Thursday, July 27, 2023

It is the 27th of July, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Sound the alarm, we have another forgotten character today- often overlooked but whose work would have a long-lasting effect on the church in general and the Lutheran church in particular. Unless you have studied 17th-century Lutheranism, you have likely never heard of him- he was Salomon Glassius- and he would help develop the particularly Lutheran doctrines of Scripture, ministry, and preaching.  

He was born in 1593 in Sondershausen and thus is in the so-called “Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy.” It was in the 17th century that various Lutherans began to ask how they were to understand the legacy of Luther, the Lutheran Confessions, and a Protestant Church that had split numerous times into smaller factions in the century since those first protestations against the Roman Catholic Church.

Glassius went to school at the University of Jena- a hub of Lutheran Orthodoxy. From there, in 1615, he went off to the Mecca that was Wittenberg. However, there he fell ill and was forced back home and then back to Jena where he was counseled and taught by Johann Gerhard. Gerhard was a central figure in the blending of Lutheran orthodoxy and practical theology. Gerhard, being an author of devotional literature, would greatly influence Glassius, who would study the Old Testament in particular. He learned from Gerhard that the theologian must be a lover of words, the biblical text in particular. Glassius would become a professor there in 1619. While many contemporaries of Glassius would focus on dogmatic (or systematic) theology, Glassius wrote and studied the nature of hermeneutics (how to interpret scripture), rhetoric (how to effectively communicate), and homiletics (how to preach).

Glassius would also eschew the common practice of writing in Latin, he would write in German such that he could be understood by the masses. His projects were academic, as any theologian, but his aim was practical- how to interpret the Bible and present the Gospel to hearers. This was, to him, the central call of the office of the Holy Ministry.

Glassius would be called back home to Sonderhausen as the Superintendent of the churches there (that means Bishop for people who didn’t want to use words like Bishop). With the death of Gerhard in 1637, and as stipulated in Gerhard’s will, Glassius was called back to Jena to succeed him. There Glassius would take over the massive work he, Gerhard, and some two dozen other theologians had been working on- the massive Weimar Bible project. This would be, in modern parlance, a gigantic study Bible with explanatory notes and commentary. Since the Reformation, there have been few more important developments than the study bible for the proliferation of a particular theological position. There seems to be a perceived authority (conscious or not) when the text is interspersed with the text of the Bible itself. This Weimar Bible, with a lengthy introduction by Glassius, would spread throughout Germany as well into North America with immigrant Lutherans.

For Glassius, the authority of the Bible comes from its message of Christ as it comes to the hearer through the office of the Minister. While cognizant of the so-called “priesthood of all believers” for Glassius in this work and others, the centrality of the doctrine of the office of Ministry. The pastor was the new prophet, called internally but also externally, who was given the word to proclaim. This would follow his call to ministers to be diligent in their study of the original languages as well as in how to effectively communicate the Gospel- there is a need for erudition as well as practical know-how. His “Sacred Philology” was an academic treatise on this topic, his “Tree of Life” was a devotional dedicated to the practice, and his multi-volume collection of sermons was both for edification but also as a manual for other ministers to help them in preparation for their own sermons. X His name is not on the Mount Rushmore of Lutheran theologians of his time, but his immensely practical work and doctrine of the Holy Ministry and work on the Weimar Bible make him one of the most significant if not overlooked. Salomon Glassius, born in 1593, died on this the 27th of July in 1656- he was 63 years old.

The last word for today comes from the Daily Lectionary- from Psalm 105 and, as is my custom from time to time, from the Scottish Metrical Psalter:

¹ Give thanks to God, call on his name;
to men his deeds make known.
² Sing ye to him, sing psalms; proclaim
his wondrous works each one.

³ See that ye in his holy name
to glory do accord;
And let the heart of ev’ry one
rejoice that seeks the Lord.

⁴ The Lord Almighty, and his strength,
with steadfast hearts seek ye:
His blessed and his gracious face
seek ye continually.

⁵ Think on the works that he hath done,
which admiration breed;
His wonders, and the judgments all
which from his mouth proceed;

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 27th of July 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who prizes his favorite study bible: Bibleman’s Complete New Testament (that’s real and a callback); he is  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose favorite bizarre study bible is the MANual: Study Bible for Men (sorry, ladies). I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.