Johann Georg Pritius

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Johann Georg Pritius (actually Priz , born September 22, 1662 in Leipzig ; † August 24, 1732 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian and pastor .

life and work

Pritius attended the Alte Nikolaischule in his hometown and studied theology at the University of Leipzig . In 1685 he received his master's degree there , at the same time as August Hermann Francke . During this time he became acquainted with Philipp Jakob Spener , who was then the Saxon court preacher, and his turn to pietism . In 1690 he became pastor at the Nikolaikirche , in 1699 at the Trinity Church in Zerbst . Because he also had to teach theology and metaphysics at the Zerbster grammar school , he acquired the degree of licentiate and doctor of theology at Leipzig University .

1701 appointed him Count Heinrich XI. von Reuss-Schleiz as superintendent and headmaster to Schleiz , soon after also as court preacher . In 1708 he changed at the request of the Swedish King Charles XII. as professor of theology at the University of Greifswald . At the same time he held the office of the main pastor at St. Marien and was a member of the Greifswald consistory .

In 1711, as the successor to Johann Daniel Arcularius , who died in 1710 , he was appointed senior in the Ministry of Preachers in Frankfurt am Main and pastor at the Barfüßerkirche . Pritius held the senior position for 21 years. He cultivated the pietistic traditions of Spener, who had been a senior in Frankfurt from 1666 to 1686, but was theologically more of a representative of Lutheran orthodoxy and fought against the relatively strong separatism in Frankfurt . About a Reformation story published in 1717 for the 200th anniversary of the Reformation , there was a dispute with the Frankfurt Council, which wanted to prevent its spread out of consideration for the Catholic Imperial Commission meeting in Frankfurt .

In 1719 Pritius had the Nikolaikirche on the Römerberg , profaned since the Reformation , restored and used again as a church from 1721, initially as a garrison church for the Frankfurt military and for an orphanage.

Pritius was a staunch opponent of legal equality between the two Frankfurt Reformed communities , the German Reformed and the French Reformed , with the Lutherans. He also had a sharp dispute with the city's Lutheran council when it founded a consistory in 1728 and transferred the church government to it, which until then had been held exclusively by the Ministry of Preachers. In addition to theologians, the new consistory also included councilors and lawyers. Pritius criticized this new church constitution and stayed away from the meetings of the consistory after the constituent session. Although the council tolerated his behavior and did not take disciplinary action against him, he became visibly lonely in the last years of his life. Pritius, who had remained unmarried, died on August 24, 1732 in Frankfurt. He was buried in the Nikolaikirche.

Works

Pritius left behind numerous philosophical and theological dissertations. His edition of the Greek New Testament, published in Leipzig in 1703, experienced three editions, his Introductio in lectionem Novi Testamenti , published there in 1704, was used long after his death and was last reissued in 1764.

During his time in Frankfurt he re- edited several works by Spener and translated his Tabulae catecheticae . He was considered a well-read and thorough exegete ; In his sermons he used to quote longer passages in the original Hebrew or Greek text on the pulpit and explain them through translations into Latin. In the last two years of his life he created a double cycle of daily Latin prayers under the titles meditationes de morte , colloquia cum Jesu , laudes divinae and querelae .

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Johann Daniel Arcularius Senior of the Ministry of Preachers in Frankfurt am Main
1710–1732 		Christian Münden
personal data
SURNAME Pritius, Johann Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Priz, Johann Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Evangelical Lutheran theologian and pastor
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1662
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1732
Place of death Frankfurt am Main