Johann Wolfgang Jäger was a German professor of

Protestant theology Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, t ...

and

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. He was born on 17 March 1647 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and died on 20 April 1720 in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Life and works

At the age of 16 Johann Wolfgang Jäger readily began university studies in

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

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

. He became a tutor for the eldest Prince Carl Maximilian, and also for his brother Georg Friedrich in 1676, the son of Duke

Eberhard III Eberhard III may refer to: * Eberhard III, Count of Württemberg (died 1417) * Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (1614–1674) See also * Eberhard I (disambiguation) * Eberhard II (disambiguation) * Eberhard IV (disambiguation) {{hndis ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. In 1680, he received the associate professorship of

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

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 in 1681 the full professorship of

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 ...

. In 1684, he became an instructor of

practical philosophy Practical philosophy concerns itself mainly with subjects that have applications in life, like the study of values, norms, politics, art, etc. The modern division of philosophy into theoretical philosophy and practical philosophyImmanuel Kant, ...

and overseer of the

Tübinger Stift The Tübinger Stift () is a hall of residence and teaching; it is owned and supported by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, and located in the university city of Tübingen, in South West Germany. The Stift was founded as an Augu ...

. In 1702 he was appointed

of the

. There he was a professor of

and

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

of the collegiate church, until 1709 when he became abbot of the

Adelberg Adelberg is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Adelberg lies in the Schurwald forest, at an altitude of around 334 to 473m. Climate The annual rainfall of 1045mm is within the top qu ...

Abbey and General Superintendent of the state of

. Jäger earned his achievements in the academic world primarily in his fight against mystical

Chiliastic Millennialism () or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief which is held by some religious denominations. According to this belief, a Messianic Age will be established on Earth prior to the Last Judgment and the future permanent s ...

teachers such as

Jakob Böhme Jakob Böhme (; ; 24 April 1575 – 17 November 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mysticism, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant Theology, theologian. He was considered an original thinker by many of his contemporaries within the L ...

Gottfried Arnold Gottfried Arnold (5 September 1666 – 30 May 1714) was a German Lutheran theologian and historian. Biography Arnold was born at Annaberg in Saxony, Germany, where his father was schoolmaster. In 1682, he went to the Gymnasium at Gera and ...

, and

Johann Wilhelm Petersen Johann Wilhelm Petersen (1 July 1649 in Osnabrück – 31 January 1727 in Zerbst) was a German theologian, mystic, and Millennialist. Johann Wilhelm Petersen grew up in Lübeck and studied theology at the Katharineum in Lübeck, as well as ...

. Jäger relied on the rationalist system of natural law of

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

. Because of this, he helped to bring new ideas to the

. Though he had personal respect for

Philipp Spener Philipp Jakob Spener (23 January 1635 – 5 February 1705) was a German Lutheran theologian who essentially founded what became known as Pietism. He was later dubbed the "Father of Pietism". A prolific writer, his two main works, ''Pia desider ...

, he believed that

pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

and

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

were dangers to theological doctrine, and he ardently fought against them. His work "Compendium Theologiae...pro scholis in Ducatu Wirtembergico" was introduced to

in 1702 and it replaced older textbooks of theologians such as Matthias Hafenreffer. This work solidified orthodox doctrine by adopting

Federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

and connecting closely with Biblical theology. This helped to usher in a new spirit to the faculty of the

Publications

* „Systema theologicum dogmatico-polemicum“ (1725, 4) * „Compendium Theologiae … pro scholis in Ducatu Wirtembergico“ * „Hist. eccl. c. parallelismo profanae“ (1692, expanded in 1709 und 1717) „ex speciali Seren. Würtem. Ducis jussu scripta“ * „Defensio Imperatoris Josphi contra curiae Romanae bullas“ (1709) * „De Bened. Spinozae vita et doctrina“ (Dissertation, 1710).

Sources

* A. Fr. Bök, Geschichte der Universität Tübingen, S. 141–42. Württemberg. Nebenstunden I, 1–71 (nach einem von J. selbst 1718 geschriebenen Lebenslaufe und Verzeichniß seiner bis dahin verfassten Schriften). Jöcher. Saxi Onomast. V, 413–14.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jager, Johann Wolfgang 1647 births 1720 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians German Protestant clergy German male non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Tübingen 18th-century German male writers