Lutherische Metaphysik im Streit

Abstract

The dissertation, "Lutheran Metaphysics in controversy - Accounts of Calovs antisocinian campaigns" presents in it"s first part the historical background of the controversy between the Lutheran Orthodoxy and the Socinianism: How Socinianism came into existence as a coherent group from it"s roots in late renaissance Italy up to the foundation as an dogmatically more or less sound church in Poland; the socinian system in it"s main statements to religion, revelation, holy scripture, doctrine of God, of the creation and of man, to the person of Christ, Christ"s labour, soteriology and eschatology; and in third the Lutheran-orthodox resistance against the socinian occurrence in Altdorf, Rostock, Königsberg and Prussia, in Danzig and in Wittenberg itself. After this Calov as the combatant of the socinianism enters the stage. According to the judgement of his contemporarys Calov has an crucial impact on the academical decision of the controverse in favour of the Lutheran Orthodoxy; Calov himself published, especially in his early years, the major part of his writings with regards to the socinian controversy. Important are primarily Calovs methodological reflections on behalf of an successful confutation, i.e. an unbiased, to the principles of theological judgements addicted confutation of the Socinianism, that is at any stage of the argumentation aware of it"s criteria. The second part of the work examines Calovs altercation with the Socinianism on behalf of the principles of theological knowledge, the Holy Scripture and the natural theology. Especially the status of the Holy Scripture as word of God and the role of reason in it"s exegesis are in controversy. With reference to the natural theology is in controversy if there is (being) a theologia naturalis insita and acquisita; the intralutheran quarrel around Flacius (who denies any kind of theologia naturalis) and Hoffmann (thesis of the double truth of theological sentences in accordance to the state of salvation of the one who utters a sentence). The third part examines Calovs theory of knowledge and his metaphysical method. After a brief historical introduction to the "lutheran" epistemology before Calov (Jakob Martini, Georg Gutke, Valentin Fromme) Calovs own epistemological writings, his Gnostologie and his Noologie, are thoroughly scrutinised and asked for their theological preoccupations and consequences. In the next step Calovs metaphysical method is, again after a brief introduction into the foundation of metaphysics in the Lutheran Orthodoxy, exhibited especially in it"s relevance for decisions in controversly discussed theological questions. Philosophical and theological further queries complete this part.