Leonhard Hutter (also ''Hütter'', Latinized as Hutterus; 19 January 1563 – 23 October 1616) 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 Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Life

He was born at Nellingen near

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

. From 1581 he studied at the universities of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

and

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. In 1594 he began to give theological lectures at

, and in 1596 accepted a call as professor of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

, where he died twenty years later.

Works

Hutter was a stern champion of

Lutheran orthodoxy Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the ''Book of Concord'' and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Ro ...

, as set down in the confessions and embodied in his own ''Compendium locorum theologicorum'' (1610; reprinted 1863), being so faithful to his master as to win the title of "Luther redonatus." In reply to

Rudolf Hospinian Rudolf Hospinian (7 November 154711 March 1626), real name Rudolf Wirth, was a Swiss Reformed theologian and controversialist. Life He was born in Fehraltorf, Zürich, Switzerland, as son of Adrian Wirth, a minister. He studied in Marburg and He ...

's ''Concordia discors'' (1607), he wrote a work, rich in historical material but one-sided in its argument, ''Concordia concors'' (1614), defending the

formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (German, ''Konkordienformel''; Latin, ''Formula concordiae''; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its tw ...

, which he regarded as inspired. His ''Irenicum vere christianum'' is directed against

David Pareus David Pareus (30 December 1548 – 15 June 1622) was a German Reformed Protestant theologian and reformer. Life He was born at Frankenstein in Schlesien on 30 December 1548. At some point, he hellenized his original surname, ''Wängler'' (mean ...

(1548–1622), professor primarius at Heidelberg, who in ''Irenicum sive de unione et synodo Evangelicorum'' (1614) had pleaded for a reconciliation of

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

and

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

; his ''Calvinista aulico-politicus'' (1610) was written against the "damnable Calvinism" which was becoming prevalent in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

. Another work, based on the

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (German, ''Konkordienformel''; Latin, ''Formula concordiae''; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its tw ...

, was entitled ''Loci communes theologici''.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutter, Leonhard 1563 births 1616 deaths People from Alb-Donau-Kreis 17th-century Latin-language writers German Lutheran theologians 17th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers 16th-century Lutheran theologians 17th-century Lutheran theologians