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[German Version] (Nov 24, 1663, Neuchâtel – Apr 14, 1747, Neuchâtel), son of a Neuchâtel minister. Ostervald studied theology in Orléans, Paris, and Saumur, graduated in 1683, became a deacon in 1686, and in 1699 a Reformed minister in Neuchâtel. On his own initiative he taught students embarking on theological studies, his goal being a comprehensive reformation. He was considered the most influential Neuchâtel theologian and preacher of his time. His reforms focused especially on dogmatics and et…

[German Version] (Hans Kaspar Schwei[t]zer; Jun 26, 1619 or 1620, Frauenfeld – Dec 29, 1684, Zürich), Reformed theologian and philologist. The son of a pastor, Suicer was educated in Zürich, Saumur, and Montauban; in 1643 he was appointed pastor in Basadingen, in Thurgovia. In 1644 he moved to Zürich, initially as a teacher, then after 1646 as superintendent of the seminary and professor of Hebrew. In 1649 he was appointed professor of catechetics and in 1656 professor of Latin and Greek at the Co…

[German Version] (Oct 21, 1741, Zürich – May 29, 1828, Zürich). After studying theology in Zürich, where he belonged to the circle of Enlightenment scholars around Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698–1783) and J.J. Breitinger, and after completing his curacy, Heß worked as a private Bible scholar. In 1767/1768 his recognition of the inner coherence of biblical history caused him to undergo a theological reorientation. He became second priest at the Fraumünster Church in Zürich in 1777, priest at the Großmün…

[German Version] (Sep 22, 1508, Schattenhalb, Canton Bern – Jun 22, 1585, Basel), important Swiss theologian.After studying in Bern, Lucerne, Straßburg (Strasbourg), and Basel, where he met B. Haller, O. Myconius, M. Bucer, W. Capito, and S. Grynaeus, he served initially as a teacher in Bern. In 1537 he received his M.A. at Basel. After 1536 he displayed a preference for Lutheran theology and advocated a Swiss-German confessional union. In 1538, against growing resistance, he attempted to introduc…

[German Version] (Dec 16, 1561, Troppau/Silesia – Jul 18, 1610, Basel), attended school in Breslau and studied in Tübingen (1583), Basel (1583), and Geneva (1584), where T. Beza contributed to his theological training. After long activity as an educator, he gained a doctorate in 1590 at Basel, and served among the Moravian Brethren. In 1596 he became professor of Old Testament studies in Basel. A Calvinist first raised as a Lutheran, he was the versatile close collaborator, and son-in-law, of J.J.…

[German Version] (Nov 15, 1747, Zürich – Sep 11, 1792, Zürich), son of a pastor, received schooling and university education in Zürich. He was ordained in 1767, and became a deacon in 1775; in 1778, after the departure of J.C. Lavater, he became first pastor at the Waisenhaus (orphanage). In 1786, Pfenninger followed his friend Lavater as deacon at St. Peter’s, Zürich. The most outstanding among his many publications are Jüdische Briefe oder eine Messiade in Prosa [Jewish letters or a messiad in prose]; 12 vols., 1783–1790), a New Testament history in the form of letter…

[German Version] (Sep 18, 1786, Ludwigsburg – Feb 21, 1862, Weinsberg). Kerner studied medicine in Tübingen from 1804 to 1808; from 1810 to 1850 he worked in Württemberg as a popular Romantic physician and medical writer. Kerner's poetry, which he began publishing in 1807/1808, made him the focus of a circle of Swabian poets. He was also interested in animal magnetism, somnambulism, siderism, and occult phenomena, and tried to introduce parapsychology into his medical practice. In addition to his poetry, his novel Reiseschatten (1811) and his occultist Die Seherin von Prevorst (1829;…

[German Version] (or Simmler; Nov 6, 1530, Kappel – Jul 2, 1576, Zürich), Reformed theologian, mathematician, astronomer, and historian. He was educated in Kappel, where his father Peter had been prior of the Cistercian convent, and in Zürich with his godfather and later father-in-law H. Bullinger before completing university study in 1546/1547 at Basel and Straßburg (Strasbourg). After ordination in 1549, he served as a temporary pastor; in 1552 he was appointed pastor in Zollikon. While there he…

[German Version] (Dec 31, 1753, Basadingen, near Zürich – Mar 12, 1821, Zürich), Reformed theologian. The son of Friedrich Salomon, a master shoemaker, and Judith Hofstätter, he received his training in Zürich and was ordained in 1774. After employment as a tutor in Weinfelden (Thurgau), in 1781 on the recommendation of J.K. Lavater he was appointed second Reformed pastor in Offenbach am Main; on the strength of his excellent reputation, in 1784 he was appointed preacher at the Martinskirche in Br…

[German Version] (May 17, 1826, Stuttgart – May 12, 1902, Halle) studied philosophy and theology in Tübingen from 1844 to 1848, became academic tutor at the Tübingen Stift in 1850 (Tübingen: II), second university preacher and associate professor in Göttingen in 1855, professor of systematic theology in Breslau in 1860, and finally in Halle in 1870, where he held influential church offices. Influenced by L. v. Ranke's historiography, Köstlin was one of the most prominent 19th-century scholars conducting research on Luther and published both a theology of Luther (1863; 21901; repr. 1…

[German Version] (Mar 31, 1519, Schaffhausen – Aug 7, 1600, Schaffhausen), Protestant theologian and Reformer. After studying theology at Basel, Straßburg (Strasbourg), and Wittenberg, on the recommendation of Luther and Melanchthon he began working in 1543 to introduce the Reformation in Lohr am Main, the comital seat, where he composed a church order (no longer extant). In 1566 he became a pastor at the Schaffhausen minster; in 1559 he was promoted to antistes. Ulmer championed continuing the Re…

[German Version] (Jun 26, 1706, Worb, near Bern – Jun 29, 1779, Marburg), Reformed theologian. The son of a pastor, Wyttenbach studied at the Acad-¶ emy in Bern, where he showed an early interest in the philosophy of G.W. Leibniz and C. Wolff. After ordination in 1732, he initially assisted his father in Worb; in the course of an educational tour, he came to Marburg in 1735 to hear Wolff ’s lectures. On his return, he once more assisted his father; after several unsuccessful applications, in 1740 he was appointed deacon at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bern. His three-volume Tentamen theologi…

[German Version] 1. Johann Friedrich (1708, Bern – May 1775, Bern). After studying in Brugg, Bern, and Marburg, Stapfer served from 1738 to 1740 as a military chaplain in Waldstätten (Bern) and from 1740 to 1750 as a tutor and garrison chaplain in Oberdießbach (near Thun). From 1750 to 1775 he served there as pastor, succeeding S. Lutz. He turned down offers of a chair at Marburg. After 1743 he published a final systematic treatise of “polemics”, his Institutiones theologiae polemicae univesae (5 vols., 1743–1747); his other major works include his dogmatic Grundlegung zur wahren Relig…

1. Grundlagen 1.1. BegriffZ. und Zauber treten in vielfältigen kulturellen Kontexten auf. Sie sind neben Divination und Orakel Teil der umfassenderen Magie. Thematisch ist die pluriforme Z. als soziale Interaktionsform eng mit Hexerei (Hexe; Hexer), Volksfrömmigkeit, »Aberglauben« u.Ä. verbunden. Die neuere Forschung meidet den Begriff weitgehend zugunsten von Magie, zu deren Synonym Z. so wird. Diese semantische Reduktion resultiert aus der Schwierigkeit, Z. präzise zu definieren und von Magie und Hexerei abzugrenzen. Erkennb…

1. Begriff 1.1. AskeseA. (Aszese) ist ein »Grundbegriff der europ. Kulturgeschichte« [18. 287], dessen nzl. Verwendung ohne Kenntnis seiner antiken und frühma. Geschichte kaum plausibel wird. Der Begriff leitet sich von dem griech. Verb askeín (»sich in etwas üben«) ab; die damit gemeinte – häufig methodisch geprägte – »Übung« (griech. áskēsis) bezog sich auf körperliche (z. B. sportliche oder militärische) und im übertragenen Sinn auf geistig-moralische Lebensbereiche (wie Philosophie und Tugend). In diesem Kontext fehlte noch der erst später …

1. Concept 1.1. AsceticismAsceticism is a “fundamental concept of European cultural history”, [18] whose use in the Modern Period can scarcely be said to make sense without a knowledge of its history in Antiquity and the Early Medieval Period. The term goes back to the Greek verb askeín (“to practise something”); the “practice” (Gr. áskesis) referred to was frequently defined in terms of method, and related to physical (e.g. sportive or military) as well as, by extrapolation, intellectual and moral areas of life (such as philosophy and virtue). S…

1. Introduction 1.1. ConceptSorcery and spells occur in a variety of cultural contexts. Alongside divination and the use of oracles, they form part of magic in a wider sense. Pluriform sorcery as a form of social interaction is closely related to witchcraft (Witch), popular religion, superstition, and other topics. Recent scholarship has tended to avoid the term in favor of magic. However, despite many overlaps, there are clearly recognizable differences between magic and sorcery, in regard to the …

[German Version] I. City and Diocese – II. University I. City and Diocese The beginnings of the city and diocese are unclear. The name “Basilia” for the settlement at the bend of the Rhine is first mentioned around 374. The earliest evidence of Christian presence comes from the fort of Kaiseraugst, which lies not far from Basel. Only in the Carolingian period, from 740, is Basel attested as the per…

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich S. meint die gewaltsame Vernichtung des eigenen Lebens durch eigene Hand, wozu auch Tötung auf Verlangen gehört. Bez. wie »Selbstmord« oder »Freitod« sind obsolet. Kulturelle Traditionen regeln die Zulässigkeit von S. unterschiedlich. In Stammeskulturen bitten Alte und Kranke in der Kalahari oder anderen extrem ariden Regionen Angehörige um den Tod. Könige und Häuptlinge afrikanischer Stammeskulturen müssen, lassen Kriegsglück oder Körperkräfte nach, s…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Suicide is the violent taking of one’s own life by one’s own hand; it also includes voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide. Cultural traditions vary greatly regarding the admissibility of suicide. In tribal cultures, the aged and infirm in the Kalahari or other extremely arid regions ask their relatives for death. Kings and chiefs in African tribal cultures must kill themselves when the fortunes of war turn against them or they grow frail. To avoid dying in bed…