Johannes Brenz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 June 1499  |
| Died | 11 September 1570 (aged 71) |
| Occupation | Theologian |
| Spouse(s) | Katharina Brenz |
Johann (Johannes) Brenz (24 June 1499 – 11 September 1570) was a GermanLutherantheologian and theProtestant Reformer of theDuchy of Württemberg.[1]
Brenz was born in the thenImperial City of Weil der Stadt, 20 miles west ofStuttgart. He received his education atHeidelberg, where, shortly after becomingmagister and regent of theRealistenbursa in 1518, he deliveredphilological andphilosophical lectures. He also lectured on theGospel of Matthew, only to be prohibited on account of his popularity and his novelexegesis, especially as he had already been won over to the side ofLuther, not only through hisninety-five theses, but still more by personal acquaintance with him at thedisputation at Heidelberg in April 1518. In 1522 Brenz was threatened with a trial for heresy, but escaped through a call to the pastorate ofSchwäbisch Hall. In the spring of 1524 he received a strong ally in his activity as a Reformer inJohann Isenmann, who became pastor of the parish-church at Hall.The feast of corpus Christi was the first to be discarded, and in 1524 the monastery of theDiscalcedFriars was transformed into a school. In theGerman Peasants' War, on the other hand, Brenz deprecated the abuse of evangelical liberty by the peasants, pleading for mercy to the conquered and warning the magistracy of their duties. At Christmas theLord's Supper was administered in both kinds, and at Easter of the following year the first regulations were framed for the church and the school. Brenz himself prepared in 1528 a larger and a smallercatechism for the young, both characterized by simplicity, warmth, and a childlike spirit.[2]
He first attained wider recognition, however, when he published hisSyngramma Suevicum on 21 October 1525, attackingŒcolampadius, and finding the explanation of the creative power of the word ofChrist in the theory that the body and blood of Christ are actuallypresent in theSacrament. Henceforth Brenz took part in all the important conferences on the religious situation. In October 1529 he attended theColloquy of Marburg, and in the following year, at the request of the MargraveGeorge of Brandenburg, he was present at thediet in Augsburg, where he secondedMelanchthon in his efforts to reach an agreement with the adherents of the ancient faith, but refused all association with the followers ofZwingli. In 1532 he collaborated in the church-regulations ofBrandenburg andNuremberg, and furthered the Reformation in the margravate ofBrandenburg-Ansbach,Dinkelsbühl, andHeilbronn, while three years laterDuke Ulrich of Württemberg called him as an adviser in the framing of regulations for the church,visitations, and marriage. In February 1537 he was at Schmalkald, and two months later undertook the difficult but successful task of the reformation of theUniversity of Tübingen. He likewise attended the conference on the use of images held atUrach in September 1537, where he urged their abolition. Brenz returned to Hall in April the following year; in June 1540 attended the conference atHagenau; was at Worms in the latter part of the same year; and in January 1546 was at Regensburg, where he was obliged to deal withCochlæus, although, as hehad foreseen, he was unsuccessful. He devoted himself with great zeal to his pastoral duties, and side by side with his sermons was evolved a valuable series of expositions of Biblical writings.[2]
After the last remnants of the ancient regulations of the church of Hall had been abolished, his new rules appeared in 1543. Calls toLeipzig in 1542, toTübingen in 1543, and toStrasbourg in 1548 were declined in favor of his position at Hall. Brenz had long opposed the adherence of Hall and the margrave to theSchmalkaldic League, since he regarded resistance to the temporal authorities as inadmissible. Gradually, however, his views changed, through the hostile attitude of theemperor. In 1538 Hall entered the league, and after its defeatCharles V came to the city (on 16 December 1546) and obtained possession of papers, letters, and sermons of Brenz, who, despite the bitter cold, was obliged to flee, although he returned on 4 January 1547. The newAugsburg Interim of the emperor, which Brenz calledinteritus ("ruin"), recalled him to the scene of action, and he earnestly opposed its adoption. The imperial chancellor,Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, demanded his surrender, and Brenz, warned by a note reading: "Flee, Brenz, quickly, more quickly, most quickly!" escaped on the evening of his forty-ninth birthday, 24 June 1548. He hastened toDuke Ulrich, who concealed him in the castle of Hohenwittlingen near Urach, where, under the pseudonym of Joannes Witlingius, he prepared an exposition of Ps. xciii and cxxx. As the emperor was everywhere searching for him, Ulrich sent him by way ofStrasbourg toBasel, where he was kindly received and found time to write an exposition of the prophecy of Isaiah. Duke Christopher called him toMontbéliard, where, in January 1549, Brenz was notified of the death of his wife. The condition of his children induced him to go toSwabia, but owing to the pursuit of the emperor, he was often in great danger, and the duke sheltered him in the castle of Hornberg nearGutach. There he spent eighteen months under the name of Huldrich Engster (Encaustius), always active for the welfare of the Church, both by his advice to the duke and his theological labors. He declined calls toMagdeburg,Königsberg, and England. In August 1549 he ventured to go to Urach, where his friend Isenmann was now minister, in order to take counsel with the duke, his advisers, andMatthaeus Alber, regarding the restoration of the evangelical divine service. In the autumn of 1550 he married his second wife Catherine, the oldest daughter of Isenmann.[2]
After Ulrich's death Brenz was asked to prepare theconfessio Wirtembergica for theCouncil of Trent, and with three other Wittenberg theologians andJohann Marbach of Strasbourg, he went to Trent in March 1552 to defend his creed (seeJakob Beurlin). Great was the surprise of the fathers of the council, but they refused to be instructed by those who were to obey them. The Interim was abolished. Brenz who had thus far lived atStuttgart,Tübingen,Ehningen, andSindelfingen as counselor of the duke, was madeprovost of theCathedral of Stuttgart on 24 September 1554 and appointed ducal counselor for life. He was now the right hand of dukeChristoph in the reorganization of ecclesiastical and educational affairs in Württemberg. The great church order of 1553–59, containing also theconfessio Wirtembergica, in spite of its dogmatism, is distinguished by clearness, mildness, and consideration. In like manner, hisCatechismus pia et utile explicatione illustratus (Frankfort, 1551) became a rich source of instruction for many generations and countries. The proposition made byKaspar Leyser andJakob Andreä, in 1554 to introduce a form of discipline after aCalvinistic model was opposed by Brenz, since he held that the minister should have charge of the preaching, the exhortation torepentance, and dissuasion from theLord's Supper, whereasexcommunication belonged to the whole church. At the instance of the duke, Brenz moved in 1553 to Neuburg, to arrange the church affairs of the Palatinate.[2]
TheOsiandric controversy about the doctrine ofjustification, in 1551 and the following years, which caused a scandalous schism inPrussia, was a cause of much annoyance and defamation to Brenz, who saw in this controversy nothing but a war of words. In 1554–1555 the question of the ReligiousPeace of Augsburg occupied his mind; in 1556 the conference withJohannes a Lasco, in 1557 the Frankenthal conference with theAnabaptists and theWorms Colloquy; in 1558 the edict againstSchwenckfeld and the Anabaptists, and theFrankfort Recess; in 1559 the plan for a synod of those who were related to theAugsburg Confession and the Stuttgart Synod, to protect Brenz's doctrine of the Lord's Supper againstCalvinistic tendencies; in 1563 and 1569 the struggle against Calvinism in theElectorate of the Palatinate (Maulbronn Colloquy) and thecrypto-Calvinistic controversies. The attack of theDominicanPeter a Soto upon theWürttemberg Confession in hisAssertio fidei (Cologne, 1562) led Brenz to reply with hisApologia confessionis (Frankfort, 1555). In 1558 he was engaged in a controversy with Bishop S. Hosius ofErmland. The development of theReformation in the Palatinate led the aged man to a vehement renewal of his negotiation withBullinger, with whom he had been forced into close relation through the Interim. The question concerned the doctrine of the Lord's Supper and also involved a peculiar development ofChristology, which was opposed by the Lutheran theologians outside of Württemberg, since Brenz carried to its logical conclusion the concept of "personal union," thus favoring an absolute omnipresence (ubiquity) of the body of Christ, which did not begin with theascension but with theincarnation.[2]
Brenz took a lively interest in theWaldensians and the FrenchProtestants. But all efforts in behalf of the latter, the journey of the Württemberg theologians to Paris to advise KingAntony of Navarre in 1561 (seeJakob Beurlin), the meeting of the duke and Brenz withCardinal Guise of Lorraine atSaverne, the correspondence and the sending of writings, all ended in bitter disappointment. The Protestants of Bavaria, who had to suffer under Albert, also had his full sympathy. To the citizens of Strasbourg Brenz expressed his doubts as to the advisability of following the procession with themonstrance and advised them not to attend Roman Catholic mass. He was also deeply interested in the Protestants inAustria, for whom the first Slavic books were then printed at Urach. His last Reformatory activity was the correspondence withDuke William of Jülich andJulius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1568–69). In addition to this he continued his exposition of thePsalms and other Biblical books, which he had commenced at Stuttgart. In 1569 he was paralyzed, and his strength was broken. He died inStuttgart and was buried beneath the pulpit of the cathedral; but theJesuits demolished his grave.[2]
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This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain: Bossert, G. (1914)."Brenz, Johann". In Jackson, Samuel Macauley (ed.).New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.