Valentin Ernst Löscher
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Valentin Ernst Löscher (born at
Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...
29 December 1673; died at
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
12 December 1749) was a German orthodox
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 th ...
theologian. At the
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 in ...
, where his father was professor of theology, he gave his attention mainly to philology and history, but out of respect to his father's wish he selected a theological subject for his master's dissertation, in which he opposed the
Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...
ic position. Subsequent study at
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 popu ...
aroused his interest in
church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...
. During travels undertaken at this time he formed the acquaintance of a number of influential anti-Pietistic theologians. In 1696 he began to lecture at Wittenberg on the origin of
Deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...
and
Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...
. After serving as
superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
at
Jüterbog Jüterbog () is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin. History The Slavic settlement of ' ...
(1698-1701) and
Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...
(1701-07) and professor of theology at
Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, 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 Ri ...
(1707–09), he became
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
of the Kreuzkirche and superintendent in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
. Here he remained the rest of his life. His practical duties here turned his attention more particularly to the needs of the Church. His
orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...
did not prevent him from admitting the truth of the claims of the
Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...
s concerning the prevailing perfunctoriness of religious life, which he ascribed to the negligence of orthodox pastors. He at once took earnest measures to encourage a deeper spiritual life in the Church. He had already begun the publication of his ''Unschuldige Nachrichten von alten und neuen theologischen Sachen'' (Wittenberg and Leipzig, 1701 sqq.), the first theological periodical. The comprehensive scope and able management of the magazine gave it great importance. Through it Löscher became the leader of the
orthodox party The Party of the Cuban People – Orthodox ( es, Partido del Pueblo Cubano – Ortodoxos, PPC-O), commonly shortened to the Orthodox Party ( es, Partido Ortodoxo), was a Cuban populist political party. It was founded in 1947 by Eduardo Chibás in ...
, as opposed to the Pietistic and naturalistic factions in the Lutheran Church, and the representative of scientific Lutheran theology. In opposition to the proposal that Pietism should be considered the best means of promoting the union of the
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 th ...
and the Reformed Churches (advocated at the time by the Prussian Government), Löscher published several works, including ''Ausführliche Historia motuum zwischen den Evangelisch-Lutherischen und Reformierten'' (3 parts, Frankfort, 1707–08). In the course of a controversy with the Pietist Joachim Lange, Löscher defended orthodoxy in his ''Praenotiones et notiones theologicae'' (Wittenberg, 1708). However, his most comprehensive criticism of Pietism appeared in his magazine under the title ''Timotheus Verinus'', in which work he held that the Pietists had a false conception of the relation between
piety Piety is a virtue which may include religious devotion or spirituality. A common element in most conceptions of piety is a duty of respect. In a religious context piety may be expressed through pious activities or devotions, which may vary among ...
and religion and that their zeal for piety placed them in opposition to the doctrine of
justification by faith ''Justificatio sola fide'' (or simply ''sola fide''), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, f ...
. The work inspired a bitter reply from his Pietistic opponents, which called forth from Löscher his greatest work, ''Vollständiger Timotheus Verinus'' (2 parts, Wittenberg, 1718-22. Eng. transl., The Complete Timotheus Verinus 1998, Northwestern Publishing House). In this he discusses the origin and rapid development of Pietism and elaborates upon its evils. Nevertheless, he was unable to check the advance of Pietism or even to pass a true judgment upon the real significance of the movement. The importance of Löscher's part in the Pietistic controversy was not fully recognized until the return to Evangelical doctrine in the nineteenth century. Löscher took an active part also in the controversy which at that time was being waged against the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in Dresden and contributed a number of studies to that cause, notably his ''Vollständige Reformations-Akta und Documenta'' (3 vols., Leipzig, 1720–29). He also opposed Wolff's system of philosophy, claiming that "philosophical indifferentism" portended a revolution in Christianity.


Further reading

* (de)
Horst Weigelt Horst Weigelt (born 1934 in Liegnitz) is a German Protestant theologian. From 1975 to 2002 he was Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg. His research focuses on the Reformation, Pietism and Enl ...
: Löscher, Valentin Ernst. In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Vol. 21. Berlin/New York 1991, p. 415–419. * (en) Werner Raupp: Löscher, Valentin Ernst (1674–1749), in: Heiner F. Klemme/Manfred Kuehn (Ed.): ''The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers''. London/New York 2010, Vol. 2, p. 740–741.


References

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External links


Confessional Lutheranism in Eighteenth Century Germany
by Vernon P. Kleinig, Concordia Theological Quarterly, Volume 60: Numbers 1-2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Loscher, Valentin, Ernst 1673 births 1749 deaths People from Sondershausen German Lutheran theologians 18th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers 17th-century Lutheran theologians 18th-century Lutheran theologians