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[German Version] (Feb 2, 1561, Resen, Jutland – Sep 14, 1638, Copenhagen). After studies in Copenhagen (from 1581), Resen went to Rostock in 1584 and to Wittenberg in 1586 (M.A., 1588); this was followed by stays in Italy and Geneva. Appointed professor for dialectics in 1591 and of theology in 1597 in Copenhagen, he then became bishop in Zealand in 1615. Resen’s theology was on the one hand rooted in Philippist tradition, which was predominant in Denmark, while on the other hand he also displayed…

[German Version] was a circle of radical Pietists in northern Frisia (Schleswig-Holstein) that arose from a Pietistic revivalist movement under Pastor Peter Lorentzen in Bordelum. After Lorentzen's premature death in September 1736, the theological student Franz Barsoenius took over the leadership of this movement, which also extended to the communities of Bargum and …

[German Version] (Sep 8, 1708, Neuruppin – Jun 20, 1791, Rendsburg). After studying in Halle and Jena, Struensee was appointed court chaplain in Berleburg in 1730 and pastor in Halle in 1732, where he was also appointed professor of theology. In 1757 he was appointed pastor and provost in Altona as well as consistorial councilor. In 1759 he was made royal general superintendent in Schleswig and Holstein, an office in which he served as an important protector of the Pietists against the rationalists, who dominated public discussion. He welcomed the active missionary activity of the ¶ Herrnh…

[German Version] (1535, Haderslev, Denmark – Jun 5, 1604, Bergen, Norway), bishop of Stavanger. In 1559 he became rector of the cathedral school in Bergen. From 1560 to 1566 he was court preacher at Bergenhus, and, after renewed studies in Copenhagen and Wittenberg, bishop of Stavanger in 1571. Influenced by Copenhagen professor N. Hemmingsen, an adherent of P. Melanchthon, …

[German Version] (Oct 14, 1761, Gotha – Apr 9, 1830, Copenhagen). After studying theology in Copenhagen, ¶ Münter undertook an educational journey that included Weimar, where he met J.W. v. Goethe, J.G. Herder, and C.M. Wieland. In 1781 he studied in Göttingen under C.G. Heyne, Johann Christoph Gatterer, L.T. v. Spittler, and C.W.F. Walch. From 1784 to 1787 he traveled to Vienna and Italy, among other places, spending some of the time in library studies. In 1788 he became professor of theology in Copenhagen, and…

[German Version] (Dec 15, 1634, Slangerup, Seeland, Denmark – Oct 14, 1703, Odense, Denmark), bishop and poet. After studying in Copenhagen, Kingo was appointed pastor in Slangerup in 1663 and bishop of the diocese of Funen in 1677. Kingo is considered one of the great poets of Danish Baroque. While his secular poetry has today been largely forgotten, his lasting significance rests on his church hymns, which are written in a spirit of devout orthodoxy. Kingo's collected hymns ( Aandlige sjungekor) were published in two installments in 1674 and 1681. Although he failed in hi…

[German Version] (Feb 23, 1700, Winschoten – Nov 20, 1750, Midwolda). After studying in Groningen, in 1723 Schortinghuis was appointed pastor in Weener (East Frisia), where he became an adherent of the Reformed Pietism dominant there. After 1734 he served as pastor in the village of Midwolda. He expressed his Pietist views in 1740 in his Het innige Christendom (“Internal Christianity”), which discusses the contrast between literalist belief and grasping the truth through inner experience. This work, in which Schortinghuis refers to J. van Lodenstein an…

[German Version] (Jun 9, 1542, Ribe, Denmark – Feb 18, 1614, Ribe), bishop and author. After studies at Copenhagen, Leipzig, and Wittenberg, where he received his master's degree, in 1569 he was appointed rector, in 1580 canon in the cathedral chapter, and in 1588 pastor of the cathedral church in Ribe, where finally in 1595 he became bishop. He was an admirer of P. Melanchthon and, along with his acquaintance N. Hemmingsen, one of the most important representatives of Philippism in Denmark. Train…

