Johannes Marbach

Johannes Marbach copper engraving 16th century

Johannes Marbach, (born April 14, 1521 in Lindau , † March 17, 1581 in Strasbourg ) was a reformer, Lutheran theologian and confessionalist .

Life

At the age of 15 the baker's son from Lindau came to the academy in Strasbourg, heard Martin Bucer's sermon about the conclusion of the Wittenberg Agreement and decided in 1539 to go to Wittenberg . After he completed the academic degree of a Baccalaureus in the same year , the master’s degree followed in 1540 . There he was together with Johannes Matthesius , Martin Luther's table companion.

After he was ordained a priest on June 22, 1541, he left Wittenberg to go to Jena as a deacon . In the same year he turned to Isny , where he met Paul Fagius . Led by this, Marbach received his doctorate in theology on February 16, 1543 in Wittenberg with Luther and Philipp Melanchthon . He then succeeded Fagius in Isny.

Due to his Lutheran attitude, a conflict developed with the council and Ulrich Zwingli's supporters . Therefore, in 1545 he went to Strasbourg to Bucer, where he was preacher at the Nikolaikirche on July 12, 1546 canon at St. Thomas' monastery and on August 3, 1546 he took over the pastor's position. During this time he did an excellent job in Bucer's mind and contributed to publications.

He advised the council in the dispute over the Augsburg Interim . Despite his youth, he became head of the Strasbourg church system after Hedio's death. In 1552 he was to represent the city with Johannes Sleidanus at the council in Trento. When the dispute over the Altstraßburger direction flared up, Marbach took the side of the Gnesiolutherans and left the council after being deceived.

The problems of the time were pressing. The understanding of the Lord's Supper had to be clarified and a position on ubiquity and predestination had to be taken. It was about Hieronymus Zanchi , whom Johannes Sturm had joined. Sturm had to leave the school system. Foreign mediation settled the dispute. During this time, Marbach emerged as a staunch supporter of Lutheran teaching. What Bucer had sown was now paying off.

Marbach was not a dispute theologian, he is to be seen as a church organizer. Despite the objection of the council, he stood up for the Formula Concordiae . On this basis, the Strasbourg church remained in its church order from 1598. He had also carried out the church visitation in the Electoral Palatinate in 1576 and in 1578 campaigned for the Lutheran view in Pfalz-Zweibrücken . It was not his teaching that was his strong point, but his merits lay in the field of church practice.

The theologian Philipp Marbach was his son.

literature

• Heinrich Holtzmann:  Marbach, Johann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, p. 289 f.
• Anton Schindling:  Marbach, Johann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 102 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church , Volume 12, Pages 245–248
• A. Trenß: On the history of the Strasbourg church under Dr. Marbach (contribution to the church history of Alsace). Strasbourg 1886
• W. Horning: Dr. Johannes Marbach . Strasbourg 1887.
• Ficker-Winkelmann: Handwriting samples . Strasbourg 1905, BI. 89.
• W. Sohm: The School of Johannes Storm and the Church of Strasbourg . Marburg 1912, p. 161 ff.
• J. Adam: Church history of the city of Strasbourg . Strasbourg 1922.
• R. Raubenheimer: Paul Fagius . Grünstadt 1957.
• Theodor Mahlmann:  Marbach, Johannes. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Col. 747-753.

Web links

Commons : Johannes Marbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files