Rupertus Meldenius, aka Peter Meiderlin and Peter Meuderlinus (born March 22, 1582, in Oberacker; died June 1, 1651, in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

) was a Lutheran theologian and educator. The son of a

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

n priest, he studied in Adelberg and after school visited the lower Konvikts in

Maulbronn Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...

at the Tübinger Stift, where he met Johann Valentin Andreae. Meiderlin was a student of Mathias Haffenreffer and in 1601 obtained a master's degree. In 1605, he was at the Repentant convent in Tübingen. In 1607, he assumed the Chair of the deceased philologist Martin Crusius. After a post as senior deacon in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (, ; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter (Neckar), Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It i ...

in 1612, he was "Ephorus" of the Evangelical College of St. Anna in

. He held this office (with an interruption from 1630 to 1632), until 1650. As a follower of the Concord, he defended the forerunner of

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 ...

, Johann Arndt, in the confrontation about the orthodoxy of his teachings. In 1626 he published under the pseudonym Rupertus Meldenius a work entitled ''Paraenesis votiva per Pace Ecclesia ad Theologos Augustana Confessionis auctore Ruperto Meldenio Theologo'' (A Reminder for Peace at the Church of the Augsburg Confession of Theologians), in which he argued for peace among the contending parties and unity within the meaning of the Concord, and called for the practice of charity (i.e. Christian love), saying: :Verbo dicam: ''si nos servaremus in necessariis unitatem, in non necessariis libertatem, in utrisque caritatem, optimo certe loco essent res nostrae'' (F. Lücke p. 128 mn. 223 which later developed into the phrase "''

In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas ''In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas'' () is a Latin phrase. Origins and history It is often misattributed to Augustine of Hippo, but seems to have been first used in 1617 by Archbishop of Split, Croatia, Split (Spala ...

''" (In essentials unity, in doubtful things/non-essentials liberty, in all things charitySchaff, Phillip, 'History of the Christian Church' Vol. 7, Grand Rapids: W.M. Eerdmans, 1910, pp650-653).

Works

*''Trewhertzige Erinnerung von der Weiszheit und dem Gelt: welches dem andern vorzuziehen sey; gehalten bei einem Exercitio Oratorio ..., als die Alumni desz Evangelischen Collegii zu Augspurg in etlichen underschiedlichen Sprachen eben von dieser Materia peroriert und ein ansehenliche Prob gelaistet hatten ...''; Augsburg, 1622. *''Der kleine Catechismus für die Kipperer ...''; Augsburg, 1622. ''... bedencken an die Herrn Kipperer und Geltwucherer ...''; Augsburg, 1623. *''Paraenesis votiva pro pace Ecclesia ad Theologos Augustanae Confessionis auctore Ruperto Meldenio Theologo''; gedruckt von Hieronymus Körnlein, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, 1626 (anonym veröffentlicht ohne Angaben von Jahr, Ort und Verlag). As an appendix added to Friedrich Lücke: ''Über das Alter, den Verfasser, die ursprüngliche Form und den wahren Sinn des kirchelichen Friedensspruches ''In necessariis unitas, in non necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas''. Eine litterarhistorische theologische Studie''; Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, 1850. p. 87*''Laus sive Commendatio Collegii Augustani Evangelici S. Annae''; 1639.

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* * * 17th-century writers in Latin 1582 births 1651 deaths {{morecat, date=May 2024 German theologians