Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack (1738–1817) was a Prussian theologian, court preacher, and Church governor.Lacroix 1880, p. 210.

Life

Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack was born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

in the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg () was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg, gi ...

on 4 September 1738, the eldest son of August Friedrich Wilhelm Sack by his second wife. His mother was descended of a French refugee family, which explains a fondness which Sack had for the French language and literature. He studied at the University of Frankfort-on-the-Oder from 1755 to 1757. The next two years he studied in England, coming into contact with Secker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Kennicott, Lardner, and others. On his return to Germany he acted as tutor to a young nobleman, whom he accompanied to Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and where he again heard lectures. He now associated much with Tollner. After preaching at

(1769–1777), he was called by Frederick II as fifth court preacher to Berlin. Gradually he rose to the first place. In 1786 he became a member of the high

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

. The years 1804–1813 were spent in arduous devotion to the oppressed and suffering people of the capital. In 1816 the King conferred upon him the title of bishop of the Evangelical Church. He died on 2 October 1817.

Family

Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack was married Johanna Wilhelmine Spalding (1753–1832), daughter of Protestant theologian and philosopher

Johann Joachim Spalding Johann Joachim Spalding (1 November 1714 – 25 May 1804) was a German Protestant theologian and philosopher of Scottish ancestry who was a native of Tribsees, Swedish Pomerania. He was the father of Georg Ludwig Spalding, a professor at Grauen ...

(1714–1804). His eldest son was Wilhelm Friedrich Sack (1772–1854), who was chief President of the Prussian Supreme Tribunal in Berlin. Sack's daughter Friederike Henriette Sack (1781–1852), married the Oberamts government councillor in Glogau Johann Wichardt Erbkam (1771–1838). Another daughter, Eleonore Philippine Amalie Sack (1783–1862), was married the later Minister of Culture (1779–1856). His another son was Friedrich Ferdinand Adolph Sack (1788–1842), who also a court and cathedral preacher in Berlin. His youngest son was

Carl Heinrich Sack Karl Heinrich Sack (1789–1875) was a German Protestant theologian and university professor. Life Karl Heinrich Sack, son of Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack, was born at Berlin on 17 October 1789.Erdmann 1890, p. 153. He studied at Gottin ...

(1789–1875), who was a Professor of Theology in Bonn. Among his descendants was theologian (1810–1884), Governor of Minden of the Prussian province of Westphalia (1813–1892) and Generalfeldmarschall Hermann von Eichhorn (1848–1918).

Theology

In theology Sack was independent of the traditions of orthodoxy, but he stood firmly on evangelical ground. God as a person and Father; the Son as Redeemer and Offering; the Holy Spirit as comforter; love to God in Christ as the spring of the Christian life—such were the elements of his theology.Lacroix 1880, pp. 210–211. Though leaning somewhat towards

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

, he yet firmly opposed the inroads which

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

's and

Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...

's speculations made upon evangelical doctrine. He was one of the chief movers towards the union of the Lutheran and Reformed churches of Prussia, which was effected after his death.Lacroix 1880, p. 211. For some years he stood in the closest relations to the young

Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional ...

, and rejoiced in a belief in the promise of good which the latter would bring to the Church. When this young divine first issued his celebrated ''Reden'' (1799), Sack openly expressed his paternal grief at what seemed to him a leaning towards

pantheism Pantheism can refer to a number of philosophical and religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arisesAnn Thomson; Bodies ...

in this work. In later editions many of the criticised passages were modified.

Works

Sack was not productive; he was chiefly a practical worker. His published works consist of translations from English (

Blair Blair is a Scots-English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or " field", frequently ...

's ''Sermons'') and Latin (

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's ''

De Amicitia ''Laelius de Amicitia'' (or simply ''De Amicitia'') is a treatise on friendship (''amicitia'') by the Roman statesman and author Marcus Tullius Cicero, written in 44 BC. Background The work is written as a dialogue between prominent figures of th ...

'' and '' De Senectute''), two collections of ''Sermons'', an ''Autobiography'', and some minor ''Essays.''

References

Sources

* Lommatzsch, Siegfried (1894)
"Sack, Gottfried"
In ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

''. Vol. 37. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 307–315. Attribution: * Lacroix, J. P. (1880)
"Sack, Carl Heinrich, Dr"
In McClintock, John; Strong, James (eds.). ''

Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature The ''Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature'' is a reference work of ten volumes and two supplements published in the late 19th century, co-authored by John McClintock (theologian), John McClintock, academic and minis ...

''
Vol. 9.—Rh–St
New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 210–211. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sack, Friedrich Samuel Gottfried 1738 births 1817 deaths People from Magdeburg People from the Duchy of Magdeburg German Calvinist and Reformed theologians 18th-century German Protestant theologians 18th-century German writers 19th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German writers European University Viadrina alumni