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Born July 10, 1509, at Noyon in northern France, John Calvin became one of the most influential of the second generation of Reformers. His work was of significance throughout Europe and beyond. His theological development, confessional importance, ecclesiastical consolidation, and international training of reformers were lasting impulses throughout his life and for ages to come. The son of a notary in the bishop’s secretarial service who was excommunicated for financial conflicts with the church in 1528, Calvin was at first destined for a career in …

Modern research has rightly come to see in Martin Bucer (1491–1551) one of the main leaders of the Reformation. Educated at the famous Schlettstadt grammar school, he became the reformer of the imperial city of Strasbourg. Having first made an intensive, Thomistically oriented study of Scholastic theology, he then came under the lasting influence of the humanism of D. Erasmus (1469?-1536). His crucial experience, however, was his encounter with M. Luther (1483–1546) at the Heidelberg Disputation…

Ulrich (Huldrych, Huldreich) Zwingli (1484–1531), a Zurich reformer, was perhaps the most important figure in German Switzerland and southwest Germany for the initial phase of the early Reformation. His theology, distinctively formed above all in the theological argument with Martin Luther and related particularly to the urban experience, represents a specific interpretation of the Reformation message and forms an essential theological-historical element of the development of the Reformed confession, which had been evolving since the late 1520s. Zwingli was born on Janua…

Little is known about the early life of the radical reformer and theologian Thomas Müntzer (ca. 1489–1525), who was born in Stolberg, Thuringia. The first reliable witness to his life is his 1506 matriculation entry at the University of Leipzig. He was definitely enrolled in the University of Frankfurt an der Oder in 1512, from which he probably graduated. After ordination in the Halberstadt Diocese, he was active as a minister in Brunswick, though he also had a sinecure in Aschersleben. He apparently studied…

Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560) was the most significant German reformer after Martin Luther. Melanchthon was born in Bretten, Palatinate, as the son of the armorer George Schwarzerdt. After attending the distinguished Pforzheim Latin School, he matriculated in Heidelberg in 1509 at the early age of 12. (That year also his surname was changed from Schwarzerdt to the Greek equivalent, Melanchthon [black earth].) He received his bachelor of arts in 1511 and from 1512 studied in Tübingen, where he …

[English Version] 1.  Johann , (d. Ä.; 18.8.1587 Rostock – 2.5.1648 Doberan), Sohn eines Rostocker Weißgerbers und Begründer einer bis in die 2. Hälfte des 18.Jh. einflußreichen mecklenburgischen Gelehrtendynastie, studierte nach Schulbesuchen in Rostock (Nathan Chytraeus; P. Tarnow) und Berlin seit 1603 zunächst in Frankfurt/O., seit 1604 in Rostock (M.A. 1613). 1615 übernahm er eine der rätlichen Theologieprofessuren an der Universität Rostock, seit 1616 war er zusätzlich Archidiakon an der Marien…

[English Version] I. Entstehung Als W.F. bez. man die Vertragsdokumente, die den Dreißigjährigen Krieg am 24.10.1648 beendeten und eine pax universalis unter den christl. Staaten Europas aufzurichten beanspruchten. Der W.F. umfaßt zwei Einzelverträge: Das zw. dem Kaiser, Schweden und den dt. Reichsständen in Osnabrück ausgehandelte Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugense (IPO) und das zw. dem Reichsoberhaupt und Frankreich in Münster abgeschlossene Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriense (IPM), beides Ergebnisse …

[English Version] . Der t.S. entzündete sich an der im luth. Protestantismus im Anschluß an CA 12 (Augsburger Bekenntnis) üblichen Praxis, im Angesicht des Todes durch Beichte und Abendmahl den Zuspruch der Seligkeit unabhängig von einer identifizierbar christl.-sittlichen Lebensführung zu gewähren. Demgegenüber wurde von pietistischen Theologen, insbes. dem sich auf J.K. Dannhauer berufenden Ph.J. Spener, im Anschluß an Hebr 3,7 die These einer von Gott bestimmten Gnadenfrist zur Buße (tempus per…

[English Version] . Das auf Einladung des polnischen Königs Władislaw IV. (1632–1648) am 28.8.1645 im Rathaus der zum königlichen Preußen gehörigen Stadt Thorn durch den polnischen Kanzler Georg von Teschen eröffnete sog. Colloquium charitativum sollte offiziell der interkonfessionellen Verständigung der auch polit. gegeneinander stehenden konfessionellen Konfliktparteien im Königreich Polen dienen, war faktisch aber von vornherein Teil einer gegenreformatorischen Rekatholisierungspolitik (Gegenre…

