Johann Balthasar Beyschlag

Johann Balthasar Beyschlag (born November 4, 1669 in Schwäbisch Hall , † September 14, 1717 in Schwäbisch Hall) was a German Protestant theologian and hymn composer.

Life

As the son of a councilor, he trained at the high school in his hometown. After an educational trip through Austria , Bohemia and Saxony , he studied in 1687 in Wittenberg , where he acquired an academic master's degree in 1689 and in 1692 became an adjunct of the philosophical faculty. He wrote a biography of the former reformer Johannes Brenz . In 1694 he returned to his hometown, where he became an archdeacon in 1710 and dean in 1716. His tombstone says that he lived entirely for the Church, not himself.

In addition to some edifying writings, he published his work in Nuremberg in 1699, "God-sanctified churches and household devotions or newly made evangelical hymn and prayer book". He had already included some of his own songs in this collection, which he continued in “Centifolia melica or Hundred-petalled Song Rose” (Nuremberg 1709). Some of his songs found their way into the national hymn books of later centuries. For example, “The old God is still alive”, “It is good to live in heaven”, “My dearest Savior, Jesus Christ” and “Only wings, yes, to heaven”.

literature

• Paul Pressel :  Beyschlag, Johann Balthasar . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 606.
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Beyschlag, Johann Balthasar. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 571.