Johannes Piscator (; ; 27 March 1546 – 26 July 1625) was a German

Reformed theologian Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, known as a Bible translator and textbook writer. He was a prolific writer, and initially moved around as he held a number of positions. Some scholarly confusion as to whether there was more than one person of the name was addressed in a paper by

Walter Ong Walter Jackson Ong, (November 30, 1912 – August 12, 2003) was an American Jesuit priest, professor of English literature, cultural and religious historian, and philosopher. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality ...

Life

Piscator was born at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, and educated at 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 became professor of theology at Strasbourg in 1573. Elector Frederick III experienced some resistance when he attempted to appoint him to the arts faculty at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

in 1574, and Piscator eventually took a post at the preparatory Latin ''Paedagogium'' in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. After a confessional change in Heidelberg, he briefly served as deputy rector at the court school in

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday roa ...

in 1577 before being appointed professor of theology at the Casimirianum in Neustadt in 1578. He later served as rector at

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (distric ...

in 1581 before settling into a productive career as professor at the

Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy () was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty of theology continues ...

, from 1584 to 1625, where he was able to advance his

Ramist Ramism was a collection of theories on rhetoric, logic, and pedagogy based on the teachings of Petrus Ramus, a French academic, philosopher, and Huguenot convert, who was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572. Accord ...

pedagogy fully. He died at Herborn.

Works

Piscator prepared Latin commentaries collectively of the New Testament (Herborn, 1595–1609) and the Old Testament (1612, 1618), and a German translation of the Bible (1605–19). He followed with ''Anhang des herbonischen biblischen Wercks'' (1610), noted for its wealth of archeological, historical, and theological material. He left a multitude of text-books in philosophy, philology, and theology, of which ''Aphorismi doctrinæ christianæ'' (1596) was much used. In 2010 Piscator's Appendix to his Commentary on Exodus 21 - 23 has been translated and published under the title of ''Disputations on the Judicial Laws of Moses''.

Theologian

His significance for theology was his opposition to the doctrine of the active obedience of Christ. "Whoever denies that Christ was subject to the law, denies that he was man." If the imputation of the active obedience were sufficient man would be free from obedience as well as from the curse.

Notes

References

* * F. C. Baur, ''Die christliche Lehre von der Versöhnung'', pp. 352 sqq., Tübingen, 1838; * Dagmar Drüll, ''Heidelberger Gelehrtenlexikon 1386-1651'', Berlin: Springer, 2002, pp. 455–456. * W. Gass, ''Geschichte der protestantischen Dogmatik,'' i. 422 sqq., 4 vols., Berlin, 1854–67;
E. F. Karl Müller, "Johannes Piscator," in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. 9
* A. Ritschl, ''Die christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung and Versöhnung'', i. 271 sqq., Bonn, 1889, Eng. transl., ''Critical Hist. of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation'', Edinburgh, 1872. * Otto Renkhoff: ''Nassauische Biographie''. Wiesbaden 1992. S. 613. * Steubing, in ZHT, 1841, part 4, pp. 98 sqq.; *

External links

*
Works of Piscator in the Munich Digital Library

Works of Piscator in the Post-Reformation Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piscator, Johannes 1546 births 1625 deaths 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers 17th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 17th-century German Protestant theologians 17th-century German male writers Arminian theologians German Calvinist and Reformed theologians German male non-fiction writers