[English Version] . Der Begriff N.R. bez. die unter personell (W. Amesius) bzw. lit. vermitteltem puritanischen Einfluß im niederländischen Reformiertentum (reformierte Kirchen) entstandene Bewegung einer »näheren« im Sinne von »weitergehenden«, »zweiten Reformation« der persönlichen Lebensgestaltung der Gläubigen, die die in der »ersten Reformation« erreichte Erneuerung der Lehre im Sinne einer ethisch verbindlichen, asketisch geprägten Frömmigkeitspraxis zu vertiefen und weiterzuführen beabsicht…

[English Version] Voetius, Gisbert (3.3.1589 Heusden, Holland – 1.11.1676 Utrecht). Einem im Krieg verarmten Rittergeschlecht entstammend, studierte V. seit 1604 Theol. in Leiden, wo er als Schüler des F. Gomarus mit den Auseinandersetzungen zw. Remonstranten (Arminianer) und Contraremonstranten intensiv vertraut wurde; 1611 Pfarrer in Vlijmen, 1617 in seiner Heimatstadt Heusden, 1629 in 's-Hertogenbosch. 1618/19 nahm er an der Dordrechter Synode teil, deren contraremonstrantischer Prädestinationsl…

[German Version] (Dec 25, 1636, Sulzburg – May 5, 1716, Rostock) gained his most important and long-lasting theological experiences from 1655 on in Straßburg (J.K. Dannhauer). He studied in Tübingen, Heidelberg, Jena, Wittenberg and Leipzig, and received the Lic.theol. in Gießen in 1666. In the same year, he became pastor in his home town (Langendenzlingen) and, in 1668, professor of Hebrew and metaphysics at the Gymnasium in Durlach; in 1669, he became court preacher, and in 1688, superintendent in Durlach. He fled to Calw as a con…

[German Version] The terministic controversy in Lutheran Protestantism was sparked by a common practice based on CA 12 (Augsburg Confession): at death’s door, after confession and communion (Eucharist) eternal bliss (Blessedness) was promised regardless of whether the person dying had lived a recognizably Christian life. In response Pietist theologians –especially P.J. Spener, appealing to J.K. Dannhauer – cited Heb 3:7–11 in support of the view that God has determined a set period of grace for repentance ¶ ( tempus peremtorius gratiae); at its end, the sinner is cut off fr…

[German Version] (Etienne de Courcelle; May 2, 1586, Geneva – May 20, 1659, Amsterdam) was, alongside S. Episcopius, J. Clericus and P. van Limborch, one of the most important representatives of 17th century Arminian theology (Arminians). He studied in Zürich, Basel, Heidelberg, and was pastor in Fontainebleau, Amiens and Vitry from 1614; he moved to Amsterdam, where he was professor of theology in the Arminian Seminary after 1643. His position, following J. Acon…

[German Version] (Jan 15, 1633, Burg on Fehmarn Island – Apr 1, 1694, Kiel) studied theology in Rostock, Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg, was awarded a Dr.theol. and appointed professor of Greek in Rostock (1665), then professor of theology in Kiel (1665; pro-chancellor in 1666). Kortholt is regarded as the pioneer of Pietism in Schleswig-Holstein. Strongly influenced by the devotional theology of J. Arndt, J. Lütkemann, and H. Müller, he supported P. Spener's Pia desideria, initially in his writings, though without embracing its specific innovations (conventicles, hop…

[German Version] August Friedrich Immanuel (Aug 19, 1885, Heldrungen/Thüringen – Nov 21, 1954, Erlangen), one of the most prominent and controversial theologians of the 20th century, studied theology, history and philosophy from 1906 to 1910 in Breslau, Erlangen, and Leipzig. After service in World War I as a field chaplain, Elert became director of the Theological Seminary of th…

[German Version] The term nadere reformatie denotes a movement in the Netherlands Reformed tradition (Reformed churches), under personal (W. Ames) or literary Puritan influence, tending toward a “second Reformation,” “reaching further” and “more closely” into believers' personal way of life. Its aim was to deepen and take further the renewal of doctrine achieved in the “first Reformation,” in the direction of ethically binding devotional practice of ascetic stamp. The term nadere reformatie occurs in reform proposals of the Utrecht Consistory of 1665, influenced by…

