Search

Physicotheology is theology that gathers evidences of purpose in nature. It arose in the early Enlightenment as a form of the older European natural theology. It made use of the same allegorical interpretation of nature and of the same teleological proof of God (God, Arguments for the Existence of, 2.5), deducing the existence of an all-powerful and all-wise builder of the universe from its perfect, purposeful, and beautiful order. 1. Roots 1.1. Scientific Physicotheology was an important factor in the development of modern science. By demystifying nature in a pious …

1. Term Originally coined to denote linguistic and literary innovation, “neology” came to be used from about 1770 as a term of reproach against theologians who were viewed as proposing new doctrines. The orthodox who were critical of the Enlightenment adopted it, but so too did many supporters (e.g., G. E. Lessing). The reference today is to the middle phase of Enlightenment Protestant theology after 1740. Advocates used it of themselves only rarely and with reservations, preferring “Enlightenment.” Nor is the meaning always uniform. It is i…

[English Version] Scheibler, Christoph (6.12.1589 Armsfeld, Waldeck – 10.11.1653 Dortmund), luth. Philosoph und Theologe. 1610 Prof. für Griech., Logik und Metaphysik in Gießen, Rektor; 1625 Superintendent und Gymnasiarch in Dortmund. Lit. überaus fruchtbar, gab Sch. dem luth. Schularistotelismus ein gegenüber Wittenberg (J. Martini) eigenes Gepräge: in der stärker didaktischen, auch ramistische Motive aufnehmenden Logik (Opus logicum, 1613) und in der nicht nur ontologisch, sondern auch sapiential…

[English Version] Schegk, Jakob (eigentlich: Degen; 1511 Schorndorf – 9.5.1587 Tübingen), seit 1536 Prof. für Philos., seit 1543 Prof. für Medizin in Tübingen; Stiftsephorus, mehrfach Rektor, 1577 erblindet. Seine Komm. zur Logik und zur Physik des Aristoteles repräsentieren die (nicht-scholastische und antiramistische) Reform der Topik und der Beweislehre bzw. hängen eng mit dem naturphilos. Fortschritt in Italien zus. Sch.s theol. Bedeutung lag im Kampf gegen M. Servet und die Antitrinitarier, v.…

[English Version] . Wie vordem »lex moralis« spezifiziert »S.« den Ausdruck »Gesetz« (: IV.), d.h. die allg. Regel der Bestimmung von Vorgängen in der Welt im Blick auf die Art dieser Vorgänge, d.h. auf den Geltungsbereich der jeweiligen Gesetze: »S.« heißt die Regel menschlichen Verhaltens in der Welt sittlicher Freiheit; »Naturgesetz« (: II., Gesetz/Naturgesetz) meint dagegen die Regel kausal bestimmter Vorgänge in der Welt natürlicher Erscheinungen. Dieser Begriff ist seit I. Kant als Basis nor…

[English Version] Thomasius, Christian (1.1.1655 Leipzig – 23.9.1728 Halle), führender Rechtsphilosoph der dt. Frühaufklärung (Aufklärung). Aus einer luth. Gelehrtenfamilie (Vater Jakob Th.) kommend, studierte Th. ab 1669 Philos. in Leipzig und ab 1672, nach der Lektüre von H. Grotius und S. Frhr.v. Pufendorf, Jurisprudenz in Frankfurt/O. (Samuel Stryk), wo er 1679 promoviert wurde. Als Anwalt wenig erfolgreich, begann Th. in Leipzig zu lehren, in vielfachem und öffentlichkeitswirksamem Bruch mit d…

[English Version] Schmidt, Johann Lorenz (30.11.1702 Zell am Main – 19./20.12.1749 Wolfenbüttel), Vf. der »Wertheimer Bibel«. Der Pfarrerssohn studierte Philos. und Theol. in Jena (J.F. Buddeus) und wurde 1725 Erzieher im gräflichen, d.h. prot. Haus Löwenstein-Wertheim. Hier arbeitete er an einer Bibelübers., deren erster Teil, die fünf Bücher Mose, von seinen Zöglingen 1735 publiziert wurde (»Die göttlichen Schriften vor den Zeiten des Messie Jesus …«). Dies löste eine vierjährige öfftl. Debatte in…

