Johann Gerhard (theologian)

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Johann Gerhard (around 1618), portrait in the Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Johann Gerhard , also Johannes Gerhard (born October 17, 1582 in Quedlinburg ; † August 17, 1637 in Jena ) was a German Lutheran theologian and is considered an important representative of Lutheran orthodoxy .

Life

Born as the son of councilor Bartholomäus Gerhard from Quedlinburg and his wife Margaretha (née Berndes; died January 27, 1624), he attended school in his hometown. His exercise books from 1595 have been preserved. They are the oldest documents of their kind known until they were discovered in 2012 and give an insight into his working style - he seemed to have worked in a very structured manner and had a very accurate handwriting - as well as everyday school life at that time. He enrolled at the University of Wittenberg in 1599 , where he initially devoted himself to basic philosophical studies. He also attended the lectures of Leonhard Hutter and Salomon Gesner at the theological faculty . At first he devoted himself to studying medicine, accompanying his cousin's son as a Preceptor to the University of Jena in 1603 . An illness drove him from his destiny as a doctor and he switched to theology under Pastor Johann Arndt , who was then active in Quedlinburg .

Memorial plaque on the rectory in Heldburg

He acquired the academic degree of a master’s degree and moved to the University of Marburg in 1604 , where he stayed with Balthasar Mentzer the Elder and Johannes Winckelmann. In the spring of 1605 he went on a trip with Mentzer that took him to the University of Heidelberg, the University of Strasbourg, the University of Tübingen and other places. So he broadened his horizon and returned to Jena in September 1605, where he gave lectures as an adjunct . In 1606 he received his doctorate in theology and went to Heldburg as superintendent for nine years . Gerhard also got a teaching post at the grammar school in Coburg . He carried out church visits in the Coburg region and in 1615 reworked the church regulations for the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg. In the same year Duke Johann Casimir appointed him to Coburg as superintendent general. On February 24, 1615, Gerhard gave his farewell sermon in Heldburg and took up his new office in Coburg. In the summer of 1616, despite many other offers, he went to the University of Jena, where he remained professor of theology until his death . Gerhard also took part in the organizational tasks of the Jena Salana . He was dean of the theological faculty several times and in the winter semesters 1617, 1623, 1629 and 1635 rector of the alma mater .

family

Johann Gerhard was married twice. His first marriage was Barbara on September 19, 1608 (born November 23, 1594 in Weimar; † May 30, 1611 in Jena, buried on June 2, 1611 in Johanniskirche in Jena), the daughter of Johann Georg Neumajer and his wife Elisabeth (born Schröder, later married to Johann Major, professor in Jena). From this marriage came the son Johann Georg Gerhard, born in Heldburg (* December 24, 1610, † January 10, 1611, commemorative plaque at the Heldburg cemetery chapel St. Leonhard). In his second marriage on March 1, 1614, he married Maria, the daughter of the Gotha mayor and doctor Dr. Johann Mattenberg (formerly personal physician of the French King Heinrich IV.) From Gotha . The wedding ceremony took place at Schloss Heldburg in the presence of Duke Johann Casimir : "He led the bridegroom to the church himself, gave him a left hand". There are ten children from this marriage. Of these, Georg Sigismund Gerhard, Magareta Gerhard, Elisabeth Gerhard, Johann Ernst Gerhard the Elder , Johannes Gerhard, Maria Gerhard, Polykarp Gerhard, Johann Friedrich Gerhard, Johann Andreas Gerhard and Anna Christina Gerhard are known. Four children died before their father.

Theological meaning

While Lutheran orthodoxy sometimes gives the impression that it was only interested in “right teaching” and less in practical life, this does not apply to Johann Gerhard. Like his teacher Johann Arndt, he wrote not only theological works but also edification literature and, unlike others, largely abstained from polemics in theological conflicts . In its Loci theologici each didactic piece ends with a section de usu (on usage), in which the practical use for the Christian life is made clear. Johann Gerhard was in the lead in defending against the teaching of the Danzig theologian Hermann Rathmann , who had claimed that the Bible reader must first receive the Holy Spirit independently of the Bible word in order to be able to understand the Bible at all ( Rahtmann controversy ).

Works

First editions

  • Loci theologici . 9 volumes, 1610–1622 (most important orthodox dogmatics; online ).
  • Confessio catholica . 4 volumes, 1634–1637.
  • Harmonis Evangelistarum . 1626/1627.
  • Meditationes sacrae ad veram pietatem excitandam . 1606.
  • Exercitium pietatis quotidianum . 1612, 1615 (prayer book).
  • Methodus studii theologici . 1620.
  • Schola Pietatis . 1622/1623.
  • Disputationes isagogicae . 1634.

Translations, new editions

Alongside the Luther Bible, Gerhard's Meditationes sacrae became the best-known and most successful Protestant meditation book: incomplete research identified over 220 editions in 16 languages. So here can only be given examples.

  • A Christian Mans weekes work. or The dayly Watch of the Soule. printed at London by TS in Fleetstreet, 1611.
  • Meditationes sacrae or holy contemplations , newly translated from Latin by Carl Julius Böttcher, Leipzig and Dresden, Justus Naumann, 1862.
  • Meditations on Divine Mercy, translated by MC Harrison (President of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod), Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, 1992, 2003.

Other translated works

  • From the Holy Scriptures (Loci theologici, Vol. 1), translated by Heinrich Wiegand Kummer, edited by Thomas Kothmann, Neuendettelsau 2019.

Manuscripts

Critical editions of works

  • Johann Gerhard Archive (= Doctrina et Pietas, Series I, Vol. 1–13), ed. by Johann Anselm Steiger . Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1997 ff., ISBN 978-3-7728-1896-7 .
  • Johann Anselm Steiger (Ed. And Com .): Johann Gerhard, Meditationes Sacrae (1603/4). With a facsimile of the autograph . Doctrina et Pietas Dept. I, Volume 2. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1998, ISBN 3-7728-1823-4 .
  • Johann Anselm Steiger (ed. And acting) : Johann Gerhard, Meditationes Sacrae (1606/7). Latin-German . 2 volumes, Doctrina et Pietas Dept. I, Volume 3.1-2. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2000, ISBN 3-7728-1824-2 .

Remembrance day

literature

reference books

Studies

  • Jörg Baur : The Thuringian lamp. Johann Gerhard (1582–1637). Contemporary orthodoxy in the shadow of the Thirty Years War . In: Jörg Baur: Luther and his classical heirs. Theological essays and research. Mohr, Tübingen 1993, ISBN 3-16-146055-3 , pp. 335-356.
  • Tim Christian Elkar: Life and Teaching. Dogmatic Perspectives on Lutheran Orthodoxy and Pietism. Studies on Gerhard, König, Spener and Freylinghausen. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-631-65605-1 .
  • Glenn K. Fluegge: Johann Gerhard (1582-1637) and the Conceptualization of Theologia at the Threshold of the "Age of Orthodoxy". The Making of the Theologian (= Oberurseler Hefte. Supplementary volume 21). Edition Ruprecht, Göttingen 2018, ISBN 978-3-8469-0300-1 .
  • Fritz Roth : Complete evaluations of funeral sermons and personal documents for genealogical and cultural-historical purposes. Volume 5, self-published, Boppard am Rhein 1967, R 4193.
  • Johann Anselm Steiger : Johann Gerhard (1582–1637). Studies on theology and piety of the Church Father of Lutheran Orthodoxy (= Doctrina et Pietas. Dept. I, Volume 1). Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1997, ISBN 3-7728-1822-6 .
  • Johann Anselm Steiger (arrangement and ed., With co. Peter Fiers): Bibliographia Gerhardina. 1601-2002. Directory of the publications by Johann Gerhard (1582–1637) as well as their new editions, translations and adaptations (= Doctrina et pietas. Vol. 1.9). Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2003, ISBN 3-7728-1930-3 .

Web links

Commons : Johann Gerhard  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniela Zeibig: 400 year old exercise books discovered. from August 17, 2012 ( online at Spektrum.de). Retrieved August 18, 2012
  2. ^ Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Das Heldburger Land - a historical travel guide; Rockstuhl Publishing House, Bad Langensalza 2013, ISBN 978-3-86777-349-2
  3. ^ Johann Gerhard in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
personal data
SURNAME Gerhard, Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gerhard, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and representative of Lutheran Orthodoxy
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1582
PLACE OF BIRTH Quedlinburg
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1637
Place of death Jena