Matthias Knutzen (theologian)

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Matthias Knutzen (also: Knuzen, Knutsen ; * early 1646 in Oldenswort (North Friesland / Schleswig); † after 1674) was a German critic of religion . He is the first atheist known by name in modern European intellectual history.

Life

Knutzen was the son of Berend Knutzen, organist in Oldenswort in Eiderstedt , and his wife Elisabeth (Elsebe). Knutzen's father died the same year he was born. Knutzen was taken in and raised by his older brother Johann Knutzen, who was the organist in Königsberg in East Prussia , and attended the Old Town High School there from 1661 to 1664. In 1664 he enrolled in Königsberg and in 1668 in Copenhagen to study theology. In between he earned some money as a tutor in various places. In 1673 he got a job as a village school teacher and assistant preacher in the Kremper Marsch in his home in Schleswig-Holstein. But he was dismissed again at the end of December 1673 because he had sharply criticized the church authorities in his sermons. From there he went to another brother in Tönning . That he should have been in Rome in February 1674 , as the dating of his pamphlet Amicus Amicis Amica! suggests is probably a literary fiction. In September 1674 he came to Jena . There Knutzen distributed handwritten leaflets ("Scharteken") and writings with atheistic content. An investigation was carried out by the city and the University of Jena. In order not to be arrested, Knutzen first evaded to Coburg , then to Altdorf near Nuremberg and was seen for the last time in Jena on October 22, 1674. After that his track is lost. Johann Moller wrote in his writer's lexicon Cimbria literata (printed 1744) that Knutzen should have died in an Italian monastery, but this message is questionable and was probably invented to discredit both Knutzen and the Catholic Church.

Teaching

In his three pamphlets from 1674, Knutzen claimed that there was a sect or community of “ conscientious ” or “conscientarians” (from Latin conscientia “conscience”). This should already have members in various places (Hamburg, Jena, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, etc.), allegedly over 700 in Jena alone. However, this information is to be doubted and Knutzen's doctrine of the "conscience" was his own.

According to Knutzen there are no transcendent quantities such as B. God, immortal souls or an afterlife with reward or punishment for earthly life. The Bible is not credible because of its contradictions. The yardstick for human actions should be science, reason and the collective conscience that nature has communicated to human beings. That is why the secular and ecclesiastical authorities are superfluous. Wealth should be distributed fairly among people. The top rule is: "Live honestly, harm no one and give everyone their own" (Latin: "Honeste vivere, neminem laedere, suum cuique tribuere"; a Roman legal principle according to Ulpian ). Knutzen also denied the sense of marriage and pleaded for free love.

Amicus Amicis Amica , printed by Johannes Musaeus 1675

In his letter Amicus Amicis Amica! Written in Latin . Knutzen summarized his atheist credo as follows:

"Insuper Deum negamus, Magistratum ex alto despicimus, Templa quoque cum omnibus Sacerdotibus rejicientes."

"We also deny God, we deeply despise the authorities and we also reject the churches with all pastors."

Knutzen was previously mentioned as a possible author of the text De tribus impostoribus , but is no longer considered to be the “main suspect” of today's research.

Sources and reception

Knutzen was obviously inspired by socinianism ; he also knew Spinoza's Tractatus theologico-politicus , which had been public since 1670. Other influences are difficult to identify and are controversial. However, it can be proven that Knutzen was well versed in philosophical literature down to inconspicuous details.

Knutzen's views initially aroused strong opposition from church authors. In 1677 two writings appeared against him. In one of them z. B. the Lutheran theologian Tobias Pfanner (1641-1716) that Knutzen's work surpassed the nefariousness of all previously known religious enemies.

Pierre Bayle included Knutzen in his Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697, further editions in the 18th century). For the philosophers of the Enlightenment , Knutzen became the first atheist to be understood as a person.

Works

  • Epistola amici ad amicum [Latin: letter from a friend to a friend], also under the title Amicus Amicis Amica! [Latin: Kind wishes of a friend for his friends], (allegedly) Rome 1674.
  • Conversation between a host and three guests of dissimilar religion. 1674.
  • Conversation between a field preacher named Dr. Heinrich Brummer and a Latin pattern writer. 1674.

Work editions

  • M. Knutzen, a German atheist and revolutionary democrat of the 17th century. Pamphlets and contemporary socially critical writings. Edited and introduced by Werner Pfoh. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1965.
  • Matthias Knutzen: Writings, documents. Edited by Winfried Schröder . Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2010, ISBN 978-3-7728-1656-7

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Winfried Schröder in: Matthias Knutzen: Writings, documents. 2010, p. 8
  2. ↑ Dieter Lohmeier: KNUTZEN, Matthias. In: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon. IV. P. 128
  3. ^ Winfried Schröder in: Matthias Knutzen: Writings, documents. 2010, p. 14
  4. ↑ Cantzen: The first atheist of the modern age (manuscript), pp. 7-10
  5. ^ Winfried Schröder in: Matthias Knutzen: Writings, documents. 2010, p. 37
  6. ↑ For the translation cf. Cantzen: The first atheist of modern times (manuscript), p. 12
  7. ↑ Cantzen: The First Atheist of Modern Times (manuscript), p. 8
  8. ^ Schröder: Matthias Knutzen. 1998, p. 421
  9. ^ Schröder: Matthias Knutzen. 1998, p. 420
personal data
SURNAME Knutzen, Matthias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knuzen, Matthias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German critic of religion and atheist
DATE OF BIRTH 1646
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenswort , Holstein
DATE OF DEATH after 1674