Sebastian Friedrich Trescho

Sebastian Friedrich Trescho (born December 9, 1733 in Liebstadt / Prussia , † October 29, 1804 in Mohrungen ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian.

Life

The son of a judiciary had attended school in his hometown and was trained by private tutors. He completed a degree in theology at the University of Königsberg , where he was primarily supported by Franz Albert Schultz and where he developed a fondness for poetics and music. During that time he had financed his living as a tutor until he could get a scholarship. After completing his studies, he earned himself a position as court master in Königsberg and at that time joined a literary association which would later bring him advantageous connections. Illnesses forced him to return to home. In 1760 he became a deacon in Mohrungen. Here he had also taken over the pastor's duties and took the young Johann Gottfried Herder into his house without realizing his talent.

In his leisure hours he had published a collection of poems under the title Religion, Friendship and Morals in 1761 , and in the same year had his sermons on practical Christianity printed for a Countess von Dönhoff . Although, as an enlightened Pietist, he continued to adhere strictly to the doctrinal concept of Lutheran orthodoxy , he was not rigidly opposed to rationalism, as the letters on the latest theological literature published between 1764 and 1766 show. Most clearly the idea circle Treschos in 1763 showed written story of his heart and in the death Bible , which he had previously published a year in three parts.

Less applause than the last-named work was a Bible of Life, written at the request of Miss Susanne von Klettenberg in Frankfurt am Main, with the title: The Art of Living Happily . Johann Joachim Spalding's work on the value of the feelings of Christianity countered Trescho with an assessment in letters in 1764 , and the famous theologian eliminated the objections raised against him in a new edition of his work. Trescho was not treated so gently in a review of the Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek when he had published the letters on the latest theological literature mentioned above from 1764 to 1766 . Since then he has left the field of theological literature and occupied himself with the writing of writings which, according to his own statements, were intended to serve for Christian edification, for fixing in pure doctrine, but then also for a graceful and innocent recreation .

Among several writings in which he pursued this aim, his Apology, published in 1775, deserves to be emphasized for the perpetuation of the true religion of Jesus . He found the reason for this writing in his admission to the members of the Swedish society pro fide et Christianismo . At that time he had affectionately attached himself to Swiss theologians, especially Johann Caspar Lavater . His correspondence with this friend, if he had not burned it, along with his other letters, before his death, would provide the best information about the way in which he built himself up with him and encouraged him to hold on unshaken to the faith and the real Doctrine of Christ. Through the practical application of their truths to the heart, especially in the teaching of his catechumens, he sought to lead them to piety and virtue.

His religious sense and the mildness of his character gained him many friends, which, with limited official income, especially since he had gained a small fortune due to the death of his siblings, made him unsolicited to a benefactor of the poor and needy. Living celibate and thrifty, he was able to distribute a few hundred thalers a year among those in need. He bequeathed all of his fortune, consisting of a few thousand guilders, to the city poor at a time when the decline in his strength was becoming more and more palpable. Several cases of illness, particularly frequent blood loss, had undermined his health. Now I am , he wrote to a friend in the last years of his life, a cloud without water, a threshed straw, and every day I see my picture on the dead fruit trees in my garden. But sometimes I feel like a light that is still glowing close to being extinguished, and which can be kept glowing for a few minutes by holding the wick up a little .

Hope of recovery grew weaker and weaker in early 1804. The cheerfulness which, despite the prevailing serious mood, had previously made him a pleasant company, seemed to have left him forever. Often in the last years of his life he felt deeply saddened by the degenerate customs in small towns, which displaced religious beliefs in his place of residence and tried to thwart the efforts of honest men. Trescho died unmarried and without children.

