Anton Graff Johann Joachim Spalding 1800

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

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 ...

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 ...

and

philosopher 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 ...

of Scottish ancestry who was a native of Tribsees,

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...

. He was the father of Georg Ludwig Spalding, a professor at Grauen Kloster in

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Biography

He grew up as a son of the parish priest Johann Georg Spalding (1681–1748) in Tribsees and studied himself philosophy and theology at the Universities of

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

, afterwards working as an auxiliary preacher in his hometown of Tribsees. Spalding's grandfather Johann Spalding (1633–1686), was mayor of Malchin in the Duchy of Mecklenburg. The Spalding family had Scottish ancestors. In 1755, he became a pastor in Lassan, and two years later, he served as a minister in the town of Barth. In 1764, he received the titles of provost and ''Oberkonsistorialrat'', and he gained recognition for his sermons at St. Nicolai-Kirche and at Marienkirche in

. He was a highly influential minister who had as friends, renowned personalities that included Ewald Christian von Kleist and Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim. 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 written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

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 strongly opposed Julien Offroy de La Mettrie's philosophy of

French materialism French materialism is the name given to a handful of France, French 18th-century philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment, many of them clustered around the Salon (gathering), salon of Baron d'Holbach. Although there are important differences b ...

. His

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, ''Lebensbeschreibung, von ihm selbst aufgesetzt'', was published by his son in 1804. Other noted works by Spalding include:

Family

Johann Joachim Spalding was married Wilhelmine Gebhardi (1734–1762), granddaughter of the Greifswald professor (1657–1729). The couple had three sons and three daughters, including the future jurist Karl August Wilhelm Spalding (1760–1830), the philologist Georg Ludwig Spalding (1762–1811), who was a professor at the Gray Monastery, and Johanna Wilhemine Spalding (1753–1832), who was married the theologian Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack (1738–1817), who was a son himself of Reformed preacher August Friedrich Wilhelm Sack (1703–1786).

Literature

* ''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", whose references include
ADB: Spalding, Johann Joachim
@

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 ...

. 1714 births 1804 deaths People from Vorpommern-Rügen People from Swedish Pomerania German Protestant clergy 18th-century German philosophers German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-theologian-stub