked for a while in Weimar , but asked to be dismissed in 1541 in order to go to Leipzig as a professor . Here he found many adversaries who prevented his writings from being printed.

He lost his license to teach and was eventually expelled from the country. He went to Berlin and was briefly court preacher to Elector Joachim II. It is questionable whether he, like his predecessor Erasmus Alber, was dismissed and, as his opponents claimed, starved himself to death. In any case, the end of the reformer, which had had great effects, was a sad one.

literature

• Georg Müller:  Schenk, Jakob . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, pp. 49-51.
• Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church , Volume 17, page 555
• FK Seidemann: Dr. Jakob Schenck, the supposed antinome, Freiberg's reformer, Leipzig 1875
• P. Vetter: Jakob Schenck and the Leipzig Preachers 1541–1543 (New Archive for Saxon History 12 [1891], page 247)
• P. Vetter: Luther's position in Jacob Schenck's dispute with Melanchthon and Jonas (New Archive for Saxon History [1909], page 76)
• P. Vetter: Luther and Schenck's recall from Freiberg (New Archive for Saxon History 32 [1911], page 23)
• N. Müller: Jakob Schencks, electoral court preacher in Berlin (Yearbook for Berlin-Brandenburg Church History 2/3, 1907, page 19)