Erik Benzelius the younger

Erik (sometimes called Eric ) Benzelius the Younger ( born January 27, 1675 Uppsala, † September 23, 1743 in Linköping ) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian and Archbishop of Uppsala. He was also a politician and a major literary historian and scientist, and is considered one of the pioneers of the Swedish Enlightenment.

Family

Erik Benzelius belongs to the major theologian family Benzelius. His father Erik Benzelius the Elder was a professor of theology at Uppsala and later archbishop, his mother Margaretha Odhelia (1653-1693) was a granddaughter of Archbishop Peter Kenicius. Of their children, three sons were ennobled with the name Benzelstierna and had high secular offices held while Erik and his brothers Jacob and Henrik were successively archbishops and thus the highest dignitaries of the Church of Sweden.

Benzelius married in 1703 Anna Swedberg ( Swedenborg; 1686-1765 ), a daughter of Bishop Jesper Swedberg and sister of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose conveyor Benzelius was. From the marriage ten children were born, of which Carl Jesper Benzelius (1714-1793) in turn became bishop and Ulrica Benzelia (1725-1766) Bishop Peter Filenius (1704-1780) married. The son Erik (1705-1767), an official in the mining trade, was also knighted in 1751 and led since then the name Erik Benzelstierna.

Life

Benzelius was taught by a private tutor in Uppsala and studied at the university before he undertook from 1697 to 1700 an extensive study tour of Germany, Holland, England and France. Here he met Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Christian Thomasius, Nicolas Malebranche and other leading scholars know. After his return he was librarian of the University Library of Uppsala in 1702 at the instigation of his father. Because of his age and lack of academic merit the appointment was controversial, but in his last until 1723 tenure, he was credited for the order and extension of stocks highly deserved. He also edited manuscripts, esp from the medieval history of Sweden, but also eg of Philo of Alexandria ( Contributions to issue Mangey ). He also began an edition of the Codex argenteus, but only posthumously (1750 ) was completed. In 1710 he founded to promote science a "Collegium Curiosorum ", from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, the oldest scientific society in Sweden emerged. In 1740 he was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Although Benzelius ' interest was not primarily in theology, he was ordained as a pastor in 1709 and acquired in 1719 the degree of Doctor Theologiae. But in 1723 he was able to gain a theological professorship because his orthodoxy was doubted long. At the same time he became a member of the Reichstag and worked until his death as an influential supporter of the " Hutpartei ". The political work outshone even his work as Bishop of Gothenburg (1726-1731) and Linköping ( 1731-1742 ). He was, in 1740 and 1742 Speaker of the pastor prior to the Reichstag. It is worth noting especially his commitment to the population statistics.

After the death of John Steuchius he was appointed in September 1742 to the Archbishop of Uppsala, but could not compete because of the Reichstag equal the amt. After returning to Linköping he fell ill and died before the introduction as archbishop.

Writings (selection )

• Locust Chrysostomi Homilia. Evang in locust V-19 hactenus inedita ... Uppsala 1702
• Johannis de Chrysostomi Homilia poenitentia, et de Herode atque Joanne Baptista ... Uppsala 1705.
• Monumenta historica vetera ecclesiae sveogothica. Uppsala 1709-1713.
• Catalogus Librorum centuriae rarissimorum manuscript. & Partim impressorum Arab corum, persicorum, turcicorum, Graecorum, Latinorum ... Uppsala 1706.
• De persona Christi dissertatio. Uppsala 1722.
• Orationes seculares, quarum altera from Erico Benzelio ... in academia Upsaliensi de caussis secessionis from Ecclesia romanensi, magnis, justis et necessariis, in memoriam reformationis a 1721 d 18 martii; altera vero a George. Frid. Nichenckio ... habita est, Hamburg 1731, pp. 1-14.
• Utkast till Swenska folkets historia, ifrån concerning första uprinnelse, til och med Gustaf konung the förstas tid. Edited by Carl Jesper Benzelius. Lund 1762nd
• Brefwäxling imellan ärke - Biskop Eric Benzelius the yngre och concerning broder, censor librorum Gustaf Benzelstierna. Edited by Johan Liden Hinric. Linköping 1791.
• Anecdota Benz Eliana. Eric Benzelius d y: s anteckningar i svensk historia. Efter originalhandskriften i Linköpings stiftsbibliotek utg med och inledning person registers af Hjalmar Lundgren. Stockholm 1914 (reprint Bromma 1987).
• Letters to his learned friends. Edited by Alvar Erikson; Eva Nilsson Nylander. Gothenburg: Kungl. Vetenkaps -och Vitterhets - Samhället, 1983.