[German Version] I. Introduction Already referred to as the “Thirty Years War” by contemporary witnesses, the military conflicts subsumed under this name were waged between 1618 and 1648 in Central Europe and especially on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. They represent a historically new phenomenon on the threshold to European modern times, notably in terms of the length and geographical scope of the military engagements, of the magnitude of material expenditures, of technological and strate…

[German Version] Founded by Duke Albert of Prussia (the elder) on Oct 24, 1541 and opened on Aug 17, 1544, with four faculties and eleven chairs, the University of Königsberg followed Marburg (1527) as the second newly founded university in the century of the Reformation. As the most easterly German Protestant university before the founding of Dorpat (1632; Tartu), Königsberg fulfilled a central cultural mediating function for Poland and the Baltics. Experts from the University of Königsberg were …

[German Version] (Dec 9, 1845, Wassertrüdingen, – Apr 7, 1918, Leipzig), the most important Protestant church historian of Wilhelmine Germany besides A. v. Harnack, studied Protestant theology in Erlangen and Berlin. He experienced formative impulses of Erlangen Lutheranism from J.C. von Hofmann and Gustav Leopold Plitt, and, in the spirit of historicism, from L. v. Ranke. Having passed the qualifying exam for theology in Bavaria (1868), Hauck entered into church service. On the basis of a monogra…

[German Version] (Mar 3, 1589, Heusden, Holland –Nov 1, 1676, Utrecht). Born to a noble family impoverished by war, Voetius began to study theology at Leiden in 1604; as a student of F. Gomarus, he was deeply involved in the debates between the Remonstrants (Arminians) and Contraremonstrants. In 1611 he was appointed pastor in Vlijmen, in 1617 in Heusden, his home town, and in 1629 in ’s-Hertogenbosch. In 1618/1619 he took part in the Synod of Dort, agreeing with the Contraremonstrants’ doctrine o…

[German Version] (May 28, 1674, Gevezin near New Brandenburg – May 2, 1732, Greifswald). After studying in Rostock, Copenhagen, and Leipzig, Krakevitz was appointed professor of Near Eastern languages and professor of catechetics in Rostock in 1699. From 1713 onward, as professor of theology, councilor of the consistory, and superintendent of ¶ the Mecklenburg district, Krakevitz became one of the most important representatives of late Rostock orthodoxy (II, 2) together with J. Fecht, J. Quistorp, and Zacharias Grapius (1671–1713). Appointed gene…

[German Version] The so-called Colloquium Charitativum, which convened at the invitation of the Polish king Wladyslav IV (1632–1648) and was opened on Aug 28, 1645 by the Polish chancellor Georg of Teschen in the town hall of the Royal Prussian city of Thorn, was officially meant to promote the interconfessional dialogue between the (also) politically opposed confessional parties in the Kingdom of Poland; in actual fact, however, the conference was part of a Counter-Reformation policy of recatholi…

[German Version] 1. Johann, the Elder (Aug 18, 1587, Rostock – May 2, 1648, Doberan), son of a Rostock tawer and founder of a Mecklenburg scholarly dynasty whose influence lasted into the second half of the 18th century. After schooling in Rostock (Nathan Chytraeus; P. Tarnow) and Berlin, he began his studies in 1603 in Frankfurt an der Oder but returned to Rostock in 1604 (M.A. 1613). In 1615 he took over one of the municipal chairs of theology at the University of Rostock; in 1616 he was also app…

[German Version] (Guy de Brès/de Bray; 1522, Bergen/Mons – May 31, 1567, Valenciennes) was the definitive reformer of the southern Low Countries. Under unknown circumstances, the learned glass painter was won to the Reformation cause in the 1540s. In 1548 he fled into exile in London for religious reasons; he returned in 1552 to preach in Rijssel/Lille. He use…

[German Version] (1531/1532, Cassel near Hazebrouck, Flanders (now France) – Mar 17, 1588, Elbląg [Elbing], Poland) joined the Reformation as a young Carmelite monk (Ypres) and fled to England in 1550. In 1555, he became the leader of the Dutch exile community in Frankfurt am Main. After the eucharistic controversy between Calvin and J. Westphal, Dathenus and some 60 families took refuge in the monastery of ¶ Frankenthal. He moved to the Netherlands in 1566, but fled once again to the Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz) in 1567 …

[German Version] is the name that was once given to those persons who originated from or were active in the areas dominated by the Lutheran confession and who, according to the judgment of confessionally Lutheran theologians of the late 16th century, advocated doctrinal views or practical approaches that were intented to undermine the status of the Lutheran denomination by secretly bringing it closer to Reformed or Calvinist positions. In scholarly publications, …

