Heinrich Gottlieb Tzschirner (14 November 1778 – 17 February 1828) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologian 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 ...

born in

Mittweida Mittweida () is a town in Saxony, Germany, in the Mittelsachsen district. Geography Mittweida is situated on the river Zschopau, 18 km north of Chemnitz, and 54 km west of Dresden. Embedded within the steep hills and valleys of the riv ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He studied

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 Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, receiving his habilitation in 1800 with assistance from

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

examinator

Franz Volkmar Reinhard Franz Volkmar Reinhard (12 March 1753 – 6 September 1812) was a German Protestant theologian born in Vohenstrauß. Biography In 1780 he became an associate professor of theology and philosophy at the University of Wittenberg, where he se ...

(1753-1812). For a period of time he worked as a private lecturer at the

University of Wittenberg 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 i ...

, and following his father's death became deacon in his home town of Mittweida. In 1805 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 ...

, later returning to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

(1809), where in 1811 he became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the university. In 1813 he joined the

Saxon Army The Royal Saxon Army (german: Königlich Sächsische Armee) was the military force of the Electorate (1682–1807) and later the Kingdom of Saxony (1807–1918). A regular Saxon army was first established in 1682 and it continued to exist until the ...

as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He returned to Leipzig the following year, subsequently becoming

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of St. Thomas Church and superintendent of the Diocese of Leipzig. As a theologian, Tzschirner was an advocate of ethical and critical

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...

, believing that common sense morality was the supreme principle of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. In one of his better known works, ''Protestantismus and Katholicismus aus dem Standpunkte der Politik betrachlet'', he staunchly defended the Protestant cause versus

Catholicism 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 ...

. In addition to his own written works, he continued publication of

Johann Matthias Schröckh Johann Matthias Schröckh (July 26, 1733 – August 1, 1808) was an Austrian-German historian and literary scholar born in Vienna. He was a grandson to Pietist preacher Matthias Bel (1684-1749). In 1751 he began his studies at the University ...

's ''Christliche Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation'' (

Church History __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

since the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

) after Schröckh's death in 1808.

Selected publications

* ''Geschichte der Apologetik'' (History of

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

), 1805 * ''Ueber die Verwandtschaft der Tugenden und der Laster'' (Relationship of virtues and vices), 1809 * ''Predigten'' (Collection of sermons), 1812 * ''Ueber Johann Matthias Schröckh's Leben, Charakter und Schriften'' (Johann Matthias Schröckh's life, character and writings), 1812 * ''Ueber den Krieg, ein philosophischer Versuch '' (About the war, a philosophical approach), 1815 * ''Die Ehe aus dem Gesichtspunkte der Natur, der Moral und der Kirche'' (Marriage of the elements of nature, morality and the church), 1819 * ''Protestantismus und Katholicismus aus dem Standpuncte der Politik'' (Protestantism and Catholicism from a political standpoint), 1822 * ''Die Gefahr einer Deutschen Revolution'' (The Danger of a German revolution), 1823 * ''Der Fall des Heidenthums'' (The fall of heathenism), 1829

References

Schaff Encyclopedia
(biography) * ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Tzschirner, Heinrich Gottlieb 1778 births 1828 deaths People from Mittweida People from the Electorate of Saxony German Lutheran theologians 19th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Rectors of Leipzig University German military chaplains Napoleonic Wars chaplains Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg