Abraham Calovius (also Abraham Calov or Abraham Kalau; 16 April 161225 February 1686) was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian, and was one of the champions of Lutheran orthodoxy in the 17th century.

Biography

He was born in Mohrungen (Morąg),

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

, a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of Crown of Poland. After studying at

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, in 1650 he was appointed professor of theology at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, where he afterwards became general superintendent and primarius. Calovius opposed the

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

s and

Socinian Socinianism ( ) is a Nontrinitarian Christian belief system developed and co-founded during the Protestant Reformation by the Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians Lelio Sozzini and Fausto Sozzini, uncle and nephew, respectively. I ...

s, and in particular attacked the

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

of his bitter enemy, George Calixtus. While Calixtus affirmed that the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

was an adequate definition of faith, Calovius rather held that one must believe every part of revealed truth in order to gain salvation. This led Calovius to deny as a

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

the idea that Roman Catholics or Calvinists could be partakers of salvation. As a writer of polemics Calovius had few equals. His chief dogmatic work, ''Systema locorum theologicorum,'' (12 volumes, 1655–1677) represents the climax of Lutheran scholasticism. He produced a popular commentary on

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's translation of the Bible, "die deutsche Bibel," today known as the Calov Bible.Lutheran Orthodoxy Under Fire
by Timothy Schmeling He also wrote a much larger professional exegetical work on the entire Bible called "Biblia Illustrata." It is written from the point of view of a very strict belief in inspiration, his object being to refute the statements made by

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

in his ''Commentaries.'' Calovius died in

Works (selection)

* ''Tractatus Novus De Methodo Docendi & Disputandi'', 1632. * ''Metaphysica divina.'' Rostock, Hallervord, 1640. * ''Scripta philosophica.'' Lübeck, Wilden, 1651. * ''Systematis locorum theologicorum.'' :"Système de prémisses théologiques issues des écrits les plus sacrés de l'Antiquité :" Wittenberg 1655–1677 (12 volumes). * ''Biblia illustrata.'' Frankfurt am Main 1672–1676 and 1719 (4 volumes). * ''Theologia positiva.'' Wittenberg 1682.

References

* Marco Sgarbi
''Abraham Calov and Immanuel Kant. Aristotelian and Scholastic Traces in the Kantian Philosophy''
Historia Philosophica, 8, 2010, pp. 55–62

External links

*
Abraham Calov, Scripta philosophica

Abraham Calov (1612-1686)
Post-Reformation Digital Library

* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=ZAed_DrVKOMC Abraham Calov's Doctrine of Vocatio in Its Systematic Contextby Kenneth Appold
Dogmatic excerpts from Syncretismus and Digressio
by Abraham Calov
Lutheran Orthodoxy under Fire
by Timothy Schmeling {{DEFAULTSORT:Calovius, Abraham 1612 births 1686 deaths People from Morąg 17th-century Prussian people 17th-century German Lutheran clergy German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German Protestant theologians 17th-century writers in Latin 17th-century German male writers University of Königsberg alumni Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg 17th-century Lutheran theologians

Biography

Works (selection)

See also

References

References

External links