Johann August Nösselt

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Johann August Nösselt

Johann August Nösselt (born May 2, 1734 in Halle (Saale) ; † March 11, 1807 there ) was a German Protestant theologian.

Life

Johann August Nösselt was the son of the respected Halle merchant, head of the Kramerinnung and Pfänner of the same name (1692–1762) and his wife, b. Schultze, daughter of a manufacturer. He was already deeply pietistic at home . The father had had unpleasant experiences especially with the Reformed, which strengthened him as a Lutheran and endowed him with a certain form of tolerance. He stopped the son early to attend the service and to write down the main content of the sermons. As he remembered himself, next to his father, one of the most influential figures in his youthful development was his sister Sophie Elisabeth. Through their example and her gentle persuasion, she had a lasting influence on the young Nösselt.

At the age of six, Nösselt was taught in the candidate Bauer's private school. From the age of ten he attended the Latin school of the orphanage in Halle in 1744 . In the higher grades Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten gave lectures in order to inspire his protégés to study. In 1751 Nösselt began studying theology at the University of Halle at the age of 17 . His theological teachers at that time were Johann Georg Knapp , Baumgarten, Christian Benedikt Michaelis and Gottlieb Anastasius Freylinghausen . In the philosophical sciences, history and languages ​​he attended the lectures of Georg Friedrich Meier , Christian Weber († 1762), Friedrich Wiedeburg and Johann Simonis .

After he had disputed the dissertation “on the traces of divine providence in the Peace of Augsburg and Passau” with Baumgarten, he went on an educational trip in October 1755 . He went to the University of Altdorf via the University of Jena , Coburg , the University of Erlangen and Nuremberg . In Altdorf he especially studied church history and practiced preaching. In May 1756 he left Altdorf, visited Regensburg , Augsburg , Stuttgart and the University of Tübingen . From there he moved to the Swiss strongholds of education. He was in Strasbourg , Basel , Bern , Lausanne and Geneva and arrived in Paris on July 19 . However, since his father needed him in Halle, he left there on August 14th. He returned to Halle via Frankfurt am Main - where he found out about the outbreak of the Seven Years' War - Mainz , Gießen , Marburg , Kassel , Göttingen , Helmstedt and Magdeburg , where he arrived at the end of November.

When he arrived in Halle, he gave private lectures on literature and history, obtained the degree of master's degree in philosophy with a disputation "On the chronological sequence of Tertullian's writings", which he defended towards the end of September, and began private lectures on Cicero's books in October 1757 and to keep Johann August Ernesti's rhetoric. After opening an exegetical course on the New Testament, he became an associate professor at the theological faculty in 1760 . In 1764 he received an offer from the University of Göttingen , which he did not accept. Instead he became a full professor at the University of Halle. In 1767 he obtained his doctorate in theology with a study "On the biblical concept of the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit" .

He refused further requests from the University of Helmstedt in 1768 and from Göttingen in 1771, because they wanted to keep him at the Halle University and he saw himself privately committed to Halle. At that time he had written reviews of Ernesti's library, wrote academic dissertations and programs. He had become personally acquainted with Ernesti in Leipzig since 1760 and had joined his exegesis. He had also made trips to Wolfenbüttel and Braunschweig. Later he got to know Gotthold Ephraim Lessing . In 1776 he took over the publication of the Hallische schehrten Zeitung , which he held until 1790, and worked on the Allgemeine Literaturzeitung .

Nösselt had no good feelings towards Karl Friedrich Bahrdt . This had attacked him in his change from radical Enlightenment theologian to naturalist , in oral conversations, almanacs and other diatribes, which also aroused the displeasure of some of the students. In 1785 he had dedicated a defense to this. After Johann Salomo Semler was ousted from the university by the Prussian minister of education, Karl Abraham von Zedlitz, in December 1779 , the management of the theological faculty was transferred to Nösselt, but free of charge, since Nösselt insisted that Semler's salary be paid and that he continue to be paid at the university Should give lectures, which happened until his death in 1791. Now Nösselt Semler followed as full professor of the theological faculty and Ephorus the royal free table in the office.

1788 appeared under Prime Johann Christoph von Wollner the Wöllnersche religious edict , by which was largely completed by church and state in Prussia separation. During Wöllner's tenure, Nösselt was also threatened with dismissal because he expressed neological principia in his dogmatic lectures , which would lead the audience away from knowledge of the pure Christian doctrine of the faith. Undaunted, even bold, the otherwise quiet and peaceful man, together with Niemeyer, defended the academic freedom of teaching in front of his royal master in 1794.