[German Version] (Dec 8, 1626, Stockholm – Apr 19, 1689, Rome), the only child of Gustav II Adolf, acceeded in 1644 (Thirty Years War). After a personal and religious crisis, Christina abdicated in 1654 and converted to Catholicism. She moved to Rome, whence she traveled on long journeys throughout Europe. An educated woman, she was in contact with many European scholars and artists; in 1649, she summoned R. Descartes to the Swedish court. Even though Christina sympathi…

[German Version] (1513, Lolland Island, Denmark – May 23, 1600, Roskilde, Denmark). After studying in Wittenberg, where he was particularly influenced by Melanchthon, “his beloved teacher,” Hemmingsen became professor of Greek in Copenhagen in 1543, of dialectics in 1545, and of theology in 1553. He was appointed rector four times and became vice chancellor of the university in 1572. His writings, which encompass exegesis, dogmatics, ethics and pastoral theology, went to many editions and some wer…

[German Version] (Jan 27, 1723, Jöhstadt, Saxony – Jun 12, 1788, Kiel), theologian, lyricist, and song-writer. After attending the princes' school in Grimma, Cramer studied theology in Leipzig and became pastor in Kröllwitz, Saxony in 1748, high court preacher and consistorial counselor in Quedlinburg in 1750, and court preacher in Copenhagen in 1754 on the recommendation of F.G. Klopstock; from 1765, furthermore, he was professor of theology there, in 1771 super…

[German Version] (Dec 11, 1753, Königsberg [today Kaliningrad, Russia] – Nov 21, 1823, Copenhagen). Moldenhawer studied in Göttingen (notably under C.G. Heyne and J.D. Michaelis), and became professor of Greek and Near Eastern languages (1777) and professor of theology in Kiel (1778); following a two-year study journey throughout ¶ Europe, he was then appointed professor of theology in Copenhagen in 1784. In 1788, Moldenhawer accepted an appointment there as chief librarian of the Royal Library, which developed into an important academic libra…

[German Version] (Aug 24, 1698, Aarhus – Dec 20, 1764, Copenhagen), Danish theologian. After theological studies at Copenhagen and service as a private tutor in Norway, Holland, and England, in 1734 Pontoppidan was appointed court chaplain at Frederiksborg and pastor in Hellerød, in 1735 court chaplain in Copenhagen, and in 1738 associate professor theology at Copenhagen. In 1740 he became a member of the missionary college and codirector of the orphanage. In 1747 he was made a bishop in Bergen an…

[German Version] (Nov 2, 1740, Copenhagen – Jan 25, 1819, Copenhagen). After studying theology, philosophy, and natural science at Copenhagen, the writer and theologian Christian Bastholm served as pastor of the German congregation in Smyrna from 1768 to 1771. In 1772, he became pastor of Copenhagen Castle, and went as pastor to Helsingør in 1777. He served as court preacher from 1778 to 1800. – Bastholm was the most influential representative of Enlightenment theology in Denmark. Dissatisfied with the prevailing mode of preaching, he wrote a handbook of spiritual rhetoric in 1775 ( Den…

[German Version] (Aug 5, 1585, Køge – Apr 19, 1652, Copenhagen), bishop. Following studies in Leiden and Franeker, Brochmand became professor of pedagogy at the University of Copenhagen in 1610, professor of Greek in 1613, professor of Theology in 1650, rector of the university in 1620, and bishop of Seeland in 1639. – Many years of theological-dogmatic disputes with Calvinism and Catholicism shaped Brochmand's activity. Brochmand took part, on the side of Hans Poulsen Rensen, in the struggle against crypto-Calvinism (Crypto-Calvinists) in Denmark. In 1628, he published the essay De…

[German Version] (Dec 8, 1756, Arnis, Schleswig – Aug 22, 1834, Giekau, Holstein), studied theology and Middle Eastern languages in Kiel, Bützow, Rostock, and Copenhagen. In 1780–1782 he began text-critical research on Greek and Middle Eastern manuscripts of the Bible in European libraries, including Rome. In 1783 he became professor of Syriac, in 1788 of theo…