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[English Version] Opitz, Martin (23.12.1597 Bunzlau, Schlesien – 20.8.1639 Danzig), späthumanistischer Dichter und Diplomat. Studium der Jurisprudenz und Philos. in Frankfurt/O. (1618) und Heidelberg (1619), 1620 Flucht vor den span. Truppen in die Niederlande, 1621 nach Jütland, 1622 Lehrer in Weißenburg (Siebenbürgen), 1623 Rat am Hof der Herzöge von Liegnitz und Brieg, 1625 zum »poeta laureatus« gekrönt, 1626–1632 Diplomat im Dienst des kath. kaiserlichen Kammerpräsidenten Karl Hannibal Graf zu …

[English Version] 1.  Romanus , (21.2.1703 Leipzig – 5.4.1750 ebd.), 1719 Studium der Philos. und Theol. in Leipzig (1721 M.A.), 1723 Katechet an St. Petri, 1727 Sonnabendprediger an St. Thomae ebd., 1730 Diakonus an St. Maximi in Merseburg, 1731 Katechet an St. Petri, 1737 Diakonus, 1745 Pastor an St. Thomae in Leipzig. Daneben als Bacc. theol. seit 1723 exegetische und homiletische Vorlesungen, 1735 a.o., 1740 o. Prof. der Theol. in Leipzig, 1741 zudem Domherr in Zeitz. – T. war ein überregional g…

[English Version] Spalding, Johann Joachim (1.11.1714 Tribsees, Vorpommern – 22.5.1804 Berlin). Als einer der bedeutendsten luth. Theologen des 18.Jh., von den Zeitgenossen wegen seiner intellektuellen Redlichkeit, kirchl. Modernität und menschlichen Integrität als der Patriarch der Aufklärungstheol. verehrt, ist S. zu einem theol. Bahnbrecher der Moderne geworden. 1731–1733 Studium der Philos. und Theol. in Rostock, danach in Greifswald (1736 Dr. phil.). 1745–1747 Sekretär der schwedischen Gesandtschaft in Berlin, zugleich freundschaftli…

[English Version] Reimarus, Hermann Samuel (22.12.1694 Hamburg – 1.3.1768 ebd.), 1714 Studium der Theol., Philos. und Philol. in Jena, 1716 in Wittenberg, 1717 M.A., 1719 Adjunkt der philos. Fakultät ebd., 1720–1722 Studienreise nach Leiden, Oxford und London. Nach kurzem Lehraufenthalt in Wittenberg wurde R. 1723 Rektor der Stadtschule Wismar und 1728 (nicht 1727) Prof. für orientalische Sprachen am Akademischen Gymnasium Hamburg; 1761 Aufnahme in die Petersburger Akademie der Wiss. und Ablehnung e…

[English Version] Steinbart, Gotthilf Samuel (21.9.1738 Züllichau – 3.2.1809 Frankfurt/O.). Im Kloster Bergen erzogen und dort die pietistisch-übergangstheol. Bildungsimpulse durch autodidaktische Rezeption der Aufklärungsphilos. (J. Locke, Voltaire) konterkarierend, studierte S. in Halle (S.J. Baumgarten) und Frankfurt/O. (J.G. Toellner) Theol. Danach Lehrer in Berlin und Züllichau, 1774 Direktor des Waisenhauses in Züllichau, zudem o.Prof. der Philos. und ao., 1806 o.Prof. der Theol. in Frankfurt/…

[English Version] Stosch, Bartholomäus (12.9.1604 Strehlen, Schlesien – 5.[?] 3.1686 Berlin), ref. Theologe und Kirchenpolitiker. Nach Schulbildung am Beuthener Schönaichianum 1626 Studium der Theol. in Frankfurt/O., 1629 Hauslehrer in Ostpreußen, 1632–1640 Studienreise nach den Niederlanden (Leiden), England und Frankreich, 1640 Pfarrer in Pilten (Livland), 1643 Hofprediger in Berlin. S., dessen rel. Einfluß auf die brandenburgische Herrscherfamilie erheblich gewesen sein dürfte, prägte seit 1659 …

[English Version] Toellner, Johann Gottlieb (9.12.1724 Berlin-Charlottenburg – 26.1.1774 Frankfurt/O.), 1739 Stipendiat der Franckeschen Anstalten in Halle, 1741 Studium der Philos. und Theol. ebd. (von S.J. Baumgarten gefördert und geprägt), 1745 Hauslehrer in Pommern und Berlin, 1748 Feldprediger in Frankfurt/O., 1756 a.o., 1760 o. Prof. der Philos. und Theol. ebd., 1767 Dr. theol. (Halle). – T. war der erste neologische Hochschullehrer, den Studenten in persönlicher Fürsorge (u.a. sonntägliche »a…

[English Version] . Seit dem 17.Jh. gewann der frühneuzeitliche Fortschrittsgedanke eine Dynamik, die immer stärker in die ethische, rel. und polit. Theoriebildung ausstrahlte und die Idee der P. zu einer basalen Denkform der Epoche werden ließ. In Frankreich wurde das Wort seit 1750 rasch gebräuchlich und avancierte zu einem Leitbegriff der Französischen Revolution. Seit der Mitte des 18.Jh. als Lehnwort ins Dt. übernommen, prägte der Gedanke der anthropologischen und ethisch-rel., seit ca.1800 a…

[English Version] Nicolai, (Christoph) Friedrich (18.3.1733 Berlin – 8.1.1811 ebd.), Verlagsbuchhändler und Schriftsteller. Nach Besuch des Joachimsthalschen Gymnasiums, der Latina am Waisenhaus Halle (1745–1748) und der Heckerschen Realschule in Berlin 1749 Buchhandelslehre in Frankfurt/O., daneben autodidaktische Weiterbildung; 1752 Mitarbeiter, seit 1758 Leiter der väterlichen Verlagsbuchhandlung in Berlin. N. wurde zu einem der wichtigsten Vertreter der (Berliner) Aufklärung (: I.,3.) und war Mi…

[German Version] (baptized Dec 8, 1723, Edesheim – Jan 21, 1789, Paris). Holbach studied law and natural sciences in Leiden from 1744 to 1748 and lived the rest of his life as a wealthy man in Paris. Holbach's Paris townhouse and his country residence Granval were meeting points of pre-revolutionary Enlightenment (I) and were frequented by D. Hume, J.-J. Rousseau, D. Diderot, Claude Adrien Helvetius, and others. Holbach wrote over 400 (perhaps as many as 1,100) articles for Diderot's Encyclopédie (Encyclopedia, Encyclopedists), which he probably helped finance to a conside…

[German Version] (Aug 3, 1681, Allstedt – May 1, 1764, Göttingen) studied philosophy and theology in Jena (M.A. in 1702), where he also lectured in philosophy from 1702 to 1709. He undertook an educational journey to the Netherlands in 1705, became superintendent of the theological seminary and collaborator at the Gymnasium of Eisenach in 1709, superintendent and professor (and eventually headmaster) at the gymnasium of Göttingen in 1717, and was awarded a Dr. theol. in Helmstedt in 1728. With the…

[German Version] (Jan 18, 1752, Saalfeld – Feb 4, 1816, Gamstädt near Gotha), studied in Halle an der Saale from 1769 onward (esp. under J.S. Semler and J.A. Nösselt), served as a preacher in Berlin, was appointed professor of theology in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1782, and general superintendent as well as senior councilor of the consistory in Gotha in 1788. As the ecclesial and theological popularizer of an enlightened rationalism (1803–1816: editor of the Magazin für Prediger [Journal for preachers]), Loeffler's translation (1781, 21792) of Souverain's Le Platonisme dévoilé (1700) …

[German Version] (Jun 24, 1561, Lorch – Oct 22, 1619, Tübingen) studied philosophy and theology in Tübingen and became a deacon in Herrenberg in 1586, pastor in Ehningen in 1588, and court preacher and consistorial counselor in Stuttgart in 1590. He received his doctorate in theology and became professor of theology in Tübingen (1592) and then chancellor (1617) and provost of the university. He was an important representative of post-Concord Lutheran theology. In contrast to J. Kepler, who valued …

[German Version] The term edification (“building up”) in its metaphorical religious sense was introduced by the NT (Gk οἰκοδομή/ oikodomē, Lat. aedificatio). It denotes a central aspect of ecclesiology (Church) involving the interplay between the part and the whole. Despite both the deficient and inflationary senses the word has taken on in modern usage, its original, precise sense is vital for theological reflection on the church and the local congregation. The metaphorical use of edification in the NT, borrowed loosely from OT usage, refers t…

[German Version] (Jan 10, 1715, Leuna – Oct 18, 1775, Leipzig) was appointed adjunct professor of philosophy in Leipzig in 1744 and professor of theology at the same university in 1750. As a philosopher, Crusius gave anti-Wolffianism (C. Wolff) its definitive form. By distinguishing between epistemic or ideal causes and real causes, he was able to contest the ontological proof of the existence of God, as well as Leibniz-Wolffian determinism and the notion of a preestablished harmony (G.W. Leibniz). As a theologian, ¶ Crusius was inspired by J. Cocceius and J.A. Bengel …

[German Version] (Jan 31,1741, Zheleznodorozhny [Gerdauen], Russia – Apr 23, 1796, Kaliningrad [Königsberg], Russia). Hippel studied theology in Königsberg from 1756 to 1760, journeyed to Russia from 1760 to 1761, and was tutor in Königsberg from 1761 to 1762. He studied jurisprudence there from 1762 to 1765, became barrister at the municipal court of Königsberg, and later director of the criminal court and city councillor. A member of the Prussian Landrechtskommission (commission for regional law) from 1780 onward, he was then appointed mayor of ¶ Königsberg and war councillor,…

[German Version] (Nov 22, 1709, Osnabrück – Sep 2, 1789, Braunschweig), leading proponent of neology (Enlightenment: II, 4.c). Jerusalem studied philosophy, theology and oriental languages in Leipzig (1727–1730, with Johann Christoph Gottsched, among others), received the M.A. (1731, Wittenberg), undertook a two-year study journey through Holland, and was a private tutor in Göttingen (1734–1737). After several years in England, to which he owed important impulses, and work as a tutor in Hannover (…

[German Version] (Oct 9, 1693, Lübeck – Sep 9, 1755, Göttingen) studied in Kiel from 1716 onward and became professor for controversial theology in Helmstedt in 1723 (for church history in 1725), also abbot of Marienthal and Michaelstein from 1727, general inspector of schools in Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel from 1729, and president of the Leipzig “Deutsche Gesellschaft” from 1732; he played a major part in the founding of Göttingen University (authoring, inter alia, the statutes of the theological school), where he was professor of theology from 1747, and the univer…

[German Version] (Jul 3, 1752, Hehlen – May 2, 1809, Helmstedt). Henke studied theology and philology in Helmstedt (1772–1776), became associate professor of philosophy (1777), associate professor (1778), and full professor of theology (1780) there, and also abbot of the Michaelstein seminary (Harz) in 1786. In 1803, he succeeded his teacher and father-in-law, Johann Benedikt V. Carpzov, as abbot of Königslutter. In 1804, he became vice-president of the consistory and ephorus of the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig. Henke was a major proponent of pre-Kantian theologic…

[German Version] (c. 1488, York – Jan 20, 1569, London), OSA in 1514, studied philosophy and theology at Cambridge. In 1528 Coverdale left the order under the impact of Luther's theology, which had been taught him by Robert Barnes. In 1534–1535 Coverdale published the first English complete Bible (Bible translationsβ : II, 1.b.). From 1540 Coverdale lived under the pseudonym of Michael Anglus on the continent, in Tübingen and elsewhere and as pastor in Bergzabern from 1543–1547. Coverdale returned to England …