Martin Borrhaus (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
: Martin Cellarius) (1499–11 October 1564) was a German Protestant theologian and reformer.
Life
Borrhaus was born in
Stuttgart and raised as an adopted child of a Simon Keller. He enrolled at the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...
, where in 1515 he graduated and came to know
Philipp Melanchthon
Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the L ...
. In 1520, he moved to the
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria, Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology ...
, where he took up the study of Greek and Hebrew, and theology under
Johann Eck
Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important inte ...
. Following a dispute with Eck, he left for
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
, where he taught mathematics at the private school of Melanchthon. However his ideas became more radical, and he was expelled for heterodoxy in April 1522. Borrhaus travelled in the company of
Felix Manz
Felix Manz (also Felix Mantz) (c. 1498 – 5 January 1527) was an Anabaptist, a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation.
Birth and life
Manz was born a ...
through Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Prussia. In 1526 he moved to
Strasbourg, where he married Odilia of Utenheim. Under the influence of
Wolfgang Capito
Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (also Koepfel) ( – November 1541) was a German Protestant reformer in the Calvinist tradition.
His life and revolutionary work
Capito was born circa 1478 to a smith at Hagenau in Alsace. He attended the famous Lati ...
, Borrhaus published his first work, "De operibus Dei" 1527. In 1536 his wife died and Borrhaus went to
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...
, where he earned a living as a glass blower and married again. In 1541 his friend
Simon Grynaeus
Simon Grynaeus (born Simon Griner; 1493 – 1 August 1541) was a German scholar and theologian of the Protestant Reformation.
Biography
Grynaeus was the son of Jacob Gryner, a Swabian peasant, and was born at Veringendorf, in Hohenzollern-Si ...
arranged for Borrhaus a position teaching philosophy at the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universitie ...
, and then in 1544 he became professor of
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
and 1546, 1553 and 1564 served as rector. He died in Basel.
Borrhaus associated with the advocates of tolerance
Sebastian Castellio,
Celio Secondo Curione and
Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus (; es, Miguel Serveto as real name; french: Michel Servet; also known as ''Miguel Servet'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish th ...
. At this point he openly rejected infant baptism. His views on the Trinity were less open in his later years, not surprisingly, given the death by burning of
Servetus in 1553.
Works
* 1527 "''De operibus Dei''" - the first open questioning of the
doctrine of the Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...
in print anywhere in Europe, and the first openly
millenarian work in
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Luther ...
's circle.
[In sancti viri iobi historiam salutari de mysterio crucis et de lege atque evangelio doctrina referti. Basileae: Petrum Pernam, 1564. John Christian Laursen, Richard Henry Popkin ''Continental millenarians: Protestants, Catholics, heretics'', Book 4 p11] The combination of
Arianism
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...
and
Millenarianism
Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenaria ...
led
Giorgio Biandrata
Giorgio Biandrata or Blandrata (15155 May 1588) was an Italian-born Transylvanian physician and polemicist, who came of the De Biandrate family, powerful from the early part of the 13th century. He was a Unitarian.
Biandrata was born at Saluzzo ...
and
Francis David in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...
to regard Borrhaus as the first precursor of
Unitarian
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present ...
belief, and David published key extracts of ''De operibus Dei'' with his own writings.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cellarius, Martin
1499 births
1564 deaths
German Protestants