Johannes Gerhard (17 October 1582 – 17 August 1637) 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 ...

church leader and Lutheran Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy.

Biography

He was born in the German city of

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

. During a dangerous illness, at the age of fourteen he came under the personal influence of Johann Arndt, author of ''Das wahre Christenthum'', and resolved to study for the church. He entered the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

in 1599, and studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and theology. A relative then persuaded him to change his subject, and he studied medicine for two years. In 1603, he resumed his theological reading at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany 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 in ...

, and in the following year received a new impulse from J.W. Winckelmann and Balthasar Mentzer at Marburg. He graduated in 1605 and began to give lectures at Jena, then in 1606 he accepted the invitation of John Casimir, Duke of Coburg, to the superintendency of Heldburg and mastership of the gymnasium Casimirianum Coburg; soon afterwards he became general superintendent of the duchy, in which capacity he was engaged in the practical work of ecclesiastical organization until 1616, when he became the senior theological professor at Jena, where the remainder of his life was spent. Here, with Johann Major and Johann Himmel, he formed the "Trias Johannea." Though still comparatively young, Gerhard was already regarded as the greatest living

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Germany; in the "disputations" of the period he was always protagonist, and his advice was sought on all public and domestic questions touching on religion or morals. During his lifetime he received repeated calls to almost every university in Germany (e.g.

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

, Altdorf, Helmstedt,

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 ...

), as well as to

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He died in

Writings

His writings are numerous, alike in exegetical, polemical,

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

tic and practical theology. To the first category belong the (1617), the ''Comment, super priorem D. Petri epistolam'' (1641), and also his commentaries on ''Genesis'' (1637) and on ''Deuteronomy'' (1658). Of a controversial character are the '' Confessio Catholica'' (1633–1637), an extensive work which seeks to prove the ''evangelical'' and catholic character of the doctrine of the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of th ...

from the writings of approved Roman Catholic authors; and the ''Loci communes theologici'' (1610–1622), his principal contribution, in which Lutheranism is expounded "''nervose, solide et copiose''," in fact with a fulness of learning, a force of

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

and a minuteness of detail that had never before been approached. The ''Meditationes sacrae'' (1606), a work expressly devoted to the uses of Christian edification, has been frequently reprinted in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and has been translated into most of the European languages, including

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Works

* A full listing of printings of Gerhard's works from 1601 to 2002 is in Johann Anselm Steiger, ed., ''Bibliographia Gerhardina 1601–2002: Verzeichnis der Druckschriften Johann Gerhards (1582–1637) sowie ihrer Neuausgaben, Übersetzungen und Bearbeitungen'' (Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: frommann-holzboog, 2003). * ''Loci Theologici'' (1610–1625; reprint, Berlin: Schlawitz, 1863–85)
vol. 1 (1625 ''Exegesis'')vol. 3 (1610 ''Loci'') vol. 5vol. 7 vol. 8 vol. 9"> vol. 9vol. 1-9
* '' Confessio Catholica'' (Jena, 1634–37)
volume 1volume 2/1volume 2/2volume 2/3(Frankfurt, 1679)

Meditationes Sacrae (original Latin text with audio recordings)

Johann Gerhards Handexemplar der Lutherbibel
- Digital copy of Johann Gerhard's personal annotated Bible

Translations

* ''Theological Commonplaces: Exegesis, or A More Copious Explanation of Certain Articles of the Christian Religion (1625): On the Nature of Theology and on Scripture'', rev. ed., translated by Richard J. Dinda, edited with annotations by Benjamin T. G. Mayes (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009). * ''Theological Commonplaces: Exegesis, or A More Copious Explanation of Certain Articles of the Christian Religion (1625): On the Nature of God and On the Most Holy Mystery of the Trinity'', translated by Richard J. Dinda, edited with annotations by Benjamin T. G. Mayes (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007). * ''Theological Commonplaces: Exegesis, or A More Copious Explanation of Certain Articles of the Christian Religion (1625): On the Person and Office of Christ'', translated by Richard J. Dinda, edited with annotations by Benjamin T. G. Mayes (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009). * ''Theological Commonplaces: On the Church'', translated by Richard J. Dinda, edited with annotations by Benjamin T. G. Mayes (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2010). * ''Meditations on Divine Mercy'', translated by Matthew C. Harrison (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003).
''Sacred Meditations'', translated by C. W. Heisler (Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1896).
* ''An Explanation of the History of the Suffering and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ'', translated by Elmer M. Hohle (Malone, TX: Repristination Press, 1999). *
The External Symbols or Earthly Matter in the Lord's Supper
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:12
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2012). *
Not Ashamed of the Cross: Commentary on 2 Timothy 1:11–18
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2011). *
Troublesome Times: Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:1–5
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2013). *
The Necessity of Being Persecuted: Commentary on 2 Timothy 3:10-13
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2014). *
Finishing the Race: Commentary on 2 Timothy 4:6–8
', translated by Nathaniel J. Biebert
Red Brick Parsonage
2015).

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** ''Vita Joh. Gerhardi'', (published by E. R. Fischer, 1723) ** Carl Julius Böttcher, ''Das Leben Dr. Johann Gerhards'', 1858 ** W. Gass, ''Geschichte der protestantischen Dogmatik'' (1854–1867) ** *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhard, Johann 1582 births 1637 deaths People from Quedlinburg 17th-century German Lutheran clergy German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers Lutheran sermon writers Clergy from Saxony-Anhalt People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar 17th-century writers in Latin Academic staff of the University of Jena University of Wittenberg alumni 16th-century Lutheran theologians 17th-century Lutheran theologians Lutheran saints