Johannes Andreas Quenstedt

Johann Andreas Quenstedt ( born August 13, 1617 in Quedlinburg, † May 22 1688 in Wittenberg) was by Martin Chemnitz and Johann Gerhard was a leading exponent of Lutheran orthodoxy, precisely one of the last representatives of the High Orthodoxy ( 1600-1680 ).

Life

Born as the son of Patritius in Quedlinburg and subsequent canon at St. Mary Church in Halberstadt Ludolf Quenstedt and his wife Dorothea, daughter of the Council chamberlain in Quedlinburg Barholomäus Gerhard and his wife Margaretha Berndes, he received the name of the mother Johann Gerhard of the two brothers and Andreas Gerhard. Up to the age of 13 he was only taught by private tutors. Then the Chancellor of the Quedlinburg Friedrich Lentz took him to him, and he was, together with his son Johann Friedrich Lentz, two years also taught by private tutors.

1633 he then visited the public school. So prefigured, he had the tools to obtain a university. So he moved on 27 September 1637, the University of Helmstedt, where he was recording at the professor of theology Konrad Hornejus in his house. First, he completed a philosophical study. For this purpose he visited among other lectures by Andrew Ling Children in logic, where John of Rheinfelden in mathematics, with Christoph Schrader in eloquence and Heinrich Julius Scheurl in morality. Since Quenstedt was about to embark on a theological way after completing his philosophical studies, he moved well to the lectures of Horn and George Calixtus, where he put inquisitive extensive records.

So he was able to obtain the degree of Master of Arts on January 3, 1643 then held first private lectures on geography. That same year he traveled back to his parents and preached several times in Quedlinburg and Halberstadt. However, since he wanted to continue his studies, he set out on July 27, 1644 Wittenberg, where he was briefly detained in leeches by the bombardment carried out there. Nevertheless he reached on August 18th in Wittenberg, where he was admitted with Wilhelm Leyser I. in the house, who was a great admirer of his uncle and revealed to him all possibilities to bring his studies to a positive conclusion. To this end, he enrolled at August 22, 1644 in the matriculation one, held after he had acquired the teaching license on 28 October 1646 Master legens, disputations, and lectures, whereupon the philosophical faculty was considering him as at July 14, 1648 take adjunct to the philosophical faculty.

In the same year he became professor of logic and metaphysics in the philosophical faculty, incidentally attended the theological lectures of Jakob Martini, Paul Röber, by Leyser and Johann Hülsemann. On April 19, 1648 he held a theological disputation, which broke the theological disputes with theologians in Helmstedt to Calixtus at that time. In 1648 he was, in addition to his philosophical professorship, associate professor of theology faculty. As a connoisseur of Helmstedter conditions he was commissioned by the theological faculty to make a list of the differences between the parties to the dispute. This transcript was sent to the Upper Consistory in Dresden to Jacob Weller. Then he began to keep yourself Disputationskollegs for religious opponents, which he finished with 50 defense.

In 1649 he had be multiple offers, but because Lyser and John Sharp died, he advanced to the fourth professor in the faculty of theology, which the chair of logic and metaphysics and the extraordinary theological professorship became free. But this he had to acquire the necessary academic degrees. Therefore, he reported on August 13, 1649 as the candidate of theology, acquired on 21 February 1650 licentiate in theology and a doctorate on November 12, 1650 as a doctor of theology. Easter 1662 he moved to the place of Andreas Kunad in the third professorship and after the death of Meisner he was in 1684 as the second Professor Assessor at Wittenberg consistory, while provost at the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Finally, he moved in 1687 to the ordinat the theological faculty. Quenstedt also participated actively in the administrative tasks that had to be met by the professors of all faculties. So he had managed in 1652 the Dean of Arts, was repeatedly dean of the theological faculty, and had administered four times the Rectorate of the University of Wittenberg.

From his youth he was of weak constitution, which worsened in old age, so that it gradually abandoned the life forces and he, on May 22 in the evening ¾ Eight died at the age of 71 years. He was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg and dedicated to him in honor of an epitaph.

