Sebastian Boetius

Sebastian Boetius (born January 19, 1515 in Guben ; † June 8, 1573 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German Protestant theologian.

Life

Born the son of a mayor, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg in 1532 , where he attended lectures from Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon . Recommended by Melanchthon in 1536 as rector to Eisenach, he went back to Wittenberg after seven years to advance his theology studies. In 1544 he went to Mühlhausen , where he replaced his father-in-law Justus Menius as pastor and superintendent.

After the city accepted the Augsburg interim , he went to the Marienkirche in Halle (Saale) as a deacon and replaced Justus Jonas the elder as superintendent after his escape from the city. In 1552 Boetius founded the Marienbibliothek . In 1567 he left Halle to return to his former community in Mühlhausen. The following year, however, he went back to Halle, where he stayed until his death without holding any further office.

At his deathbed he united the Halle preachers and was able to unite them on August 10, 1573 on a joint confessional formula of the "formula confessionis". Boetius was considered a docile and eager theologian of his time, who significantly expanded the school system in Mühlhausen in order to combat illiteracy. He continued this in Halle and had special contact there with Martin Chemnitz and the Wittenberg theologians. He is also said to have converted Archbishop Sigismund to Lutheran doctrine.

Works

Funeral sermon for Archbishop Sigismund. Muhlhausen 1566.
Index Cinglianorum quorundam errorum in catechesi Wittebergensi ova cemprehnsorum adnotatus a ministris ecclesiae Halensis. 1571.

literature

Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : Sebastian Boetius. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 669. ( Article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )
Adolf Brecher : Boetius, Sebastian . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 35.
Horst Nitschke: Boetius, Sebastian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 409 ( digitized version ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Justus Jonas the Elder	Senior Pastor at the Marktkirche Our Dear Women 1547–1573	Lucas Maius

personal data
SURNAME	Boetius, Sebastian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Boecius, Sebastian; Boëthius, Sebastian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH	January 19, 1515
PLACE OF BIRTH	Guben
DATE OF DEATH	June 8, 1573
Place of death	Halle (Saale)