Abraham Calovius (also Abraham Calov or Abraham Kalau; 16 April 161225 February 1686) was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

theologian, and was one of the champions of

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 Rom ...

in the 17th century.

Biography

He was born in Mohrungen (Morąg),

Ducal Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establishe ...

, a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

Crown of Poland The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Korona Królestwa Polskiego; Latin: ''Corona Regni Poloniae''), known also as the Polish Crown, is the common name for the historic Late Middle Ages territorial possessions of the King of Poland, includ ...

. After studying at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, in 1650 he was appointed professor of theology at

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

, where he afterwards became general

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

and primarius. Calovius opposed the

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s and

Socinian Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...

s, and in particular attacked the

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

of his bitter enemy,

George Calixtus Georg Calixtus, Kallisøn/Kallisön, or Callisen (14 December 1586 – 19 March 1656) was a Germans, German Lutheranism, Lutheran theologian who looked to reconcile all Christendom by removing all differences that he deemed "unimportant". Biograp ...

. While Calixtus affirmed that the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". The creed most likely originated in 5th-century Ga ...

was an adequate definition of faith, Calovius rather held that one must believe every part of revealed truth in order to gain salvation. This led Calovius to deny as a

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

the idea that Roman Catholics or Calvinists could be partakers of salvation. As a writer of polemics Calovius had few equals. His chief dogmatic work, ''Systema Iocorum theologicorum,'' (12 volumes, 1655–1677) represents the climax of

Lutheran scholasticism 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 R ...

. He produced a popular commentary on

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

's translation of the Bible, "die deutsche Bibel," today known as the

Calov Bible The ''Calov Bible'' is a three-volume 17th-century Bible that contains German translations and commentary by Martin Luther and additional commentary by Wittenberg theology professor Abraham Calovius. Connection with J. S. Bach The ''Calov Bibl ...

.Lutheran Orthodoxy Under Fire
by Timothy Schmeling He also wrote a much larger professional exegetical work on the entire Bible called "Biblia Illustrata." It is written from the point of view of a very strict belief in inspiration, his object being to refute the statements made by

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

in his ''Commentaries.'' Calovius died in

Works (selection)

* ''Tractatus Novus De Methodo Docendi & Disputandi'', 1632. * ''Metaphysica divina.'' Rostock, Hallervord, 1640. * ''Scripta philosophica.'' Lübeck, Wilden, 1651. * ''Systema locorum theologicorum.'' Wittenberg 1655–1677 (12 volumes). * ''Biblia illustrata.'' Frankfurt am Main 1672–1676 and 1719 (4 volumes). * ''Theologia positiva.'' Wittenberg 1682.

Notes

References

* Marco Sgarbi
''Abraham Calov and Immanuel Kant. Aristotelian and Scholastic Traces in the Kantian Philosophy''
Historia Philosophica, 8, 2010, pp. 55–62

External links

*
Abraham Calov, Scripta philosophica

Abraham Calov (1612-1686)
Post-Reformation Digital Library

* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=ZAed_DrVKOMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 Abraham Calov's Doctrine of Vocatio in Its Systematic Contextby Kenneth Appold
Dogmatic excerpts from Syncretismus and Digressio
by Abraham Calov
Lutheran Orthodoxy under Fire
by Timothy Schmeling {{DEFAULTSORT:Calovius, Abraham 1612 births 1686 deaths People from Morąg People from the Duchy of Prussia 17th-century German Lutheran clergy German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers 17th-century German Protestant theologians 17th-century Latin-language writers 17th-century German writers 17th-century German male writers University of Königsberg alumni University of Wittenberg faculty 17th-century Lutheran theologians