Johann Heinrich Horb

Johann Heinrich Horb, copper engraving by Andreas Luppius

Johann Heinrich Horb (also: Horbius, Horbe ; born June 11, 1645 in Colmar ; † January 26, 1695 in Schleems, today part of Hamburg-Billstedt ) was a German Protestant and Pietist theologian.

Life

Born the son of a doctor, he attended grammar school in his hometown and in 1661 went to the University of Strasbourg , where he obtained a master's degree in 1664 . He then went to the University of Jena , the University of Leipzig , the University of Wittenberg , the University of Helmstedt and the University of Kiel . He then accompanied some young people to Holland , England and France .

In 1670 he went from Paris to Strasbourg , in 1671 became a councilor and court preacher in Bischweiler and soon afterwards superintendent of the County of Sponheim and first preacher in Trarbach on the Moselle. From there he came to Windsheim in 1679 as superintendent and in 1685 as chief pastor of St. Nikolai in Hamburg .

Like his brother-in-law Philipp Jacob Spener, Horb was a representative of pietism and thus attracted the indignation of the representatives of Lutheran orthodoxy . In his house in Hamburg he held private lectures, which angered Johann Friedrich Mayer and Samuel Schultze in particular , as they saw in the process a departure from the Lutheran church line. Innovations in the Evangelical Church, precisely because of the adherence to Lutheran principles in the eyes of the Orthodox, were almost impossible. They were almost always regulated with the assumption that they had approached the opposing Reformed line . But these were persecuted by the Lutheran Orthodox just as the hated Catholic Church once did.

Horb found supporters in his Hamburg colleague Johann Winckler , the main pastor of St. Michaelis, and Abraham Hinckelmann , the main pastor of St. Katharinen. But the representatives of the Lutheran Orthodoxy did not let up and brought proceedings before the Ministry of Spirituality . On March 14, 1690, the Hamburg religious lapel was passed , in which the Hamburg pastors should commit themselves to adhere to the traditional church ceremonies and not to allow any further innovations. Horb and his friends on the pietistic side did not sign it.

The theological dispute was then fought on the pulpit again, which stirred up the Hamburg population. When, on New Year's Eve 1692, Horb circulated the little book by the French mystic Pierre Poiret " The wisdom of the righteous to raise children from the world to the Lord according to the true reasons of Christianity ", for Mayer it was the drop that turned the keg Brought overflow. In a tumultuous meeting of the citizens on November 24, 1693, it was decided to depose Horb. In order to avoid the displeasure of the angry population, he left the city with his family and went to Schleems near Schiffbek in what is now Hamburg-Billstedt , where he lived and died for another year.

He was married to Sophia Cäcilia Spener (1640-1727), with whom he had four sons.

Selection of works

As an author, Horb immortalized himself primarily in his theological writings. For example, he published a declaration of the catechism of Martin Luther, which was printed several times, and he was also active as a writer of edification with historical reference and published some writings that were in the controversial relationship as representatives of Pietism.

• Requested concern on D. Phil. Jac. Speneri Pia desideria 1676,
• The Grundl. Word understanding of the little Catechismi D. Lutheri ... including a preface D. Phil. Jac. Speneri. 1683, 1686
• The evangelical doctrine divine certainty u. Force z. Sanctification of hearts ..., v. D. Ph. J. Spener with a preface. 1688.1731;
• Apologia or thorough and scriptural responsibility, which he ordered on the orders of the City Council of Hamburg ... on June 27th. v. given. 1693
• The diverse u. painful sufferings of our Savior Jesus Christ ... including preface by J. Winckleri. 1700
• Historia Origeniana. Frankfurt 1670
• Historia Manichaerum. Frankfurt 1670
• Historia haeros Unitariorum. Frankfurt 1671
• Disquisitio de ultima origine haereseos Simonis Magi. Leipzig 1669

literature

• Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber : General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts . Sect 2 T. 10 p. 476 .
• Horbius, Joan. Henr. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler : Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts . Volume 13, Leipzig 1735, column 842.
• Carl Bertheau :  Horb, Johann Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, pp. 120-124.
• Werner Korndörfer:  Horb, Heinrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-428-00190-7 , pp. 621 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  HORB. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1055-1056.
• Frank Hartmann: Johann Heinrich Horb (1645–1695). Life and work up to the beginning of the Hamburg pietistic disputes in 1693. Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-447-06347-0 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Johann Heinrich Horb in the catalog of the German National Library
• Publications by and about Johann Heinrich Horb in VD 17 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Nicolaus Langerhans	Chief Pastor to St. Nikolai in Hamburg 1685–1693	Johannes Wolf