Work

Main work of Quenstedts long theological work is the Theologia didactico - polemica immersive Systema theologicum ( The didactic and polemical theology or system of theology ) of 1685. The plant underwent five editions (1685, 1691, 1696, 1701, 1715 ). As a target of a further sum of Theology, in addition to the already numerous published works of Lutheran theology of the 17th century, Quenstedt names in the preface to the clear summary of the various positions and their defense against the criticism, for example, the Catholic and Reformed theology. These statements and the extensive bibliographic references have Quenstedt introduced the reputation of the Archivist of Lutheran orthodoxy.

In construction of the theological system, Quenstedt uses the analytical method that applies following the Aristotelian Giacomo Zabarella as the method of a practice -oriented science. The practice applies to theology, is the mediation and appropriation of the Christian faith through the preaching of the Gospel. According to this method, the first part ( pars prima ) the purpose (Latin finis ), in the second part ( Pars Secunda ) the subject (Latin subiectum ), in the third part ( Pars Tertia ) the basics (Latin principium ) and in fourth part ( Pars Quarta ) the means ( lat. media) treated the appropriation of salvation by faith. The individual sections of that work are each divided into a didactic and polemical part. In the didactic part of the essential beliefs are represented thetically, in polemical they are oriented to different questions ( questiones ), claims against the antitheses of the opponent and is founded in the biblical writings. The didactic part of the work it leans heavily on the Theologia Positiva Acroamatica Johann Friedrich king. In his polemic against the other positions Quenstedt, apart from the occasional exceptions, unlike, for example, Abraham Calov moderate in tone and factual. In addition to the archival nature of this dogmatic overall design is mainly determined by the fact that it deals thoroughly with the interpretation of biblical texts.

A particular interest was to explore Quenstedts of religious rites in their history. He wrote an extensive work on the funeral rites of antiquity under the title Sepultura veterum, immersive tractatus de antiqvis ritibus sepulchralibus Graecorum, Romanorum, Judaeorum & Christianorum ( The funerals of the ancients, or treatise on ancient funeral rites of the Greeks, Romans, Jews and Christians, 1660).

Furthermore, published Quenstedt a Ethica pastorum et instructio cathedralis ( 1678), and a is indicative of significant persons history of theology since the world began: Dialogus de Patriis Illustrium doctrina et scriptis virorum ... As the first theologian is considered in this paper Adam. It covers all major theologians, sorted by time and region of occurrence until the 16th century.

As a professor of theology faculty at Wittenberg Quenstedt also had to answer numerous disputations from a variety of topics of theology.

Works

• Theologia didactico - polemica immersive systematic theologicum in duas cesarean sections didacticam et polemicam divisum. Wittenberg 1685; Fresh, Leipzig 1715, in German, see E. Hirsch: auxiliary book for the study of dogmatic theology. Berlin 1964, 4th edition, p 339
• Ethica pastorum et instructio cathedralis. 1678
• Dialogus de Patriis Illustrium doctrina et scriptis virorum ... Wittenberg 1654; Wittenberg 1691
• Antiquitates biblicae & ecclesiasticae.
• Liber de Sepultura veterum immersive tractatus de antiquis ritibus sepulchralibus Graecorum, Romanorum, judaeorum et christianorum. Wittenberg 1648; Wittenberg 1660
• Exertationes theologicae.

Family

Quenstedt was married three times: The first marriage he went on 21 January 1651 the Wittenberg town church with Dorothea (* April 27, 1633 in Wittenberg, † November 19, 1651 in Wittenberg), the daughter of Anhalt, Counts barby'ischen Council Tobias Maevius and his wife Anna Friese († 1649), daughter of Braunschweig and Magdeburg, later pin bailiff Balthasar Friese. But she died after just nine months in a male stillbirth.

The second marriage he went on September 18, 1553 in Leipzig with Elizabeth Regina ( October 12, 1622 in Leipzig, † May 10 1655 in Wittenberg ), the daughter of the lawyer in Leipzig and town clerk in Weissenfels Martin Hahn and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the Leipzig trade husband Valentin Schilling. Had you was that of the Actuary at the electoral court in Oberhof Leipzig widow Johann turbidity († November 7, 1650 in Leipzig) fathered three daughters and a son, whom she married on 26 July 1641 in ten years of marriage (Regina Magaretha pulp and John Win mouth slurry survived the mother). She died after a female stillbirth in childbirth.

The third marriage he came in with Anna Sabina, the only daughter of John Sharp on August 12, 1656. From this marriage the children come from: