Valentin Ernst Löscher
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Valentin Ernst Löscher (born at
Lutheran
theologian.
At the
Pietists concerning the prevailing perfunctoriness of religious life, which he ascribed to the negligence of orthodox pastors. He at once took earnest measures to encourage a deeper spiritual life in the Church. He had already begun the publication of his Unschuldige Nachrichten von alten und neuen theologischen Sachen (Wittenberg and Leipzig, 1701 sqq.), the first theological periodical. The comprehensive scope and able management of the magazine gave it great importance. Through it Löscher became the leader of the orthodox party
, as opposed to the Pietistic and naturalistic factions in the Lutheran Church, and the representative of scientific Lutheran theology.
In opposition to the proposal that Pietism should be considered the best means of promoting the union of the
justification by faith. The work inspired a bitter reply from his Pietistic opponents, which called forth from Löscher his greatest work, Vollständiger Timotheus Verinus (2 parts, Wittenberg, 1718-22. Eng. transl., The Complete Timotheus Verinus 1998, Northwestern Publishing House). In this he discusses the origin and rapid development of Pietism and elaborates upon its evils. Nevertheless, he was unable to check the advance of Pietism or even to pass a true judgment upon the real significance of the movement. The importance of Löscher's part in the Pietistic controversy was not fully recognized until the return to Evangelical doctrine in the nineteenth century
.
Löscher took an active part also in the controversy which at that time was being waged against the
Roman Catholic Church in Dresden and contributed a number of studies to that cause, notably his Vollständige Reformations-Akta und Documenta (3 vols., Leipzig, 1720–29). He also opposed Wolff
's system of philosophy, claiming that "philosophical indifferentism" portended a revolution in Christianity.
Further reading
- (de) Horst Weigelt: Löscher, Valentin Ernst. In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Vol. 21. Berlin/New York 1991, p. 415–419.
- (en) Werner Raupp: Löscher, Valentin Ernst (1674–1749), in: Heiner F. Klemme/Manfred Kuehn (Ed.): The Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers. London/New York 2010, Vol. 2, p. 740–741.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.){{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help
External links
- Confessional Lutheranism in Eighteenth Century Germany by Vernon P. Kleinig, Concordia Theological Quarterly, Volume 60: Numbers 1-2
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