[German Version] 1. Theodorus à (Dirk Gerrits; 1608, Enkhuizen– Feb 14, 1669, Makkum), the mystic Reformed theologian involved in the “Nadere Reformatie,” who was more interested in contemplation than in pressing for church reform and was active as a parish pastor in the north of the Netherlands. In his writings Brakel developed a path for the ascension of the soul to complete communion with Christ based on his own mystical experience. Bibliography A. Ritschl, Geschichte des Pietismus, I, 1880 (repr. 1966), 268–276 W. Goeters, Die Vorbereitung des Pietismus …

[German Version] (Jun 16, 1877, Leipzig – Jan 25, 1961, Jena). Heussi studied theology, history and philosophy in Leipzig, Berlin and Marburg and received the Dr.phil. (Leipzig) in 1903, the Lic.theol. (Heidelberg) in 1911, and the Dr.theol. h.c. (Gießen) in 1919. Between 1904 and 1924 Heussi worked as headmaster and then professor at the Gymnasium in Leipzig; after 1924, he taught in Jena as professor of church history. Published in many revised editions since 1907, his Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte [Compendium of church history] (181991) which was originally conceived for…

[German Version] I. Background The Peace of Westphalia is the name given the treaty documents that ended the Thirty Years War on Oct 24, 1648, hoping to establish a pax universalis among the Christian states of Europe. It comprised two separate treaties: one, the Instrumentum Pacis Osnabrugense (IPO), between the emperor, Sweden, and the German estates, framed in Osnabrück, the other, the Instrumentum Pacis Monasteriense, between the emperor as imperial head of state and France, concluded in Münster. Both were the result of negotiations over the European fra…

[German Version] (Kochhaf[e]; Feb 26, 1530, Ingelfingen, Hohenlohe – Jun 25, 1600, Rostock). The son of Matthäus Kochhaf, a pastor from the entourage of J. Brenz, Chyträus was enrolled at the University of Tübingen before the age of 10. Receiving his M.A. in 1544, he then moved to Wittenberg. He was decisively influenced by both Melanchthon and Luther, whose lectures on Genesis he attended. The not entirely unproblematic bonds to his two Wittenberg teachers remai…

[German Version] The General Synod of the Reformed Congregations of the Netherlands, meeting between Nov 1618 and May 1619 in Dort (Dordrecht) for the first time since 1586 (The Hague) ended theological and church-political disputes that had erupted in the 1580s. These disputes were centered on the doctrine of predestination, the binding force of the doctrinal confessions, and th…

[German Version] (Dec 22, 1610, Stettin – Aug 3, 1688, Königsberg) studied in Jena, Wittenberg, Rostock, and Copenhagen. From 1638, he taught in the faculty of philosophy at the University of Königsberg; in 1644, Dreier, who enjoyed the special favor of the Prince Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William I, was called, despite the objection of professors of theology Johannes Behm and C. …

[German Version] (Dorsch, Dorsch[a]eus; Nov 13, 1597, Straßburg – Dec 25, 1659, Rostock) received the M.A. in 1617 after attending the Gymnasium illustre in his home city; he studied theology (1619–1621) in Rinteln and Tübingen. In 1622, Dorsche assumed a pastorate in Ensisheim near Straßburg. After receiving his doctorate from Straßburg, he assumed a dual office as cathedral pre…

[German Version] In its original usage by E. Troeltsch the term “confessional age” designated the 16th and 17th-century period of European history, distinct from the Middle Ages and the modern era, in which the “power of ecclesial culture,” in principle broken by Protestantism or the Reformation, continued to shape culture and society in the form of three “mutually exclusive and restrictive infallible churchdoms” ( HZ 1906, 29; 1911, 46); in the process of the “relative pulverization” ( ibid.) of the three confessions, the “modern world” arose. The concept of the …

[German Version] (Jacob Hermansz/Harmensen/ Hermanszoon; Oct 10, 1560, Oudewater aan de IJssel, Holland – Oct 19, 1609, Leiden). The significance of Arminius lies especially in his denial of the doctrine of supralapsarian predestination (Infralapsarianism) of nascent orthodox Calvinism, which had become systematized as a specific point of doctrine in confessio…

[German Version] (1576, Uplewert, East Frisia– Sep 11, 1637, Franeker). The son of a pastor, Bogerman was a vigorous exponent of Reformed orthodoxy in the Netherlands. After studying at major centers with important teachers of orthodox Reformed theology (Franeker [1591], Heidelberg [1596: D. Pareus, D. Toussain], Geneva [T. Beza…

