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[German Version] (1583/1584, Oporto – April, 1640, Amsterdam). The son of a Portuguese Converso, Costa was able to return to Judaism after moving to Amsterdam in 1615. In 1618 he was excluded from the synagogue in Hamburg for criticizing important points of the Halakhic tradition (Halakhah). The Amsterdam synagogue pronounced a further ban in 1623 following his denial of the immortality of the soul. Costa's Exame das tradiçôes Phariseas (1624), in which he defended his opinions, was burnt. Costa was prepared to retract some of his statements, but i…

[German Version] (Rudbeckius; May 3, 1581, Ormesta, Sweden – Aug 8, 1646, Västerås, Sweden), leading Swedish bishop during Sweden’s period as a great power. In 1611 he was appointed professor of theology at Uppsala, in 1613 court preacher to Gustav II Adolf, and in 1618 bishop of Västerås. He had particular impact in that position, with his reforms of the educational system (including establishment of the first Gymnasium in Sweden), continuing education of the clergy, and poor relief; he also intr…

[German Version] (Mar 9, 1613, Freudenberg, near Ribnitz – Jun 1, 1677, Rostock), preacher from 1637 at the hospice church of St. George in Rostock, retired for health reasons in 1668. With his colleagues J. Quistorp the Younger, H. Müller, and T. Großgebauer, Schröder supported the program of church reform espoused by Lutheran orthodoxy (II, 2.a) in Rostock. He was not their equal as a theologian, but wrote prolifically demanding strict church discipline and personal sanctification. He attacked p…

[German Version] (Keimann; Feb 27, 1607, Pankratz, northern Bohemia – Jan 13, 1662, Zittau) was the son of a Protestant pastor who had been displaced by the Counter-Reformation. After studying theology in Wittenberg (notably under August Buchner), Christian Keymann became deputy principal (1634), then principal (1638) of Zittau's grammar school, which flourished under his leadership after the Peace of Westphalia. In 1651, Keymann was elected imperial poet laureate for his poetry (including chorals…

[German Version] (or Edzardus) (Jun 28, 1629, Hamburg – Jan 1, 1708, Hamburg). After studying Protestant theology and oriental languages, he received the Lic.theol. in 1656 and was a private scholar in Hamburg from 1657. From 1659 on, Edzard taught Hebrew language and literature to many students, including A.H. Francke (I), while also working for the conversion of the Jews of Ham…

[German Version] (Helvicus; Dec 26, 1581, Sprendlingen – Sep 10, 1617, Gießen), educationalist, orientalist and theologian, and professor at Gießen (1605). Helwig became known through his many textbooks on grammar, poetry and history, meant, first, to secure Lutheran orthodoxy (I, 2.a). After 1612, he was a zealous proponent of W. Ratke's “new style of teaching” and developed his approaches into a universal grammar. His major theological interest was missions to the Jews (Jewish Missions), which he sought to advance with writings on talmudic and rabbinic literature. Martin Friedr…

[German Version] (1654, Mannheim – Dec 20, 1704, Mannheim) began teaching in 1686 and was made professor of oriental languages in Heidelberg in 1700. Eisenmenger studied Hebrew, primarily in Amsterdam, and, from 1680, assembled the material for his major work, the two-volume Entdecktes Judenthum, which first appeared in 1700. The first edition was immediately confiscated on imperial orders after a complaint lodged by the Jews of Frankfurt, but in 1711, King Frederick I of Prussia commission…

[German Version] (Aug 26, 1794, Dornburg, Anhalt – Jan 23, 1859, Magdeburg), preacher at the Heilig-Geist-Kirche in Magdeburg from 1824. In 1840 he set off a controversy by declaring that praying to Christ was superstition. He was reprimanded by the consistory, a first attempt to force rationalism out of the Evangelical Church. Sintenis participated in the founding of the Protestant Lichtfreunde (“Friends of Light”) in 1841 and the Gustav Adolph Werk in 1843, but not until 1846 did he enter the lists against Neo-Orthodoxy with written attacks on the gene…

[German Version] (Feb 27, 1799, Köthen – Mar 23, 1872, Magdeburg). While a pastor in Pömmelte (today Schönebeck district, Saxony-Anhalt), in 1841 Uhlich founded the Protestantische Freunde (Lichtfreunde), a collective movement of theological Rationalism, and led the opposition to the restorative ecclesiastical policies of King Frederick William IV. In 1845 Uhlich was called to a pastorate in Magdeburg, but he was removed from office in 1847. The Free Congregation he led had a great many members for a while, but its impor…

[German Version] (Mar 7, 1632, Waldau, Pomerania [today Wałdowo, Poland] – Jan 6, 1709, Rendsburg). ¶ After studying at Wittenberg and extensive educational travel, Schwartz was appointed lecturer and pastor in Lund in 1668; in 1680 he became German court chaplain in Copenhagen and in 1684 royal general superintendent of the duchy of Schleswig, to which the duchy of Holstein was added in 1689 (Schleswig-Holstein). Schwartz was best known as a theological controversialist defending Lutheran orthodoxy (II, 2.a). …

[German Version] (Jul 10, 1666, Królewiec [Ger. Königsberg], Poland – Nov 14, 1711, in or near London), a Lutheran and, later, an Anglican theologian. As a church historian in Königsberg, Grabe had been led by the crypto-Catholic circles that arose out of syncretism (VI; G. Calixtus) to doubt the legitimacy of the Lutheran Church. Moved by the arguments of P.J. Spener and following the suggestion of D.E. Jablonski, he joined the Anglican Church in 1697 and emigrated to Oxford, where he became Dr.t…

[English Version] 1.  Olaus (6.1.1493 Örebro – 19.4.1552 Stockholm), älterer Bruder von 2., dem ersten ev. Erzbf. Schwedens. P. studierte in Uppsala und Leipzig, 1518 M.A. in Wittenberg, 1520 Diakon, Kanzler des Bf. Mattias von Strängnäs, der beim Blutbad in Stockholm hingerichtet wurde, 1524 Stadtsekretär und Prediger in Stockholm, 1531–1533 Kanzler König Gustavs, 1539 ordiniert, am 2.1.1540 zus. mit Laurentius Andreae wegen Majestätsverbrechen zum Tode verurteilt, gegen Strafgelder begnadigt, 1543…

[German Version] 1. Olaus (Jan 6, 1493, Örebro – Apr 19, 1552, Stockholm), elder brother of Laurentius and first Protestant archbishop in Sweden. After studying at Uppsala and Leipzig, he received his M.A. from Wittenberg in 1518. He became a deacon in 1520 and was appointed chancellor by Mattias Gregersson, bishop of Strängnäs, who was executed during the Stockholm Bloodbath. In 1524 Petri was appointed city clerk and preacher in Stockholm; from 1531 to 1533 he served as chancellor to King Gustav. He was ordained in 1539. On Jan 2, 1540, ¶ he and Laurentius Andreae were condemned to d…