Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten (; ; 14 March 1706,

Wolmirstedt Wolmirstedt () is a town in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is located 14 km north of Magdeburg, on the river Ohre. The town Wolmirstedt consists of Wolmirstedt proper and the ''Ortschaften'' (municipal divisions) Elbeu ...

Duchy of Magdeburg The Duchy of Magdeburg () was a province of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1680 to 1701 and a province of the German Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1807. It replaced the Archbishopric of Magdeburg after its secularization by Brandenburg, gi ...

– 4 July 1757, Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg) was a German

Lutheran theologian Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. He was a brother to

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 ...

Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (; ; 17 July 1714 – 27 MayJan LekschasBaumgarten Family'' 1762) was a German philosopher. He was a brother to theologian Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten (1706–1757). Biography Baumgarten was born in Berlin as the ...

(1714–1762).

Biography

Baumgarten studied theology at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

, and in 1728 the 22-year-old Baumgarten, a Hallensian Pietist and

bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

, was appointed as minister of the

Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen The Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen ("Market Church of Our Dear Lady") is a church in the centre of the city of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was built between 1529 and 1554 and is the most recent of the city's medieval churches. In German, i ...

(Market Church of Our Dear Lady). In 1730 he became an associate professor at Halle, where in 1734 he was appointed a full professor of theology. In 1748 he was named a university rector. At the end of his life, he translated encyclopedic articles and biographies from English into German. Baumgarten was a follower of the philosophical teachings of Christian Wolff (1679-1754), and is regarded as a transitional theologian from the

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 ...

Philipp Jakob 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 ...

(1635-1705) and

August Hermann Francke August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the universities of Dresden and ...

(1663-1727) to that of modern

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

. He was a prodigious writer and published works on

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

, dogmatics and history. He was the editor of the first sixteen volumes of the ''Allgemeine Welthistorie'' (General World History), which after his death, was continued by his assistant

Johann Salomo Semler Johann Salomo Semler (18 December 1725 – 14 March 1791) was a German church historian, biblical commentator, and critic of ecclesiastical documents and of the history of dogmas. He is sometimes known as "the father of German rationalism". Youth ...

(1725-1791).

Bibliography

* ''Dissertatio theologica de dictis Scripturae Sacrae probantibus''. Hendel, Halle 1735.
online
* ''Admiranda singularis providentiae divinae vestigia in vindicanda per pacem Passaviensem A. 1552. et Augustanam A. 1555. sacrorum evangelicorum libertate''. Halle 1755 () * ''Dissertatio theologico-moralis de gradibus peccatorum''. Salfeld, Halle 1736.
online
* ''Disputatio prima de Scriptura Sacra''. Bauer, Halle 1739. * ''Examen miraculi legionis fulminatricis contra Thomam Woolstonum''. Bauer, Halle 1740.
online
* ''Programmata cum appendice epistolarum''. Bauer, Halle 1740.
online
* ''Dissertatio theologica exhibens demonstrationem extra ecclesiam non dari salutem''. Hilliger, Halle 1742.
online
* ''Historia trisagii''. Hilliger, Halle 1744.
online
* ''Examen variarum opinionum de regno posterorum Abrahami in Aegypto''. Hilliger, Halle 1744.
online
* ''Auszug der Kirchengeschichte, von der Geburt Jesu an'' (Compendium of church history). 3 Bände. Bauer, Halle 1743–62.
online Band 1
,
Band 2
,
Band 3
* ''Theses theologicae elementa doctrinae sanctioris ad ductum breviarii dogmatici Io. Anastas. Freylinghausen complexae''. Waisenhaus, Halle 1746.
online der 2. Ausg. 1750
* ''Nachrichten von einer hallischen Bibliothek'' (Notices from the Halle

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

). 8 Bände. Gebauer, Halle 1748–1751.
online Band 1
,
Band 2
,
Band 3
,
Band 4
,
Band 5
,
Band 6
,
Band 7
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Band 8
* ''Nachrichten von merkwürdigen Büchern'' (Notices of extraordinary books). 12 Bände. Gebauer, Halle 1752–58.
online Band 1
,
Band 2
,
Band 3
,
Band 4
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Band 5
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* ''Abris einer Geschichte der Religionsparteien, oder gottesdienstlichen Geselschaften, und derselben Streitigkeiten so wol als Spaltungen, ausser und in der Christenheit'' (History of religious parties). Gebauer, Halle 1755.
online

Notes

References

*
English translation

(biographical information) * ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgarten, Siegmund Jakob 1706 births 1757 deaths People from Wolmirstedt People from the Duchy of Magdeburg German Lutheran theologians 18th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers University of Halle alumni Academic staff of the University of Halle 18th-century German male writers