[German Version] (Dec 19, 1594, Stockholm – Oct 16 [Old Style Oct 6], 1632, battlefield near Lützen), king of Sweden (1611; coronation 1617), was the son of the imperial administrator (1593) and the king of Sweden (Karl IX, 1587 and 611), Duke Karl of Södermannland and Princess Christine of Holstein-Gottorp. Sweden's rise over the course of a century to become one of Europe's leading Protestant powers is linked to the reign of the brilliant military leader and political strategist, Gustav II Adolf…

[German Version] (Oct 16, 1619, Dresden – Sep 15, 1664, Rostock). After studying philosophy and theology in Leipzig (M.A.,1639) and Wittenberg (1644; adjunct to the faculty of philosophy), König entered Swedish service in 1649 as the court chaplain of Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. König was appointed assistant professor of theology in Greifswald in 1651. In 1656, he accepted a call from the duke of Mecklenburg, Adolf Friedrich, to be superintendent of Mecklenburg and Ratzeburg. In 1663, he al…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Political and Legal Aspects; Spread – III. Characteristics I. Terminology The term was originally used mostly in the plural to denote individual legal and political measures taken against the Protestants by Roman Catholic rulers on the basis of the ius reformandi . In the singular, as Gegenreformation (cf. Fr. contreréforme, Ital. controriforma) in L. v. Ranke's Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation (1839–1847), it underwent a major historiographical transformation, becoming the designation of the perio…

[German Version] (Amesius, Guilelmus; 1576, Ipswich, Suffolk – 1633, Rotterdam), the most important single theological figure for the early connection of English Puritanism and the Dutch “Nadere Reformatie”. In Cambridge Ames became familiar, through W. Perkins, with deeply puritanical appropriation of the theology of Calvin. After a …

[English Version] 1.  Albrecht , (25.3.1822 Stettin – 20.3.1889 Göttingen). Nach Studium in Bonn (1839–1841 bei K.I. Nitzsch), Halle (1841–1843 bei F.A. G. Tholuck, Julius Müller, J.E. Erdmann, K. Schwarz), philos. Promotion daselbst (Expositio doctrinae Augustini de creatione mundi, peccato, gratia, 1843), erstem Examen 1844, weiterem Studium in Heidelberg (1845 bei R. Rothe) und Tübingen (1845/46 bei F. Ch. Baur, E. Zeller, A. Schwegler, F. Th. Vischer) Habil. in Bonn (1846 mit einer Arbeit über M…

[German Version] I. Origins and Spread – II. Great Britain – III. North America I. Origins and Dissemination The public criticism of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination by J. Arminius was increasingly associated after his death (1609) with church-political and general political motives and opened up a dynamic which created a deep split in the Reformed churches of the Dutch General States for ar…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff Der Begriff O. leitet sich aus dem griech. ο᾿ρϑο´ς/ortho´s, »gerade, recht, richtig«, und δο´ξα/do´xa, »Meinung, Absicht, Lehre«, her. Der Begriff und seine Derivate sind auch vorchristl. bezeugt (Liddell/Scott s.v.), gewannen aber ihre spezifisch rel. Bedeutung erst im Kontext des Christentums, in dem das Bekenntnis zu Jesus als dem Herrn bzw. als dem Christus eine für den rel. Vollzug konstitutive Rolle hat (Röm 10,10; Mt 10,32f.) und früh die Notwendigkeit entstand, in einer V…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Christianity – III. Judaism – IV. Islam I. Terminology The term orthodoxy derives from Greek ὀρϑός/ orthós, “right, true, straight,” and δόξα/ dóxa, “opinion, teaching.” The word and its derivatives appear in pre-Christian literature (Liddell & Scott, s.v.) but acquired their specifically religious sense only in the context of Christianity, where confession of Jesus as Lord or Christ plays a constitutive role in religious practice (Rom 10:10; Matt 10:32f.) and the need appeared early on to identify a…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Church History – III. Dogmatics – IV. Liturgical History – V. Practical Theology – VI. Missiology I. New Testament 1. Background Sacred meals are common to all religions. Before examining them in the context of the NT, it is necessary first to inquire into their background in the OT and in Judaism, whereupon it becomes evident that sacrificial meals play no role in them. Only the dai…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Law – IX. Missiology I. Religious Studies Over the course of history, the word office has been used for a wide variety of functions. In every case, however, what is peculiar to the term is that it refers to an activity independent of the unique personal characteristics of the officeholder. In the context of religious studies, what first comes to mind is the office…