[English Version] Suárez, Francisco (5.1.1548 Granada – 25.9.1617 Lissabon), SJ, führender Theologe, Philosoph und Rechtstheoretiker der span. Scholastik. S. studierte in Salamanca und wurde, nachdem er erst wegen mangelnder Begabung abgelehnt worden war, 1564 in den Jesuitenorden (Jesuiten) aufgenommen. Seit 1571 lehrte er Philos. in Segovia, ab 1574 Theol. in Valladolid, Segovia und Alcalá, 1580 am Collegium Romanum in Rom. 1585 kehrte er krankheitshalber nach Alcalá zurück und übernahm den Lehrs…

[English Version] Werdenhagen, Johann Angelius (seit 1637: v.; 1.8.1581 Helmstedt – 26.12.1652 Ratzeburg). Studium der Philos. (J. Caselius, C. Martini) und Jurisprudenz in Helmstedt, seit 1601 philos. Adjunkt, 1607 Konrektor in Salzwedel, 1616–1618 Prof. für Ethik in Helmstedt. Dort aussichtslos, wechselte W. in den polit. Dienst Magdeburgs, lebte als Schriftsteller 1627–1632 in Leiden und Den Haag, stand dann im Dienst Bremens, Magdeburgs u.a. und wurde 1637 kaiserlicher Gesandter bei den Hansestä…

[English Version] Quenstedt, Johann Andreas (13.8.1617 Quedlinburg – 22.5.1688 Wittenberg). Nach dem Tod des Onkels J. Gerhard studierte der Patriziersohn kriegshalber im nahen Helmstedt (G. Calixt, K. Horn), wechselte 1644 aber doch nach Wittenberg (W. Leyser, J. Hülsemann), wo er 1649 Adjunkt der philos. und ao. Prof. der theol. Fakultät wurde; Q. schrieb nicht wenige geographische und antiquarische Werke. 1650 Dr. theol., erlangte Q. 1660 das vierte, nach A. Calovs Tod 1686 schließlich das erste …

[German Version] (born Degen; 1511, Schorndorf – May 9, 1587, Tübingen), professor of philosophy at Tübingen from 1536, also professor of medicine there from 1543; he was superintendent and several times rector of the Tübingen Stift; he lost his sight in 1577. His commentaries on Aristotle’s logic and physics represented the (non-Scholastic and anti-Ramist) reform of ¶ Aristotelian topics and theory of proof in logic and were closely associated with scientific advances in Italy in physics. His theological significance rests on his opposition to M. Ser…

[German Version] ( Jan 1, 1655, Leipzig – Sep 23, 1728, Halle), was a prominent philosopher of law during the early German Enlightenment. Born into a Lutheran family of scholars (father Jakob Thomasius), Christian Thomasius studied philosophy in Leipzig from 1669 onward; from 1672 onward, after having read the works of H. Grotius and S. Pufendorf, he studied jurisprudence in Frankfurt an der Oder (Samuel Stryk), where he was awarded a doctoral degree in 1679. Enjoying little success as a lawyer, T…

[German Version] (Nov 30, 1702, Zell am Main – Dec 19/20, 1749, Wolfenbüttel), translator of the so-called Wertheim Bible. The son of a clergyman, Schmidt studied philosophy and theology at Jena (with J.F. Buddeus) and was appointed tutor to the comital (i.e. Protestant) House of Löwenstein-Wertheim. In this position he worked on a Bible translation, the first portion of which, the Pentateuch, was published by his pupils in 1735 ( Die göttlichen Schriften vor den Zeiten des Messie Jesus...). It triggered four years of public debate throughout Germany. Primarily at the ins…

