Statue of Justus Jonas, Schlosskirche, Wittenberg

Justus Jonas, the Elder (5 June 1493 – 9 October 1555), or simply Justus Jonas, was a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian and reformer. He was a

Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

and

Hymn writer A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

. He is best known for his translations of the writings of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

and

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lut ...

. He accompanied Martin Luther in his final moments.

Life and church

Jonas was born at Nordhausen in present-day

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

where he was the son of the burgermeister. His birth name was Jodokus (Jobst) Koch, which he changed according to the common custom of German scholars in the sixteenth century, when at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

. He entered that university in 1506, studied law and the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

, and became Master of Arts in 1510. In 1511 he went to

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, where he took his bachelor's degree in law. He returned to

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

during 1514 or 1515 was ordained priest. In 1518, he was appointed

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of St. Severus Church (''Severikirche'') in Erfurt which was a collegiate church. In 1519, he became Rector of the

. In 1521, he was appointed Probst of All Saints' Church (''Schlosskirche'') at Wittenberg and Professor of Church Law in the

. From 1541 to 1546, he served as superintendent and chief pastor at

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...

. His great admiration for

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

first led him to Greek, Hebrew and

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 ...

, and his election in May 1519 as rector of the university was regarded as a triumph for the partisans of the New Learning. It was not, however, until after the

Leipzig Disputation The Leipzig Debate (german: Leipziger Disputation) was a theological disputation originally between Andreas Karlstadt, Martin Luther and Johann Eck. Karlstadt, the dean of the Wittenberg theological faculty, felt that he had to defend Luther ...

with

Johann Eck Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important int ...

that

won his allegiance. He accompanied Luther to the

Diet of Worms The Diet of Worms of 1521 (german: Reichstag zu Worms ) was an imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City of Worms. Martin Luther was summoned t ...

in 1521, and there was appointed professor of canon law at Wittenberg. During Luther's stay in the

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

, Jonas was one of the most active of the Wittenberg reformers. Giving himself up to preaching and polemics, he aided the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

by his gift as a translator, turning Luther's and

Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lu ...

's works into German or Latin as the case might be, thus becoming a sort of double of both. Jonas also assisted Luther with his translation of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

into the German language. One of the eight hymns in the first Lutheran hymnal is attributed to him, ''In Jesu Namen wir heben an'' (In the name of Jesus we begin), which appeared in 1524 with four hymns by

and three by

Paul Speratus Paul Speratus (13 December 148412 August 1551) was a Swabian Catholic priest who became a Protestant preacher, reformer and hymn-writer. In 1523, he helped Martin Luther to create the First Lutheran hymnal, published in 1524 and called ''Achtliede ...

. His hymn ''

Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält "" (, original: ) is a Lutheran hymn by Justus Jonas, a paraphrase of Psalm 124 in eight stanzas. It was first published in 1524 in the Erfurt ''Enchiridion''. The theme of the psalm is the need of help against raging enemies. It has been transla ...

'', a paraphrase of

Psalm 124 Psalm 124 is the 124th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "If it had not been the who was on our side, now may Israel say". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a ...

, was published in the Erfurt ''Enchiridion'' in 1524. It was used by several composers as a base for organ and choral music, including Bach's

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the German Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chorale cantata includes mult ...

BWV 178.

Jonas was busied in conferences (including a prominent role in the Reformation conferences at Marburg (1529) and Augsburg (1530)) and visitations during the next twenty years, and in diplomatic work with the princes. In the autumn of 1531, Jonas published a German translation of the

Apology of the Augsburg Confession The ''Apology of the Augsburg Confession'' was written by Philipp Melanchthon during and after the 1530 Diet of Augsburg as a response to the '' Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession'', Charles V's commissioned official Roman Catholic ...

and in 1541 he began a successful preaching crusade in

, becoming superintendent of its churches in 1542 or 1544 and priest in the Market Church of Our Dear Lady (''Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen'') the city of

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...

. Martin Luther became severely ill and visited his friend during Christmas in 1545. Jonas was present at Luther's deathbed at

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, ...

, and preached the funeral sermon; in a procession Luther's body was taken to Halle and buried in Wittenberg. In the same year Jonas was banished from the duchy by Maurice, Duke of Saxony. From that time until his death, Jonas was unable to secure a satisfactory living. He wandered from place to place preaching, and finally went to

Eisfeld Eisfeld is a town and a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, 12 km east of Hildburghausen, and 19 km north of Coburg. The former municipality Sachsenbrunn was merge ...

(1553), where he died, aged 62.

References

Other sources

*''Briefwechsel des Justus Jonas'', gesammelt und bearbeitet von G. Kawerau (2 vols., Halle, 1884–1885). * Retrieved on January 13, 2007. *G. Kawerau's article, ''Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie'', ed. 3, with bibliography.

External links

Note

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonas, Justus 1493 births 1555 deaths People from Nordhausen, Thuringia 16th-century German Lutheran clergy Christian hymnwriters Christian apologists Jurists from Thuringia German Lutheran theologians German Protestant Reformers Translators of the Bible into German University of Erfurt alumni University of Erfurt faculty University of Wittenberg alumni University of Wittenberg faculty 16th-century German translators

Life and church

See also

References

Other sources

External links

Note