Among other things, Wöllner commissioned Nösselt to develop a textbook on the dogmatics of the Lutheran Church for the Prussian universities as a foundation for the edict, which, however, he renounced because he saw the freedom of scientific research threatened against state regulation. Thereupon Nösselt were assigned the Prussian councilors Hermann Daniel Hermes and Gottlob Friedrich Hilmer (1756-1835) to supervise the teaching activities at the Halle University. Despite all the adversities experienced, Nösselt took part in the organizational tasks of the University of Halle. He was Vice-Rector of the Alma Mater in 1773/1774 and 1781/1782 .

Johann August Nösselt was buried in Halle's Stadtgottesacker . His grave is in crypt arch 26. The arch, which was destroyed during the Second World War, has been reconstructed. The grave inscription is no longer preserved but has been handed down:

“ Because it was day he worked, but when night came he parted from us and worked over in the kingdom of light. "

" JOHANN AUGUST NÖSSELT K. Go. R. Doct. u. Prof. d. Theol. born d. May 2nd, 1734 passed away on March 11th, 1807. "

" He is at rest We are in tears, tears of sadness for us, tears of joy for him "

Act

Nösselt was a friend of the popular philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment. He is to be seen as a new pioneer of the same, who distanced himself from the pietistically modified Lutheran orthodoxy in a strict grammatical and historical interpretation of the Bible. He took offense at the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and its moral interpretation of the scriptures, the post-Kantian one squeezed out a sigh: “Good God, keep us common sense!” As a writer he was not original, but thorough and thoughtful.

First and foremost, Nösselt was highly regarded as a New Testament exegete. His three collections of exegetical occasional pamphlets were regarded as models of a natural, light and at the same time thorough interpretation. Among other things, he worked out the interpretations of Johann August Ernesti on the entire text of the New Testament.

family

Nösselt married Dorothea Concordia Conerus († autumn 1792) from Wernigerode in 1766 . This 25 year marriage resulted in four sons and three daughters. Three sons died before him. The son Friedrich August Nösselt (born May 18, 1781 in Halle, † April 11, 1850 in Breslau) became known as the director of a girls' school in Breslau and as a writer. The daughter Johanna Auguste Nösselt married the later pastor of Teicha and Petersberg Christian Ludwig Wilhelm Leiste (1772-1860). The second daughter Sophie married Johann David Gerhard (1768–1829). Her son was the archaeologist Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Gerhard (1795–1887). The third daughter had looked after him until the end of his life. There are no known dates of her life.

Works

  • Admiranda singularis providentiae divinae vestigia in vindicanda per pacem Passaviensem A. 1552. et Augustanam A. 1555. sacrorum evangelicorum libertate. Hall 1755 ( digitized version )
  • De aetate scriptorum Tertulliani. Hall 1757.
  • Defending the truth and divinity of the Christian religion. Hall 1766, 1783.
  • Opusculorum ad interpretationem Sacrarum Scripturarum fasciculi I. Halle 1772, 1785.
  • Opusculorum ad interpretationem Sacrarum Scripturarum fasciculi II. Halle 1787.
  • Opusculorum ad interpretationem Sacrarum Scripturarum fasciculi III. Hall 1803.
  • Exercitationes ad Sacrarum Scripturarum interpretationem. Hall 1808.
  • Brief Instructions for Unstudied Christians to Obtain Reliable Certainty of Their Religion. Hall 1773.
  • About education in religion. Hall 1774.
  • Instructions for the knowledge of the best general books in all parts of theology. Hall 1779, 1800.
  • Instruction for the education of budding theologians. Hall 1785, 1818.
  • Declaration by the Theological Faculty in Halle about Dr. Bahrdt's appeal to the audience. Hall 1785.

literature

in order of appearance

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On September 19, 1740, she married the deacon of the Ulrichskirche, Christian Balthasar Kutemeyer (1710–1776).
  2. ↑ a b c Leopold Zscharnack: Nösselt, Johann August . In: The religion in past and present , 1st ed., Vol. 4, Col. 823.
  3. ^ Christian Stephan: The silent faculty. Biographical contributions to the history of the theological faculty of the University of Halle . Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2005, ISBN 3-89923-103-1 , pp. 59-63.
  4. ^ German biography - Nösselt, Friedrich . In: deutsche-biographie.de . Retrieved April 10, 2016.


personal data
SURNAME Nösselt, Johann August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1807
Place of death Halle (Saale)