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[German Version] (bapized Jan 6, 1617, Lampertheimin Elsaß [Alsace] – Jan 9, 1696, Straßburg [Strasbourg]). After studying theology in Straßburg, Wittenberg, and elsewhere, and Near Eastern languages in Basel with J. Buxtorf the Younger, he held ecclesiastical and educational appointments in Elsaß and southern Germany. In 1653 he was appointed professor of theology and preacher in Straßburg, where he also served as church president from 1666 until his death. A shy scholar, he was the most thorough…

[German Version] (Jun 20, 1594, Bautzen – Aug 27, 1658, Straßburg [Strasbourg]). Forced by the plague to leave Halle for Speyer in 1611, in 1612 Schmidt moved permanently to Straßburg, where he studied philosophy (M.A. in 1615) and theology. In 1617 he traveled to France and England. In 1623 he received his Dr.theol. from Straßburg and was appointed professor of theology, then church president in 1629. He led the Lutheran Church of Elsaß in the Thirty Years War. His personal example and published …

[German Version] (Mar 8, 1643, Leszno, Poland – Jan 15, 1715, Danzig [Gdansk]). After studying at Wittenberg with A. Calovius, in 1668 he was appointed deputy rector of the Gymnasium in Toruń; in 1673 he was appointed professor at the Danzig Gymnasium, and in 1681 deacon with the Katharinenkirche. In 1685 he was appointed rector of the Gymnasium and pastor of Sankt Trinitatis. His conflict with his Pietist colleague Konstantin Schütz turned into a literary debate with P.J. Spener that lasted for some years (e.g. Die Sektiererische Pietisterey, 1696/1697). Johannes Wallmann Bibliograph…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Prayer is one of the most frequent and important religious acts in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also appears in other religions – for example the indigenous religions of America. But it does not appear to be universal. Some Buddhist traditions, for example, are atheistic, and in them there is no prayer in the strict sense; these traditions often allow their adherents to pray to gods (e.g. Hindu gods), but they value the goals of such prayer less than enl…

[German Version] (Oct 17, 1582, Quedlinburg – Aug 17, 1637, Jena) was the most important theologian of Lutheran orthodoxy (II, 2.a). Comforted spiritually in a youthful illness by his “spiritual father” Johann Arndt, the very talented Gerhard initially studied medicine at Wittenberg, then theology at Jena, Marburg (with B. [I.] Mentzer) and again in Jena. After earning his doctorate in theology (1606), he was retained for church offices (1606 superintendent in Heldburg, 1615 general superintendent…

[German Version] (Oct 22, 1633, Hamelin – Sep 17, 1722, Hanover). After studying in Helmstedt (under G. Calixtus), Rinteln, and Strasbourg, in 1659 Molanus was appointed professor of mathematics, and in 1664 also of theology, in Rinteln. In 1671, he became a conventual in Loccum Abbey, in 1674 church director of the duchy of Calenberg (Hanover), and in 1677 abbot of Loccum. Though unimportant as a theologian, Molanus, as leader and organizer of a constantly increasing church territory ( inter alia union with Lüneburg 1705), can be considered the father of the Hanover region…

[German Version] The Formula of Concord ( Formula Concordiae) of 1577 is the result of the trans-regional settlement effort conducted in protracted, tedious negotiations intended to provide a common doctrinal basis for the Lutheran state churches that had splintered through doctrinal disputes after Luther's death and had separated into various doctrinal traditions – notably that of the Philippists (adherents of Melanchthon) and the Gnesio-Lutherans. Through its inclusion in t…

[German Version] (Jan 2, 1629, Rendsburg – Apr 5, 1693, Quedlinburg), was a classic author of Lutheran devotional literature; like J. Arndt, he urged internalization of Christianity, but he was more focused than Arndt on Luther and his doctrine of justification; he ¶ was a brilliant stylist of immense erudition, drawing on secular sources for his writings. After studying in Rostock (with J. Lütkemann), in 1653 he was appointed archdeacon in Stendal; in 1667 he was appointed pastor of Sankt Jacobi in Magdeburg, where he served for 23 year…

[German Version] (May 12, 1671, Uichteritz near Weißenfels – Aug 18, 1756, Hamburg), one of the last spokesmen for late Lutheran orthodoxy (II, 2.a). Neumeister began his theological studies in Leipzig with V. Alberti in 1689. After a brief period of teaching, he held various ecclesiastical offices, beginning in ¶ 1697. In 1704 he was appointed senior court chaplain, consistorial counselor, and superintendent in Sorau. In 1715 he became senior pastor of Sankt Jacobi in Hamburg. Neumeister flirted with Pietism as a student, but his ideas change…

[German Version] (Feb 25, 1651, Wrocław [Breslau], Poland – Oct 4, 1689, Moscow), a chiliastic mystic. While still a student of jurisprudence in Jena, Kuhlmann came under the influence of the Lutheran mysticism of H. Müller and published a collection of poems entitled Himmlische Liebesküsse ([Heavenly love-kisses] 1671, repr. 1971). In the Netherlands, he underwent a process of transformation between 1674 and 1678, influenced by the writings of J. Böhme and the eschatological expectations of Johannes Rothe, which caused him to become a church-critical millennialist ( Neubegeister…

[German Version] (1614, Münzenberg – Feb 20, 1683, Giessen). After studying in Marburg, he taught at the Pädagogium and was Archidiakonus there. In 1652, he became professor of Hebrew and theology in Giessen; in 1654, director of the institute for stipend recipients; in 1654, doctor of theology; in 1656, superintendent; in 1676, professor primarius. Misler wrote, in addition to numerous disputations, dogmatic ( Orthodoxia iuxta seriem articulorum Formulae Concordiae, 1669) and controversial writings ( Speculum Anti-Jesuiticum, 1660), as well as sermons. Twice (1653 and…

[German Version] (Dec 13, 1636, Lübeck – May 17, 1705, Magdeburg). After studying in Rostock and Altdorf, Fischer became a candidate for pastoral office in Stade, where he came into conflict with Lutheran orthodoxy (II, 2.a) after translating Puritanical literature (R. Baxter). In 1667–73 he was superintendent in Sulzbach/Upper Palatinate. In 1673 Charles XI appointed him superintendent in Riga; after becoming general superintendent of Livonia in 1678, Fischer, who was friends with P.J. Spener and…

[German Version] (Sep 7, 1640, Frankfurt am Main – May 21, 1690, Frankfurt), founder of separatist Lutheran Pietism. After studying at Jena and Tübingen, he began to practice law in Frankfurt am Main. Schütz ascribed his awakening to reading the sermons of J. Tauler. He inspired P.J. Spener to establish the Collegium pietatis in Frankfurt, in which he played a leading role for years, until he finally separated from the unreformable “Babel” of the Lutheran state church and championed an “impartial”…

[German Version] (Jan 14, 1664, Frankfurt am Main – Feb 14, 1722, Frankfurt). After studying philosophy and theology in Wittenberg (1680–1684), Schudt did five years of special Near Eastern studies in Hamburg with E. Edzard. Returning to Frankfurt in 1689, he began to teach at the Gymnasium in 1691; in 1695 he became deputy rector and in 1717 rector. He was considered the outstanding expert of his time on Judaism; his man…

[German Version] 1. Johannes (1551, Homberg – Aug 13, 1626, Gießen), Protestant theologian. Although trained as a blacksmith, he began studying at Marburg in 1568. In 1573 he became head of the municipal school in Homberg/Efze. In 1576 he continued his studies at Marburg. In 1582 he was appointed court chaplain in Kassel and in 1592 professor at Marburg as well as preacher at the Marienkirche. He was removed from his position in 1607 and went to Gießen, where he was co-founder of the Pedagogium and the university. In 1607 he was appointed full professor and in 1610 superintendent. In ¶ the cont…

[German Version] (Feb 18, 1683, Detmold – Dec 8, 1729, Bremen) was the most influential German Reformed theologian of the 18th century. Educated at the academic Gymnasium in Bremen under C. de Hase in the spirit of Reformed Precisism (G. Voetius), Lampe completed his theological studies in Franeker under C. Vitringa, who acquainted him with the chiliastically transformed covenant theology of J. Cocceius. In 1703, he became preacher in Weeze …

[German Version] (Jul 20, 1635, Ulm – Feb 23, 1706, Ulm). After studying in Straßburg (Strasbourg) and the Saxon universities, he was appointed preacher at the Ulm Minster in 1662 and professor of theology at the Ulm Gymnasium in…

1. Historical Survey The term “Thirty Years’ War,” first used shortly after 1648, denotes the series of political and military engagements that had its focus in central Europe from 1618 to 1648 but that affected the whole of Europe in its complexity, course, and consequences. At the beginning of the 17th century France was still resisting Hapsburg encirclement, the Estates-General were battling for freedom against Spain (though there was a 12-year truce starting in 1609), and the Nordic kingdoms of…

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[English Version] Rudrauff, Kilian (17.7.1627 Schotten, Oberhessen – 15.9.1690 Gießen). Nach Studium in Marburg und (nach Verlegung der Universität) in Gießen war er seit 1650 Lehrer am Pädagogium in Gießen, 1659 Prof. der Ethik, 1661 auch der Logik und Metaphysik, 1675 Prof. der Theol. ebd., seit 1677 auch Superintendent der Alsfelder, seit 1683 zugleich der Marburger Diözese der Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt. R. machte sich um den Katechismusunterricht verdient. Er nahm krit. zu Ph.J. Speners »…