Daniel Lorenz Salthenius (March 16, 1701 – January 29, 1750) was a professor of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...

from 1732 until his death. Salthenius was born in Markim between Stockholm and

Uppsala, Sweden Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the capi ...

, the son of a pastor. He studied at the university in his birthplace, as well as

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

, and became a noted

Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

. He was appointed to his post at Königsberg to help the Pietist cause there. Salthenius's orthodox Lutheran opponents accused him of having made a

pact with the Devil A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to t ...

when he was a student in Uppsala. He wrote a letter in his own blood, asking the Devil to provide him with a bottomless

bag of money A money bag (or money sack) is a bag normally used to hold and transport coins and banknotes, often closed with a drawstring.oak tree An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

, where it was found by a farmer who notified the authorities. However, Salthenius was not dismissed from the university and remained a full professor. The letter is today kept at Uppsala University library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salthenius 1701 births 1750 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Königsberg Uppsala University alumni Swedish theologians 18th-century Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers