Anton Graff Johann Joachim Spalding 1800

Johann Joachim Spalding (1 November 1714 – 25 May 1804) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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 philosopher of Scottish ancestry who was a native of

Tribsees Tribsees () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated 33 km southwest of Stralsund, and 40 km east of Rostock. Etymology Tribsees derives its name from a local Slavic tribe ...

Swedish Pomerania Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...

. He was the father of Georg Ludwig Spalding (1762–1811), a professor at Grauen Kloster in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He grew up as a son of the parish priest in Tribsees and studied himself philosophy and theology at the Universities of

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

and

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...

, afterwards working as an auxiliary preacher in his hometown of Tribsees. In 1755 he became a pastor in Lassan, then two years later served as a minister in the town of Barth. In 1764 he received the titles of provost and ''Oberkonsistorialrat'', and gained recognition for his sermons at St. Nicolai-Kirche and at Marienkirche in

. He was a highly influential minister who had as friends, renowned personalities that included

Ewald Christian von Kleist Ewald Christian von Kleist (7 March 171524 August 1759) was a German poet and cavalry officer. His vast family was well-established in Farther Pomerania; 58 male members of his family fought in Frederick the Great's army of the Seven Years' War. ...

and Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim. As a protest against the ''Wöllnersche Religionsedikt'' ( Wöllner Edict of 9 July 1788), he resigned from his official duties. Spalding was an important figure of the

German Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. In 1748 he released ''Betrachtungen über die Bestimmung des Menschen'' (Reflections on the Destination of Man), a publication that is considered to be a manifesto of German Enlightenment theology. In this work he rejected dogmatic authoritarianism and confessional orthodoxy, while promoting a common sense philosophy that explained an individual's path from sensuality to spirituality ultimately leading to immortality. In his writings he was strongly opposed to Julien Offroy de La Mettrie's philosophy of

French materialism French materialism is the name given to a handful of French 18th-century philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment, many of them clustered around the salon of Baron d'Holbach. Although there are important differences between them, all of them we ...

. His autobiography, ''Lebensbeschreibung, von ihm selbst aufgesetzt'', was published by his son in 1804. Other noted works by Spalding include: * ''Über die Nutzbarkeit des Predigtamtes und deren Beförderung'', 1772. * ''Gedanken über den Werth der Gefühle in dem Christenthum'', 1789 – Thoughts concerning the value of feelings in Christianity. * ''Vertraute Briefe, die Religion betreffend'' : (1784; 1785; 1788) – Familiar writings involving religion. * ''Religion, eine Angelegenheit des Menschen'', 1798 – Religion, A matter for mankind.WorldCat Search
published works

References

* "This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia", whose references include
ADB: Spalding, Johann Joachim
@ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. 1714 births 1804 deaths People from Vorpommern-Rügen People from Swedish Pomerania German Protestant clergy German philosophers German male non-fiction writers {{Germany-theologian-stub