Johann Reinhold Grau

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Johann Reinhold Grau (Latin Gravius ; born April 21, 1701 in Kassel , † April 19, 1768 in Sankt Goar ) was a German Reformed theologian .

Life

Johann Reinhold Grau was a son of the Kassel Metropolitan Caspar Christian Grau. He completed his early training in the school in his hometown and then studied theology at the universities of Marburg , Heidelberg , Leiden and Utrecht . He acquired a thorough knowledge of his subject, but voluntarily shackled a free-spirited school of thought due to his inclination towards the pictorial theology, which was very popular at the time, which he was no longer able to shed during all of his later work.

After completing his studies, Grau became a preacher in Niederzwehren near Kassel in 1736 . The leisure that remained with the duties of his office he used for his further scientific training and for writing. He always followed the direction he had taken and was eager to relate Old Testament stories to events in the New Testament through allegorical and often very forced interpretations. Apart from his little work on the metropolitan institution ( Theses historico-theologicae de axiomate metropolitano , Hersfeld 1745), which does not move in this circle of ideas , this endeavor appears in the treatise on baptism ( Discursus theologicus de baptismo sub certa forma et ex suis causis salvifico, ad 1 Petr. III, 21; accedit significatio de typo Jonae , Hersfeld 1747), in which he visually related the story of Jonah to his subject. Just as arbitrarily he interpreted several prophecies of the Psalms on the later persecutions of Christians in his heroic songs of the Church of God in the nights of tribulations and communion of sufferings with Christ as their head, and especially in the three main persecutions , such as those presented by the spirit of prophecy in the Psalms XLII. and XLIII., in 12 sermons, together with an encore about Matth. XX, 1 sqq. (Lemgo 1746).

His superiors recognized his scientific pursuit and in 1747 he was promoted to the Evangelical Reformed inspector in Sankt Goar, where the House of Hessen-Kassel had the right of occupation. When this was extended to the Rheinfels mountain fortress in 1754 and the chapel there was set up for the Evangelical Reformed church service , Grau gave the festive sermon on December 25th. He was very diligent in his preaching office and worked out his sermons into larger works on biblical subjects with typical interpretations. These include:

  • Beginning of the story of Jesus Christ and his mystery , 3 volumes, Lemgo 1749–53: 24 reflections on the first events in the life of Jesus; The work explains the conception of the forerunner John the Baptist , the song of Mary and the circumcision of John
  • The rejoiced soul in God's house of prayer , 2 parts, Frankfurt am Main 1756: Explanation of the 25th Psalm of David , in which there is an appendix with some reliable information about the preacher Adolf Fabricius at St. Goar
  • Constant preservation of both the word and the people of God and of every true member of it, prophetically presented in the 119th Psalm , Frankfurt am Main 1760: interpretation of the 119th Psalm, which only extends over the first eight verses; the fully elaborated manuscript of the sequel was in the possession of the author's heirs

literature

personal data
SURNAME Grau, Johann Reinhold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gravius, Johann Reinhold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German reformed theologian
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1701
PLACE OF BIRTH kassel
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1768
Place of death Sankt Goar