Works

• Reflections on genius. Koenigsberg 1755
• General reasons of a Christian world-wise for satisfaction. Koenigsberg 1759
• Thoughts on the Savior's death in the prime of his life. Koenigsberg 1759
• Religion, friendship and morals, in some poems. Koenigsberg 1761
• Sermons on Practical Christianity. Koenigsberg 1761
• New year gift for my fellow citizens. Koenigsberg 1761
• Monuments before the building of the kingdom of God to M. in P. in letters, messages and essays. Koenigsberg 1761
• Nibbling in the visiting room on New Year's Day. Koenigsberg 1762
• Small experiments in thinking and feeling. Koenigsberg 1762
• Death Bible, or the art of dying blessed and happy. Königsberg 1762, 3 parts; 2nd edition Königsberg 1767, 3 parts
• Diversions at the expense of nature in some summer hours. Koenigsberg 1762
• History of my heart, drawn from the events of the past for the benefit of the year to come. Koenigsberg 1763
• Judgment of Scripture: On the Value of Emotions in Christianity. Frankfurt am Main 1764
• Letters on the latest theological literature. Berlin 1764–1766, 4th parts
• The art of living happily as a weekly publication for edification. Koenigsberg 1765
• Encouragement to believe and to be sanctified during Jesus' passion, meditation and song. Danzig 1767
• The science of dying blessed and happy in poetry and prose. Königsberg and Leipzig 1767, 2nd parts
• New letters on subjects of spiritual science. Danzig 1768–1771, 4th parts
• Encouragement to believe and to be sanctified during Advent and Christmas, in meditations and songs. Danzig 1769
• Christian diary for private and domestic worship. Königsberg 1772–1773, 2nd parts
• Reminder words for every day. Koenigsberg 1772
• The Advantages of Early Acquaintance with Death. Koenigsberg 1774, 1779
• Apology for the constant persistence of the true religion of Jesus until the end of days. Wroclaw 1775
• Religious minor hours; a periodical font. Danzig 1777
• Spiritual reflections on the history and doctrine of the resurrection of the Savior. Danzig 1778
• New religious auxiliary hours 1st vol. Königsberg 1784
• Short essays for building your own home. Halberstadt 1788
• Memorial to a deceased friend, the wife Catharina Elisabeth Alsen, b. Gehrke in Mohrungen. Koenigsberg 1795
• On the duty of Christians to celebrate the Lord's Supper. A gift for the blessed youth. Koenigsberg 1801

literature

• Reinhard Breymayer [editor]: Sebastian Friedrich Trescho, bibliographical references. In: Friedrich Christoph Oetinger: The school chart of Princess Antonia of Württemberg. Edited by Reinhard Breymayer and Friedrich Häußermann, part 2. Notes , Walter de Gruyter; Berlin, New York 1977 ( Texts on the History of Pietism , Section VII. Friedrich Christoph Oetinger , Volume 1, Part 2), ISBN 3-11-004130-8 . Pp. 12-17.
• Heinrich Doering : The learned theologians of Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Verlag Johann Karl Gottfried Wagner, Neustadt an der Orla 1835, vol. 4, p. 513, ( online )
• Georg Christoph Hamberger , Johann Georg Meusel : The learned Teutschland, or lexicon of the now living German writers. Verlag Meyer, Lemgo, 5th ed., 1800, vol. 8, ( online ); 1805, Vol. 11. P. 725, ( Online )
• Constantin Grosse: The old consolers. A guide to the edification literature of the Evangelical Lutheran. Church from the 16th to 18th centuries. Missionsbuchhandlung, Hermannsburg 1900, p. 583, online at archive.org
• Friedrich Rassmann: Short literary dictionary of the deceased German poets and writers belonging to beautiful literature in eight periods, from 1137 to 1824. Verlag Wilhelm Lauffer, Leipzig, 1826, p. 209, ( online )
• Gottfried Lebrecht Richter: General biographical lexicon of old and new sacred song poets. Verlag Gottfried Martini, Leipzig, 1804, p. 411, ( online )
• Oskar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff: New, elegant conversation lexicon for educated people from all classes. Verlag Ch. E. Kollmann, Leipzig 1837, p. 431, ( online )
• Paul Tschackert :  Trescho, Sebastian Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 38, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 574 f.