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Zacharias Ursinus (born Zacharias Baer; 18 July 1534 – 6 May 1583) was a German
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
and Protestant reformer. He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both 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 ...
and the College of Wisdom ( Collegium Sapientiae). He is best known as the principal author and interpreter of the ''
Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Reformed catechism taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany. Its ...
''.Fred H. Klooster, "The Priority of Ursinus in the Composition of the Heidelberg Catechism," Controversy and Conciliation: The Reformation of the Palatinate 1559-1583, ed. Derk Visser (Allison Park, Penn.: Pickwick, 1986), 73-100.


Origins and early education

Zacharias Baer was born on 18 July 1534 in Breslau in
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
,
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
,
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
(now
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, Poland). At age fifteen he enrolled at the
University of Wittenberg 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 ...
, boarding for the next seven years with
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, an intellectual leader of the ...
, the erudite successor of
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
. Like many young scholars of that era he gave himself a Latin name, in his case one that was based on his German name, Baer, stemming from Latin ''ursus'', meaning bear. Melanchthon admired young Ursinus for his intellectual gifts and his spiritual maturity, commending him to mentors throughout Europe. He was a lifelong protégé of the prominent imperial physician
Johannes Crato von Krafftheim Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (born Johannes Krafft; 22 November 1519 – 19 October 1585) was a humanist and court physician to three Holy Roman emperors. Origins and education Crato von Krafftheim was born Johannes Krafft. He was the son o ...
, who likewise hailed from Wrocław. Subsequently, Ursinus studied under
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
scholars at
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,
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,
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, and
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. Sojourns in
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and
Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
, as well as studying under Jean Mercier in Paris. Returning to Wrocław he published a pamphlet on the
sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...
, which aroused the ire of
Lutheran 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 ...
s who charged him with being more Reformed than Lutheran. The Wrocław opponents' vitriolic reaction succeeded in driving him out of the city to
Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, where he became friends with Zwingli's successor Heinrich Bullinger and the Italian Reformer Pietro Martire Vermigli.


In Heidelberg and Neustadt

In 1561, upon Vermigli's recommendation, Frederick III, Elector Palatine, appointed him professor in the Collegium Sapientiae at Heidelberg, where in 1562/63, having been commissioned by the Prince elector, he supplied the preliminary drafts for the ''Heidelberg Catechism'' and participated in the final revision of the document alongside other theologians and church leaders. Caspar Olevianus (1536–1587) was formerly asserted as a co-author of the document, though this theory has been largely discarded by modern scholarship. Lyle Bierma, "The Purpose and Authorship of the Heidelberg Catechism," in ''An Introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism: Sources, History, and Theology'' (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 67. The death of the Elector Frederick and the accession of the Lutheran Ludwig IV in 1576, led to the removal of Ursinus, who occupied a professorial chair at the Casmirianum, a Reformed academy at
Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt (German for ''new town'' or ''new city'') may refer to: Places * Neustadt (urban district) Czech Republic *Neustadt an der Mettau, Nové Město nad Metují *Neustadt an der Tafelfichte, Nové Město pod Smrkem * Nové Město na Mo ...
from 1578 until his death. He died, aged 48, in Neustadt an der Weinstraße (today in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
).


Impact

His ''Works'' were published in 1587–1589, and a more complete edition by his son and two of his pupils, David Pareus and Quirinius Reuter, in 1612. Ursinus's collected catechical lectures (''Het Schatboeck der verclaringhen over de Catechismus'') was one of the most prominent theological handbooks among seventeenth century Reformed Christians and was especially popular in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Reformed German and Dutch immigrants to North America celebrated his legacy—especially his role in the creation of the Heidelberg Catechism.
Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a campus. Ursinus College's forerunner was the Freeland Seminary founded in 1848. Its $127 million endowment supports about 1, ...
in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, is a liberal arts college founded in 1869 in his name.


References


External links

* *
Biography
*


Further reading

* * * Dirk Visser. ''Zacharias Ursinus the Reluctant Reformer--His Life and Times.'' New York: United Church Press, 1983. * Boris Wagner-Peterson, Doctrina schola vitae. Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) als Schriftausleger, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013 (Refo500 Academic Studies 13). (= Dissertation Universität Heidelberg 2011/12). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ursinus, Zacharius 1534 births 1583 deaths Writers from Wrocław Academic staff of the Collegium Sapientiae (Heidelberg) Academic staff of Heidelberg University German Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 16th-century German male writers 16th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers