Wilhelmus Schortinghuis

Wilhelmus Schortinghuis (born February 23, 1700 in Winschoten , † November 20, 1750 in Midwolda ) was a Dutch Reformed theologian and nationally important pietist .

Life

Wilhelm Schortinghuis was born in 1700 as the son of the baker Jurjen Willemsz. Schortinghuis and by Trijntje Sikkesdr. Schildkamp was born in Winschoten in the Netherlands. He attended Latin school. When he was an orphan when he was 13 years old, he was apprenticed to a silversmith. From 1719 to 1722 he studied theology in Groningen . In 1723 he became the second preacher in Weener ( East Friesland ), where he worked until 1734. There Schortinghuis married his wife Aletta Busz, a pastor's daughter from Uitwierda, on December 13, 1723. She gave him eleven children, five of whom died in their early teens. A daughter and four sons, all of whom became preachers, survived the father. Initially Schortinghuis turned as representatives of Reformed orthodoxy against the pietism of his counterpart Henricus Klugkist , experienced in 1724 through its preaching a conversion to a practical Christianity and soon became one of the most famous preacher in the region. On August 1, 1734, he accepted a position as a preacher in Midwolda, where he died on November 20, 1750.

plant

Schortinghuis published collections of edifying songs in 1727 and 1729. In 1738 he published the book Necessary Truths for the Heart of a Christian , in which he placed the emphasis on inwardness but was based on Reformed dogmatics. His work Het intimate Christendom from 1740, which he submitted to the University of Groningen for imprimatur , was best known . Some of the censors were bothered by the mysticism of the book, especially because of the fact that man did not have to become anything in his rebirth so that God could be everything in him. The book was approved for publication on April 22nd, but it contained the skeptical comment of the censors and the correspondence between them and Schortinghuis as a preface. The second edition appeared in September 1740 with the approval of the Klassis, the regional association of parishes as part of the synod , without the foreword. Due to the disputes between the Faculty of Groningen, the Synod and the Klassis, a new publication was prohibited. Nevertheless, the third edition appeared as early as 1742, which testifies to the rapid spread of the work. Further prints appeared well into the 20th century.

In the book, an “ungraded”, a “little believer”, a “pardoned” and a “trained” talk in 25 dialogues. The aim of Schortinghuis was to promote the “spiritual knowledge” and the inner experience of the truth of faith through the Holy Spirit, not just the “letter knowledge” of the Christian faith, that is, a purely letter-based knowledge. Fundamental spiritual knowledge is five times nothing: “I don't want anything, I know nothing, I have nothing, I am no good. ... It has always been my desire that God want to be everything and I want to be nothing. ”The book was extremely controversial: some saw it as a restoration of Christianity, others as its destruction. In particular, criticism of Schortinghuis's understanding of scripture was voiced: Scripture loses its meaning if recognition of its truths is insufficient, but additional internal knowledge is necessary. Preachers began to warn against Schortinghuis and his book because they feared a dissolution of church life and church structures. Although mainly Dutch theologians such as Nicolaas Hartmann ( Zwolle ) and Hermann Stegnerus (Noordbroek) publish writings against Schortinghuis, the book quickly spread to the population. Schortinghuis received support from Emden and from some preachers from East Friesland, including Eduard Meiners , who wrote a defense for him. On June 22nd, 1745, the Synod of Overijssel rejected the book, but all other synods in the Netherlands rejected the proposal of the Synod of Overijssel to also condemn the book.

Publications

• Geestelike sang tot ontdekkinge, overtuiginge, bestieringe, en opwekkinge van allerley soorten van Menschen, so onbekeerde, as ook bekeerde, as mede enige knopte sang over de voornaamste goddelyke waarheden: waar agter nog gevoegt van den een lykot-gedigt is een lykot-gedigt : Godz: heer Sicco Tjaden. Groningen 1727; Reprint: Koster, Barneveld 2002, ISBN 90-5551-262-1 .
• Bevindelike sang, set to music een uitverkoren sondaar in syne natuirstaat, an sig selfs ontdekt en sacred. Groningen 1729.
• Nodige waarheden in het herte van een christians. Groningen 1738.
• Het intimate christendom tot overtuiginge van onbegenadigde, bestieringe en opwekkinge van begenadigde goals, in its most sensible en essential deelen gestaltelik en bevindelik voorgestelt in t'zamenspraken. Groningen 1740; Reprint: Ten Hertog, Utrecht 1981, ISBN 90-331-0289-7 .
• De born Christ, of Geestelike bedenkingen, over de verborgentheid der godsaligheid die groot is. Groningen 1746; Reprinted by Snoek, Ermelo 2004, ISBN 90-76731-47-0 .

literature

• Roel A. Bosch: Wilhelmus Schortinghuis. De Groot Goudriaan, Kampen 2007, ISBN 978-90-6140-996-0 .
• Martin Brecht (ed.): History of Pietism. Volume 2: Pietism in the Eighteenth Century. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995.
• Heinrich Heppe: History of Pietism and Mysticism in the Reformed Church. EJ Brill, Leiden 1879.
• Walter Hilbrands : On the history of the reformed church in Weener . In: Church council of the evangelical reformed community Weener (ed.): Festschrift 300 years of the Arp Schnitger organ . H. Risius, Weener 2010, p. 63-83 .
• Walter Hollweg: The history of older Pietism in the Reformed communities of East Frisia from their beginnings to the great awakening movement (around 1650–1750). Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1978.
• Johannes Christiaan Kromsigt: Wilhelmus Schortinghuis. Eene Bladzijde uit de Geschiedenis van het Pietisme in de Gereformeerde Kerk van Nederland. Wolters, Groningen 1904.
• Aeilt Fr. Risius: From Weener's ecclesiastical past: testimonies to the thousand-year history of the local church. In: Festschrift for the commissioning of the renovated St. George's Church in Weener. 1972, pp. 17-28.
• Menno Smid: East Frisian Church History (= East Frisia in the protection of the dike , Bd. 6). H. Risius, Weener 1974.

Web links

• Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (Dutch).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hollweg: History of older Pietism , p. 168.
2. ^ Brecht: History of Pietism , p. 563.
3. ↑ Heppe: History of Pietism and Mysticism , p. 440.