Johannes Andreas Quenstedt
Encyclopedia
Johannes Andreas Quenstedt (August 13, 1617 – May 22, 1688) was a German
Lutheran dogmatician in the Lutheran scholastic
tradition.
Quenstedt was born at Quedlinburg
, a nephew of Johann Gerhard
. He was educated at the University of Helmstedt
, 1637–43, and at the University of Wittenberg, 1644, where afterwards he lectured on geography; was adjunct professor in the philosophical faculty, 1646–49; ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics and associate professor of theology, 1649–60; and ordinary professor of theology, 1660–88 until his death.
Quenstedt represents the old orthodox reaction after the period of reconstruction had set in. The fruit of his thirty years of work in the university lectureship was published in the Theologia didactico-polemica sive systema theologicum (Wittenberg, 1685; Leipzig, 1715), a work according to the strictest standard of Lutheran orthodoxy
, based upon the Theologia, positiva acroamatica of his teacher, Johann Friedrich König
, and characterized by external dogmatization instead of a development of the subject from within, and abounding in artful scholastic
refinements.
He was noted among his contemporaries for his mild, irenic spirit and retiring, pious disposition, which is also shown by his Ethica pastorum et instructio cathedralis (1678), in which he advises to temper severity with gentleness in resisting heretics
, and to distinguish between the tempters and the tempted; warns against pedantry in the pulpit; and recommends the reading of Johann Arndt
's Vom wahren Christenthum. Other works are the Dialogus de patriis illustrium doctrina et scriptis virorum (Wittenberg, 1654), and a collection of dissertations, Exercitationes de theologia in genere ejusque principio sancta scriptura (1677).
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Lutheran dogmatician in the Lutheran scholastic
Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism was a theological method that gradually developed during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures...
tradition.
Quenstedt was born at Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
, a nephew of Johann Gerhard
Johann Gerhard
Johann Gerhard was a Lutheran church leader and Lutheran Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy.-Biography:He was born in the German city of Quedlinburg...
. He was educated at the University of Helmstedt
University of Helmstedt
The University of Helmstedt, official Latin name: Academia Julia , was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810....
, 1637–43, and at the University of Wittenberg, 1644, where afterwards he lectured on geography; was adjunct professor in the philosophical faculty, 1646–49; ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics and associate professor of theology, 1649–60; and ordinary professor of theology, 1660–88 until his death.
Quenstedt represents the old orthodox reaction after the period of reconstruction had set in. The fruit of his thirty years of work in the university lectureship was published in the Theologia didactico-polemica sive systema theologicum (Wittenberg, 1685; Leipzig, 1715), a work according to the strictest standard of Lutheran orthodoxy
Lutheran Orthodoxy
Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Roman Catholicism after the...
, based upon the Theologia, positiva acroamatica of his teacher, Johann Friedrich König
Johann Friedrich König
Johann Friedrich König was a German Lutheran theologian.-References:...
, and characterized by external dogmatization instead of a development of the subject from within, and abounding in artful scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
refinements.
He was noted among his contemporaries for his mild, irenic spirit and retiring, pious disposition, which is also shown by his Ethica pastorum et instructio cathedralis (1678), in which he advises to temper severity with gentleness in resisting heretics
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
, and to distinguish between the tempters and the tempted; warns against pedantry in the pulpit; and recommends the reading of Johann Arndt
Johann Arndt
Johann Arndt was a German Lutheran theologian who wrote several influential books of devotional Christianity...
's Vom wahren Christenthum. Other works are the Dialogus de patriis illustrium doctrina et scriptis virorum (Wittenberg, 1654), and a collection of dissertations, Exercitationes de theologia in genere ejusque principio sancta scriptura (1677).
External links
- Studium Excitare: Biography of Johannes Andreas Quenstedt by Caleb R. Bassett
- Sepultura Veterum by Johannes Andreas Quenstedt
- D. Aegidii Strauchii Astrognosia by Johannes Andreas Quenstedt
- Theologica Didactico-Polemica, ch. 5: De Articuli Fidei, sect. I, q. 5 by Johannes Andreas Quenstedt (in English)