Anton Graff Johann Joachim Spalding 1800

Johann Joachim Spalding (1 November 1714 – 25 May 1804) was a German Protestant theologian and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

of Scottish ancestry who was a native of Tribsees, Swedish Pomerania. He was the father of

Georg Ludwig Spalding Georg Ludwig Spalding (8 April 1762 – 7 June 1811) was a German philologist born in Barth, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He was the son of theologian Johann Joachim Spalding (1714–1804). He studied philology and theology at the Universities of Göt ...

(1762–1811), a professor at Grauen Kloster in Berlin. He grew up as a son of the parish priest in Tribsees and studied himself philosophy and theology at the Universities of Rostock and Greifswald, afterwards working as an auxiliary preacher in his hometown of Tribsees. In 1755 he became a pastor in Lassan, then two years later served as a minister in the town of Barth. In 1764 he received the titles of provost and ''Oberkonsistorialrat'', and gained recognition for his sermons at St. Nicolai-Kirche and at Marienkirche in Berlin. He was a highly influential minister who had as friends, renowned personalities that included Ewald Christian von Kleist and

Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (2 April 1719 – 18 February 1803) was a German poet, commonly associated with the Enlightenment movement. Life Gleim was born at the small town of Ermsleben in the Principality of Halberstadt, then part of Prussia ...

. As a protest against the ''Wöllnersche Religionsedikt'' ( Wöllner Edict of 9 July 1788), he resigned from his official duties. Spalding was an important figure of the German Enlightenment. In 1748 he released ''Betrachtungen über die Bestimmung des Menschen'' (Reflections on the Destination of Man), a publication that is considered to be a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

of German Enlightenment theology. In this work he rejected dogmatic authoritarianism and confessional orthodoxy, while promoting a common sense philosophy that explained an individual's path from sensuality to spirituality ultimately leading to immortality. In his writings he was strongly opposed to

Julien Offroy de La Mettrie Julien Offray de La Mettrie (; November 23, 1709 – November 11, 1751) was a French physician and philosopher, and one of the earliest of the French materialists of the Enlightenment. He is best known for his 1747 work '' L'homme machine'' (''M ...

's philosophy of French materialism. His

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Lebensbeschreibung, von ihm selbst aufgesetzt'', was published by his son in 1804. Other noted works by Spalding include: * ''Über die Nutzbarkeit des Predigtamtes und deren Beförderung'', 1772. * ''Gedanken über den Werth der Gefühle in dem Christenthum'', 1789 – Thoughts concerning the value of feelings in Christianity. * ''Vertraute Briefe, die Religion betreffend'' : (1784; 1785; 1788) – Familiar writings involving religion. * ''Religion, eine Angelegenheit des Menschen'', 1798 – Religion, A matter for mankind.WorldCat Search
published works

References

* "This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

", whose references include
ADB: Spalding, Johann Joachim
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Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) 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 Aca ...

. 1714 births 1804 deaths People from Vorpommern-Rügen People from Swedish Pomerania German Protestant clergy German philosophers German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-theologian-stub