Paint the Christian Møller

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Malthe Christian Møller (born November 24, 1771 in Helsingør , † July 22, 1834 in Copenhagen ) was a Danish writer and magazine publisher .

Life

Malthe Møller was the son of the customs officer Peder Møller († 1790) and his first wife Ulrica Elisabeth, b. Bruun (1750-78). Two years after the mother's death, the father remarried. Malthe Møller was born in Helsingør and graduated from school in his hometown. In 1788 he began to study theology at the University of Copenhagen , but did not take the exam, but left Copenhagen in 1792 and went to Göttingen and from there to Jena . Presumably he obtained a master's degree from one of the universities .

From Jena from 1795 to 1797 he anonymously published the journal Repertorium for Fædrelandets Religionslærere ( Repertorium for patriotic religion teachers ). It pretended to be a Danish pastor who was being persecuted for his theology. The sharp church-critical writing gave him a short-term reputation. In Jena he became a member of the Society of Free Men . When he gave up his anonymity and revealed that he wasn't a pastor at all, the public lost interest in the repertory .

Letters to his publisher Rasmus Nyerup (1759–1829) suggest that Møller was suffering from psychosis at the time . Obviously he felt called to reform the world. At the same time, he felt persecuted and feared that the printers would insert printing errors and that his letters would be opened by the bishop and the office . In Jena he also claimed that he could have been a doctor and professor in Denmark if he had signed the formula of the Agreement , which he refused.

When exactly he returned to Denmark is unknown. In 1798 he was in jail because of debts in Jena. It was first used in Denmark in 1805/6 in connection with a dispute with Bishop Nicolai Edinger Balle , because Møller had applied for a position as a field preacher without an official examination . Møller felt that the bishop's answer was persecution because of the Enlightenment theology he represented and complained to the office.

In the following years he worked as a translator and edited various newspapers, most recently Berlingske Tidende . The Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, for example, in 1821 u. a. Translations by Herder and Kotzebue . In 1803 he published Nathanael, læsning for tænkende mennesker. Et anhæng til Repertoriet af Malthe Møller ( Nathanael. Reading for thinking people. An appendix to Malthe Møller's repertory ).

Repertory for native religion teachers

Møller had the repertory for Fædrelandets Religionslærere , published in five volumes, printed in Copenhagen with the support of Rasmus Nyerup and Johan Erik von Berger. His intention was to familiarize theologians with the Enlightenment and especially with Immanuel Kant . Kant's philosophy was to him the "science of science" and the actual basis of Christianity. He rejected Christian dogmas such as the Trinity as monastic tales.

Møller pretended to be a pastor in his letters and made harsh accusations against the anti-progressive, Orthodox Danish State Church , which persecuted him and other followers of the Enlightenment . Treatises on the repertory have appeared in various journals . Bishop Balle, himself a supporter of the Enlightenment, also praised it. He then received an anonymous appeal to punish the writer for being a priest. He also wrote and published a notice to the Chancellor, but only to prevent such action from being taken if it was intended.

Anders Sandøe Ørsted , who was later considered the best Kant expert in Denmark, first became acquainted with his philosophy through Møller's work, which was an idiosyncratic interpretation of Kant's teaching .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ L. Koch: Bidrag til en characteristics af Malthe Møller. In: Historisk Tidsskrift 5/2 (1880–1881), pp. 85–103; P. 88.
  2. ↑ L. Koch: Bidrag til en characteristics af Malthe Møller. In: Historisk Tidsskrift 5/2 (1880–1881), pp. 85–103; P. 88.
  3. ^ Supplementary sheets to the Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, 9th year, 1821, column 186
personal data
SURNAME Møller, Malthe Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Danish writer and magazine publisher
DATE OF BIRTH November 24, 1771
PLACE OF BIRTH Elsinore
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 1834
Place of death Copenhagen