Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler;
7 September 152431 December 1583) was a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
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*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians should be punished by the State, and that the Church should not withhold sacraments as a form of punishment. They were published in 1589, after his death, with the title . His name was later applied to
Erastianism
Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...
.
Biography
He was born of poor parents on 7 September 1524, probably at
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...
,
canton of Aargau
Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...
, Switzerland. In 1540 he was studying theology at the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
. The plague of 1544 drove him to the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
and from there to the
University of Padua
The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...
as student of philosophy and medicine. In 1553 he became physician to the count of
Henneberg,
Saxe-Meiningen
Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia.
Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...
, and in 1558 held the same post with the elector-palatine,
Otto Heinrich, being at the same time professor of medicine at the
University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. His patron's successor,
Frederick III, made him a privy Councillor and member of the church consistory in 1559.
In theology he followed
Huldrych Zwingli
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Unive ...
, and at the
sacramentarian conferences of Heidelberg (1560) and
Maulbronn
Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
History
Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the Kingdom of Württemberg. In ...
(1564) he advocated by voice and pen the Zwinglian
doctrine of the Lord's Supper, replying in 1565 to the counter-arguments of the Lutheran
Johann Marbach
Johann Marbach (14 April 1521 – 17 March 1581) was a German Lutheran reformer and controversialist.
Life
He was born at Lindau in Bavaria. He began his studies at Strasbourg in 1536, and three years later went to Wittenberg, where he sha ...
, of
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
. He ineffectually resisted the efforts of the
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
s, led by
Caspar Olevian
Caspar Olevian (or Kaspar Olevianus; 10 August 1536 – 15 March 1587) was a significant German Reformed theologian during the Protestant Reformation and along with Zacharius Ursinus was said to be co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism. That the ...
, to introduce the
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or ...
and discipline, which were established at
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
in 1570, on the
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
model.
One of the first acts of the new church system was to excommunicate Erastus on a charge of
Socinianism
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
, founded on his correspondence with Transylvania. The ban was not removed until 1575, Erastus declaring his firm adhesion to the doctrine of the Trinity. His position, however, was uncomfortable, and in 1580 he returned to the University of Basel, where in 1583 he was made professor of ethics. He died on 31 December 1583.
Work
Erastus published several pieces focused on medicine,
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
,
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, and attacked in his publications the system of
Paracelsus
Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance.
He w ...
. In doing so, he defended medieval tradition in general, and
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...
in particular, while conceding some merit to specific points in Paracelsus. His name is permanently associated with a posthumous publication, written in 1568. Its immediate occasion was the disputation at Heidelberg in 1568 for the doctorate of theology by
George Withers George Withers may refer to:
* George Withers (politician)
George Withers (15 June 1843 – 31 March 1908) was an Australian politician.
He was born in Parramatta, the son of draper Edwin Augustus Withers. He was apprenticed to a builder at ...
, an English
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
(subsequently
Archdeacon of Colchester
The Archdeacon of Colchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Chelmsford – she or he has responsibilities within her archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of Colchester) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...
), silenced in 1565 at
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
by
Archbishop Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
. Withers had proposed a disputation against vestments, which the university would not allow; his thesis affirming the
excommunicating
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the Koinonia, communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The ...
power of the presbytery was sustained.
The ''Treatise of Erastus'' (1589) was published by
Giacomo Castelvetro
Giacomo Castelvetro (25 March 1546 – 21 March 1616) was an Italian expatriate in Europe and England, humanist, teacher and travel writer.
Life
Giacomo Castelvetro was born in Modena in 1546 to the banker Niccolò Castelvetro and his wife ...
, who had married Erastus's widow. It consists of seventy-five ''Theses'', followed by a in six books. An appendix of letters to Erastus by
Heinrich Bullinger
Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Re ...
and
Rudolf Gwalther, showed that the ''Theses'', written in 1568, had been circulated in manuscript form. An English translation of the ''Theses'', with a brief account of the life of Erastus (based on
Melchior Adam
Melchior Adam (c. 1575 – 26 December 1622) was a German Calvinist literary historian.
Life
Adam was born in Grottkau, Duchy of Nysa, Nysa, Habsburg Silesia (present-day Grodków, Opole Voivodeship). He visited the college in ''Brieg'' Brzeg, t ...
's account), was issued in 1659, entitled ''The Nullity of Church Censures;'' it was reprinted as ''A Treatise of Excommunication'' (1682) and was revised by
Robert Lee, D.D., in 1844.
Erastianism
In his ''Theses'', he argued that the sins committed by Christians should be punished by the State, and that the Church should not withhold sacraments as a form of punishment. This view is now known as Erastianism.
In his ''Theses'', Erastus explained that sins of professing Christians are to be punished by civil authority, and not by the withholding of sacraments on the part of the clergy. Those holding this view in the
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...
included
John Selden
John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...
,
John Lightfoot
John Lightfoot (29 March 1602 – 6 December 1675) was an English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.
Life
He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of ...
,
Thomas Coleman
Thomas Coleman (1598–1647) was an English clergyman, known for his scholarship in the Hebrew language, which earned him the nickname ‘Rabbi Coleman’, and for his Erastian view of church polity. In the Westminster Assembly he was the cleric ...
and
Bulstrode Whitelocke
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke (6 August 1605 – 28 July 1675) was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Sir James Whitelocke and Elizabeth Bulstrode, and was ...
, whose speech in 1645 is appended to Lee's version of the ''Theses''. However, after much controversy, the opposite view was carried, with Lightfoot alone dissenting. The consequent chapter of the ''
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...
'' (''Of Church Censures'') was not ratified by the English parliament.
According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', "The ''Theses'' and appeared together in 1589. The central question about which the "Theses" turned was that of excommunication. The term is not, however, used by Erastus in the Catholic sense as excluding the delinquent from the society or membership of the Church. The excommunication to which
talludes was the exclusion of those of bad life from participation in the sacraments."
[Ward, B]
"Erastus and Erastianism"
''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909.
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*
*
*
Athenae Rauricae(Basel, 1778) pp. 427–30.
* Auguste Bonnard, ''Thomas Éraste et la discipline ecclésiastique'' (1894)
* Charles Gunnoe
''Thomas Erastus and the Palatinate: A Renaissance Physician in the Second Reformation'' Leiden: Brill, 2011.
*
G. V. Lechler and R. Stähelin, in Albert Hauck's ''Realencyklop. für prot. Theol. u. Kirche'' (1898)
* Ruth Wesel-Roth, ''Thomas Erastus: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der reformierten Kirche und zur Lehre von der Staatssouveränität''
eröffentlichungen des Vereins für Kirchengeschichte in der evang. Landeskirche Badens 15 Lahr/Baden: Moritz Schauenberg, 1954.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erastus, Thomas
1524 births
1583 deaths
People from Baden, Switzerland
Swiss Calvinist and Reformed theologians
16th-century Swiss physicians
16th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians
16th-century Swiss writers
Demonologists
Heidelberg University faculty
Separation of church and state