[German Version] (c. 1538, Halle/Saale – Nov 30, 1611, Wolfenbüttel), Lutheran theologian. Hoffmann was appointed professor of philosophy in Helmstedt in 1574/1576 and professor of theology in 1578. In association with V. Strigel, S. Musäus, and T. Heßhus, Hoffmann attempted to preserve the integrity of Luther's doctrine against Philippistic (P. Melanchthon) and Flacian (M. Flacius) deviations, but also, while defending the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist, against the “new dogma” of ubiquity (J…

[German Version] (Hutterus; Jan 1563, Nellingen near Ulm – Oct 23, 1616, Wittenberg), after studying the arts and theology in Strasbourg (M.A. 1583), Heidelberg and Jena, he received the Dr.theol. in Leipzig (1593) and became professor of theology in Wittenberg (1596) alongside P. Leyser, Sr. and A. Hunn (Hunnius). Like them, Hütter was a policy advocate and theological interpreter of the Formula of Concord: as orthodox scriptural exegesis, it was the result, as was the Augsburg Confession ( Analysis, 1594), of the work of the Holy Spirit ( Libri Christianae Concordiae … explicatio, 16…

[German Version] (Jun 4, 1753, Frankfurt am Main – Feb 17, 1826, Jena), Protestant theologian, became professor of OT at Altdorf in 1785, and at Jena in 1804, where he had studied OT and NT exegesis from 1772 to 1778 with J.G. Eichhorn and J.J. Griesbach. Linked with theological neology (Enlightenment: II, 4.c), but not a rationalist, Gabler successfully developed the program (Mar 30, 1787) for the methodological separation of a “biblical theology” set apart from variable dogmatics by historical e…

[German Version] (Jan 1, 1901, Etzelwang – Oct 26, 1997, Erlangen). A disciple of F. Brunstäd (Dr.phil. 1923) and K. Heim (Lic.theol. 1927), Künneth was appointed to the Apologetische Centrale in Berlin in 1926 and was its director from 1932. As a cofounder of the Jungreformatorische Bewegung (reform movement), he was prohibited from public speaking and writing in 1937. He became pastor in Starnberg in 1938 and dean in Erlangen in 1944, where he was made honorary professor in 1946 and professor of…

[German Version] (Oct 1, 1589, Cölln an der Spree – Aug 19[?], 1634, Berlin) was rector of the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin from 1618 onward. As a philosophical author he professed the Wittenberg Aristotelianism of his teacher J. Martini in Logik (1626) and Metaphysik (1628/1630) and logically conceived a new discipline of Intelligentia. The cognition-enabling habitus primorum principiorum (1625) accordingly rests on the “subtility” of things, i.e. on their relationality with respect to each other, to God, and to the cognitive intellect, to wh…

[German Version] (Dec 6, 1589, Armsfeld, Waldeck – Nov 10, 1653, Dortmund), Lutheran philosopher and theologian. In 1610 he was appointed professor of Greek, logic, and metaphysics at Gießen and served as rector. In 1625 he was appointed superintendent and gymnasiarch in Dortmund. A prolific writer, Scheibler gave Lutheran Scholastic Aristotelianism a distinctive character vis-à-vis Wittenberg (J. Martini): in its more didactic logic, which included Ramist motifs ( Opus logicum, 1613), and in its metaphysics, which was oriented sapientially as well as ontological…

[German Version] ( Jan 5, 1548, Granada – Sep 25, 1617, Lisbon), SJ, leading theologian, philosopher, and legal theorist of Spanish Scholasticism. Suárez studied in Salamanca. Initially rejected for lack of aptitude, he was accepted into the Jesuits in 1564. In 1571 he began teaching philosophy in Segovia; after 1574 he taught theology in Valladolid, Segovia, and Alcalá. In 1580 he began teaching at the Collegium Romanum in Rome. In 1585 sickness forced him to return to Alcalá, where he succeeded …