Johann Gottfried Scheibel (16 September 1783 – 21 March 1843) was a German
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 ...
and a leader of the
Old Lutherans
Old Lutherans were originally German Lutherans in the Kingdom of Prussia, notably in the Province of Silesia, who refused to join the Prussian Union of churches in the 1830s and 1840s. Prussia's king Frederick William III was determined to uni ...
.
Education and Ministry
Johann Scheibel was born in
Breslau,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, and studied at the
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 ...
from 1801 to 1804. He went on from there to be the assistant minister at
St Elisabeth's Church in Breslau from 1804 to 1815, then advancing to deacon. Between 1811 and 1830 he was a professor of theology, first on an extraordinary, since 1818 on an ordinary chair, at the
Silesian Frederick William's University in Breslau until he was suspended from his post.
Scheibel came to prominence as a leader of the
Old Lutherans
Old Lutherans were originally German Lutherans in the Kingdom of Prussia, notably in the Province of Silesia, who refused to join the Prussian Union of churches in the 1830s and 1840s. Prussia's king Frederick William III was determined to uni ...
in the dissent against the
Prussian Union of churches. He became noted "in 1817 when he was the only theology professor to refuse to take part in the united Holy Communion service for the anniversary of 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 ...
. Later when the new liturgy was first recommended and then obligatory, he totally rejected it."
[p. 256. da Silva, Gilberto. 2014. Birth of the Old Luthern achurch i Germany and Lusatia. ''Jan Kilian (1911-1884): Pastor, Poet, Emigrant'', ed. by Trudla Malinkowa, pp. 253-265. ]Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...
: Domowina-Verlag. He spoke, preached and wrote against the Union, which consequently resulted in the suspension from his post as theological professor and deacon of St. Elisabeth's. He then collected fellow Lutherans from many congregations in Breslau, about 300 families, and founded a Lutheran congregation seceded from the Union church. 16 persons were elected as the new Collegial Body of Representatives (Repräsentantencollegium) governing the independent Lutheran church. The Prussian government considered these acts as illegal.
Undaunted, Scheibel continued in his dissent as he moved to new cities. In 1832 he emigrated from Prussia and found refuge in Lutheran
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 was at
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 ...
in 1832 where he was ordered to leave that same year, indeed leaving in 1833. Then he stayed in
Hermsdorf in the Ore Mountains until 1836 where likewise he was asked to leave, then in
Glauchau
Glauchau (; hsb, Hłuchow) is a town in the German federal state of Saxony, on the right bank of the Mulde, 7 miles north of Zwickau and 17 miles west of Chemnitz by rail ( its train station is on the Dresden–Werdau line). It is part of the ...
, Saxony, and Nuremberg in Bavaria. He died at
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
about the time that he was being restored to his post as professor at Breslau. Only two years after his death the separate
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Prussia gained royal recognition and established its Supreme Church Collegial Body (Oberkirchenkollegium) in Breslau, formed after his initial Collegial Body of Representatives.
References
* ''
Christian Cyclopedia
''Christian Cyclopedia'' (originally ''Lutheran Cyclopedia'') is a one-volume compendium of theological data, ranging from ancient figures to contemporary events. It is published by Concordia Publishing House as an update to the Concordia Cyclope ...
:''
*
Scheibel, Johann Gottfried
*
Germany, Lutheran Free Churches in*:
*
*
1783 births
1843 deaths
18th-century German people
19th-century German people
19th-century German Protestant theologians
19th-century Lutheran clergy
German Lutheran theologians
People from the Province of Silesia
Clergy from Wrocław
19th-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers
{{Lutheran-stub
18th-century Lutheran theologians
19th-century Lutheran theologians