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Christoph Pezel (5 March 1539 – 24 February 1604) was an influential
Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
Theologian who introduced the
Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...
confession to
Nassau-Dillenburg The County of Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later part of the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, the male line of which is now extinct, was the House of Nassau. Origins Nassau, originally a county, developed ...
and
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...
.


Education and service in Saxony

Pezel was born in Plauen and educated at the universities of
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 ...
and
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 ...
, his studies at the latter institution being interrupted by his teaching for several years. In 1557 he was appointed professor in the philosophical faculty and in 1569 was ordained preacher at the Schlosskirche in Wittenberg. In the same year he entered the theological faculty, where he soon became involved in the disputes between the followers of Melanchthon and Luther, writing the ''Apologia verae doctrinae de definitione Evangelii'' (Wittenberg, 1571) and being the chief author of the Wittenberg catechism of 1571. He soon took a leading position as a zealous Philippist, but in 1574 he and his colleagues were summoned to
Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces firs ...
and required to give up the
Calvinistic 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 Calv ...
theory of the
Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...
. As they refused to subscribe to the articles presented to them, they were placed under surveillance in their own houses and forbidden to discuss or to print anything on the questions in dispute. They were afterward deposed from their professorships, and in 1576 were banished. Pezel, who had hitherto been at
Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded und ...
, now went to
Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bu ...
; but in 1577, like his fellow exiles, received a position from Count John of Nassau, first at the school in
Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semeste ...
and later at Dillingen.


Ministry in Nassau and Bremen

Pezel then definitely accepted Calvinism, and the Church in Dillenburg was united to the Calvinistic body. In 1578 he became pastor at Herborn, and in 1580 was permitted by Count John to go for a few weeks to Bremen to try to reconcile the Church difficulties between the Calvinists and Lutherans. His task was difficult, however, since the Lutheran Jodocus Glanaeus refused to meet him in open debate. The civil authorities, construing this as contumacy, deposed Glanaeus, and Pezel preached in his place. He soon returned to Nassau, but in 1581 was permanently appointed the successor of Glanaeus at Bremen, where, four years later, he was made superintendent of the churches and schools. At the same time he became pastor of the ''Liebfrauenkirche'', though he also retained his pastorate at the ''Ansgariikirche'' till 1598. He took an active part in improving and extending the work at the Bremen gymnasium, where he was professor of theology, moral philosophy, and history, being also the leader in all the theological controversies in which the Bremen church became involved. Pezel did away with
Luther's Catechism Luther's Catechism may refer to; * Luther's Large Catechism, consisting of works written by Martin Luther and compiled Christian canonical texts, published in April 1529 * Luther's Small Catechism ''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Klein ...
, substituting for it his own Bremen catechism, which remained in force until the eighteenth century, removed images and pictures from the churches, formed a ministerium which united the clergy, and, by hi
''Consensus ministerii Bremensis ecclesiæ''
of 1595, prepared the way for the complete acceptance of Calvinistic doctrine. Pezel died in
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...
, aged 64.


Works

Pezel was the editor Of many theological writings, of which the most important were the ''Loci theologici'' of his teacher,
Victorinus Strigel Viktorin (Victorinus) Strigel (16 or 26 December 1524, Kaufbeuren — 26 June 1569, Heidelberg) was a Philippist Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Life Victorinus Strigel was born 1524 in Kaufbeuren, the son of the physician ...
(4 parts, Neustadt, 1581–84); Philip Melanchthon's ''Consilia'' (1600); and Caspar Peucer's ''Historia carcerum et liberationis divinae'' (Zurich, 1605); while among his independent works special mention may be made of the following: ''Argumenta et objectiones de praecipuis articulis doctrinae Christianae'' (Neustadt, 1580–89); ''Libellus precationum'' (1585); and ''Mellificium historicum, complectens historiam trium monarchiarum, Chaldaicae, Persicae, Graecae'' (1592). He is particularly interesting as showing the evolution from Melanchthon's attitude toward
predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
to the complete determinism of the Calvinistic concept of the dogma.


References

* This article incorporates the article o
Christoph Pezel
by G. Kawerau from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, a publication now in the public domain. * * * Helmar Junghans, ''Verzeichnis der Rektoren, Prorektoren, Dekane, Professoren und Schloßkirchenprediger der Leucorea vom Sommersemester 1536 bis zum Wintersemester 1574/75.'' In Irene Dingel and Günther Wartenberg, ''Georg Major (1502-1574) - Ein Theologe der Wittenberger Reformation.''
Evangelische Verlagsanstalt The Evangelische Verlagsanstalt (EVA) is a denominational media company founded in Berlin in 1946. Its shareholders are the and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony. The managing director is Sebastian Knöfel. Book publisher The range inc ...
, Leipzig, 2005, * Heinz Kathe, ''Die Wittenberger Philosophische Fakultät 1501–1817.'' Böhlau, Köln 2002 * Walter Friedensburg, ''Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg.'' Max Niemeyer, Halle (Saale) 1917 *


External links

* * * Ulrike Ludwig
Christoph Pezel
In ''Sächsische Biographie''. 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pezel, Christoph 1539 births 1604 deaths People from Plauen German Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century Latin-language writers German Protestant Reformers University of Wittenberg alumni Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg Philippists 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers 16th-century German male writers