Wilhelm Paul Verpoorten

Wilhelm Paul Verpoorten (also: ver Poorten ; born September 4, 1721 in Neustadt an der Haide ; † January 17, 1794 in Danzig ) was a German educator and Lutheran theologian.

Life

The son of Albrecht Meno Verpoorten had received his first lessons at the Casimirianum Coburg and continued his education at the academic high school in Danzig . After receiving an extensive education in history, mathematics, philosophy, rhetoric and poetry, he defended his final dissertation Calor sub nube torrente Esa in the presence of his father . 25, 5, in versione Hieronymi vulgataque obvius, ad testum hebraeum reique ipsius naturam expensus . In the same year he began studying at the University of Leipzig, where he studied philosophical sciences under Christian Gottlieb Jöcher , Johann Friedrich Christ and Johann Christoph Gottsched . He also attended lectures at the theological faculty, for example with Johann Martin Chladni . Educated in this way, he acquired the academic degree of a master's degree in philosophy in 1745 by defending the dissertation de Concilio oecumenico secundo, Constantinopolitano primo and thus received the right to hold lectures at the university. However, the increasing old age of his father caused him to return to Danzig, where he prepared himself for a ministry.

In 1751 Verpoorten became a preacher in Stüblau , he went to the Katharinenkirche in Danzig as second deacon in 1762 and developed a certain literary activity during this time. After Ernst August Bert Ling's death, he became director of the academic school in Gdansk and completed for this purpose in 1770 at the University of Konigsberg its graduation to the doctor of theology, with the defense of Scripture de habitu legis ad poenitentiam et fidem . On his return to Danzig he worked for twenty-three years as the principal of the important grammar school until the end of his life. He married Anna Elenore Schulz († 1775) in 1754. After the death of his wife, his sister, the widow († 1793) of Gottlieb Wernsdorf I , offered him edifying hours. Ever since he began to feel the decrease in his strength, he had looked forward to his end with calm. After some of his last utterances, he sensed the nearness of his death. With his immediate surroundings he spoke about the immortality of the soul and about the joyful comfort that his religious convictions offer him in this regard. Death , he said among others, is not bitter for me, it is only a painful second; but one is happy to endure it if one only knows that one will then be free from the complaints of the body, from all imperfections in the world and from sin .

The purity of his disposition and, at the same time, his equanimity in all changing living conditions emerged from his unmistakable religiosity. Many amiable features showed his character from an advantageous side. He was fair in his judgment of others, and apologized for their mistakes instead of sharply reproaching them. These principles of forbearance and fairness were particularly evident in the conduct of his education department. Wherever the punishment of juvenile offenses required it, he always combined kindness with severity. These qualities made him a loyal, self-sacrificing friend. He was pleasant to everyone, friendly and condescending even to the lowest, genuinely sympathetic in joys and sorrows, ready to serve and benevolent without appearances and noises, grateful even for the smallest service rendered to him. In doing so, he won the hearts of all, even those who could not appreciate him as a scholar.

Act

Verpoorten had a very thorough knowledge of the various branches of theological knowledge and of the oriental languages. The study of patristics seemed to have been very attractive to him. But in his writings, mostly Latin dissertations and programs, he mainly dealt with dogmatic subjects. These include the treatises de resurrectione impiorum merito Christi non impetrata (1774); de vindiciis doctrinae de suppliciis damnatorum aeternis (1774), vindicatio expiationis nostrae per Christum adsertae (1775); de animarum statu post mortem medio (1790) and others.

His theological views, which he expressed in these treatises, were based on an inner conviction based on research, among which his Theses ex Theologia symbolica , published in 1791, cannot be overlooked. He expressed himself particularly clearly in the refutation of the atheist creed that Jean-Jacques Rousseau had published in his Émile in May 1762. This astute treatise, translated into French by Timaeus (1766), is to be found in the Danzig Reports of Theological Writings from 1764 to 1765 (vol. 1, p. 357 ff., Vol. 2, p. 157 ff.).

Works

• Diss. De auctore secundae tertiaeque Epistolae Johannis. Danzig 1741
• Diss. Calor sub nube torrente Esa. 25, 5, in versione Hieronymi vulgataque obvius, ad textum Hebraeum reique ipsius naturam expensus. Jena 1743
• Diss. De Concilio oecumenico secundo, Constantinopolitano primo. Leipzig 1745
• Diss. Inaug. de habitu legis ad poenitentiam et fidem. Koenigsberg / Pr. 1770
• Progr. De praesidiis Theologo ex historia Ecclesiae petendis. Danzig 1770
• Danzig reports of theological writings. (published by Verpoorten since 1774)
• Diss. De resurrectione impiorum merito Christi non impetrate. Danzig 1774
• Diss. De vindiciis doctrinae de suppliciis damnatorum aeternis. Danzig 1774
• Progr. De Taxa Camerae Apostolicae Romanae. Danzig 1774
• Progr. De gigantibus. Danzig 1774
• Progr. Lessingius pacificator inter Eberhardum et Orthodoxos de aeternitale poenarum disceptantes. Danzig 1774
• Diss. Vindicatio expiationis nostrae per Christum adsertae. Danzig 1775
• Commentationis de sensu oraculi 1 Timoth. 4, 1. 2. 3. Pari I et II. Danzig 1777–1779
• Progr. De geniis seu naturis humana praestantioribus. Danzig 1779
• Diss. De sensualitate fonte peccatorum. Danzig 1782
• Spicilegium (Calixti) de conjugio Clericorum. Pars I and II. Danzig 1735–1786
• Progr. De Mauibus eorumque natura et visione. Danzig 1787
• Progr. Spes emendationis Ecclesiae Romanae nostris temporibus inchoata quidem sed inanis, quo ad felicem redintegrationem Collegii Prof. Gedan. peragendam invitat. Danzig 1789
• Diss. De animarum statu post mortem medio. Danzig 1790
• Epistola de antiquorum studio promovendae et stabiliendae unitatis ad spectabiles Ecclesiae. Danzig 1790
• Theses ex Theologia symbolica. Danzig 1791

literature

• Heinrich Doering : The learned theologians of Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Verlag Johann Karl Gottfried Wagner, 1835, Neustadt an der Orla, vol. 4, p. 589, ( online )
• Johann Georg Meusel : Lexicon of the German writers who died from 1750 to 1800. Gerhard Fleischer d. J., Leipzig 1815, vol. 14, p. 247 ( online )
• Friedrich von Schlichtegroll : Nekrolog on the year 1794. Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1796, 5th year, vol. 1, p. 1, ( online )