Benedictus Aretius (surname derived from Marti by Greek translation) (1505–1574) was a Swiss Protestant theologian, Protestant reformer and natural philosopher.

Life

He was born at Bätterkinden, in the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

, Switzerland. He studied at Strasbourg and at

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

, where he became professor of logic. He was called to Bern as a school-teacher, 1548, and became professor of theology, 1564. He died at Bern on 22 March 1574.

Works

His major work, ''Theologiæ problemata'' (Bern, 1573), was a compendium of the knowledge of the time and was highly valued. His ''Examen theologicum'' (1557) ran through six editions in fourteen years. His works also include * a commentary on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

(1580 and 1616) and on the Pentateuch (1602; 2d ed., with commentary on the Psalms added, 1618); * a commentary on

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

(1587); * a description of the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of two mountains of the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

, Stockhorn and Niesen (Strasbourg, 1561); * a Hebrew method for schools (Basel, 1561); and * a defense of the execution (in 1566) of the antitrinitarian Valentin Gentilis (Geneva, 1567).

References

''Schaff-Herzog'' article

External links

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Aretius, Benedictus 1505 births 1574 deaths People from Emmental District Swiss Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century Swiss scientists 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians