Johann August Ernesti (4 August 1707 – 11 September 1781) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Rationalist

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

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. Ernesti was the first who formally separated the

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

from those of the

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

Biography

Ernesti was born in Tennstedt in present-day

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

, where his father, Johann Christoph Ernesti, was pastor, besides being superintendent of the electoral dioceses of Thuringia, Salz and Sangerhausen. At the age of sixteen, Ernesti was sent to the celebrated Saxon cloister school of

Pforta Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540), near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site has been a school since the 16th century. Notable p ...

(''Schulpforta''). At twenty he entered 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 studied afterwards 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 ...

. In 1730 he was made master in the faculty of philosophy. In the following year he accepted the office of conrector in the Thomas school of Leipzig, of which

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fa ...

was then rector, an office to which Ernesti succeeded in 1734. He was, in 1742, named professor extraordinarius of

ancient literature Ancient literature comprises religious and scientific documents, tales, poetry and plays, royal edicts and declarations, and other forms of writing that were recorded on a variety of media, including stone, stone tablets, papyri, palm leaves, and ...

in the university of Leipzig, and in 1756 professor ordinarius of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

. In the same year he received the degree of doctor 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 ...

, and in 1759 was appointed professor ordinarius in the faculty of theology. Through his learning and his manner of discussion, he co-operated with S. J. Baumgarten of Halle (1706–1757) in disengaging the current dogmatic theology from

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 ...

, along with any Lutheran scholastic or mystical influences, and thus paved a way for a Rationalist revolution in theology. He died in

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 ...

, after a short illness, in his seventy-sixth year.

Work

Apart from the quality of his own writing, Ernesti is notable for his influence on sacred and profane criticism in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With JS Semler he co-operated in the Rationalist revolution of

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 ...

theology, and in conjunction with Gesner he instituted a new school in

. He detected grammatical niceties in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, in regard to the consecution of tenses which had escaped preceding critics. As an editor of the

Greek classics Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

, Ernesti does not compare with his Dutch contemporaries,

Tiberius Hemsterhuis Tiberius Hemsterhuis (9 January 16857 April 1766) was a Dutch philologist and critic. Life He was born in Groningen. His father, a learned physician, gave him a good early education and he entered the university of his native city in his fifte ...

, L. C. Valckenaer,

David Ruhnken David Ruhnken (2 January 172314 May 1798) was a Dutch classical scholar of German origin. Origins Ruhnken was born in Bedlin (today Bydlino) near Stolp, Pomerania Province, (today Słupsk, Poland). After he had attended Latin school at König ...

or his colleague J. J. Reiske. The

higher criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

was not even attempted by Ernesti. But to him and to Gesner is due the credit of having formed, by discipline and by example, philologists greater than themselves, and of having kindled the national enthusiasm for ancient learning. It is chiefly in

that Ernesti has any claim to eminence as a theologian. But here his merits are distinguished, and, at the period when his ''Institutio Interpretis Novi Testamenti'' (Principles of New Testament Interpretation) was published (1761), almost peculiar to himself. In it we find the principles of a general interpretation, formed without the assistance of any particular philosophy, but consisting of observations and rules which, though already enunciated, and applied in the criticism of the profane writers, had never rigorously been employed in

biblical exegesis Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. He was, in fact, the founder of the grammatico-historical school. He admits in the sacred writings as in the classics only one acceptation, and that the grammatical, convertible into and the same with the logical and historical. Consequently, he censures the opinion of those who in the illustration of the Scriptures refer everything to the illumination of the Holy Spirit, as well as that of others who, disregarding all knowledge of the languages, would explain words by things. The "analogy of faith," as a rule of interpretation, he greatly limits, and teaches that it can never afford of itself the explanation, of words, but only determine the choice among their possible meanings. At the same time he seems unconscious of any inconsistency between the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible as usually received and his principles of hermeneutics.

Conflict with J. S. Bach

Beginning in 1736, Ernesti became involved in a protracted dispute with

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, who was cantor at the Thomas school at the time. The dispute concerned the appointment of a student prefect to lead musical performances whom Bach objected to, on grounds Ernesti considered spurious. This acrimonious conflict resulted in multiple letters to city officials and ultimately the king, despite the fact that Ernesti had served as godfather to Bach's children.

Legacy

Ernesti's most notable follower was the German theologian . His work influenced

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( , ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. Biography Born in Mohrun ...

and

Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional P ...

.Anthony C. Thiselton, ''New Horizons in Hermeneutics: The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading'', Harper Collins, 1997, p. 214.

Works

Works on classical literature: *''Initia doctrinae Solidioris'' (1736), many subsequent editions *''Initia rhetorica'' (1750) *editions, mostly annotated, of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

's ''Memorabilia'' (1737) *

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

(1737–1739) *

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

(1748) *

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

(1752) *the ''Clouds'' of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

(1754) *

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

(1759–1764) *

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide variety ...

(1761) *

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

(1764) *the ''Quaestura'' of Corradus *the Greek lexicon of Benjamin Hedericus (edited and expanded by Ernesti in 1767) *the ''Bibliotheca Latina'' of Fabricius (unfinished) *''Archaeologia lideraria'' (1768) * Horatius ''Tursellinus De particulis'' (1769) Works on sacred literature: *''Antimuratorius sive confutatio disputationis Muratorianae de rebus liturgicis'' (1755–1758) *''Neue theologische Bibliothek'', vols. i. to x. (1760–1769) *''Institutio interpretis Nov. Test.'' (3rd ed., 1775) *''Neueste theologische Bibliothek'', vols. i. to x. (1771–1775). Besides these, he published more than a hundred smaller works, many of which have been collected in the three following publications: ''Opuscula oratoria'' (1762); ''Opuscula philologica et critica'' (1764); ''Opuscula theologica'' (1773).

Notes

References

External links

*
Lexicon Manuale Graecum
' - 1767 edition edited and expanded by Ernesti {{DEFAULTSORT:Ernesti, Johann August 1707 births 1781 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians 18th-century Lutherans 18th-century philologists 18th-century philosophers German biblical scholars German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers German philologists German philosophers Heads of schools in Germany Hermeneutists Leipzig University alumni Leipzig University faculty Lutheran biblical scholars New Testament scholars People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis Philosophers of language Philosophers of religion Rationalists St. Thomas School, Leipzig teachers University of Wittenberg alumni