Johann Melchior Goeze

Johann Melchior Goeze

University of Jena at 1770.

St. Catherine's Church, Hamburg in 1930. The church was damaged during World War II bombing and rebuilt afterwards.

Johann Melchior Goeze (born October 16, 1717 in Halberstadt, †May 19, 1786 in Hamburg) was a Lutheran pastor and theologian during the period of Late Orthodoxy.

Goeze studied in the universities of Jena and Halle, writing a doctoral dissertation on early Christian apologetics. In 1741, he became the pastor in Aschersleben. In 1750, he took his ministry to Magdeburg, and from 1755 onward he served as the senior pastor St. Catherine's in Hamburg.

Goeze was familiar with literature and took up writing histories and apologetics. The latter led him to write against various proponents of the Enlightenment. In 1764, he wrote against Johann Bernhard Basedow, in 1769, against Johann Georg Schlosser, in 1771 against Johann Salomo Semler, the founder of the historical critical method, in 1773, against Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, and in 1769 against Julius Gustav Alberti, the first Rationalist pastor in Hamburg. The next year, in 1770, he published his best work, The True Nature of Religious Zeal.

Goeze became well known chiefly for his debate with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1777-81. Goeze urged him to repentance, but little came out of the debate. Lessing responded with a number of rather polemic texts, finally resulting in Lessing being prohibited in writing on religious matters. Privately, Lessing showed respect for Goeze by always making sure to visit him when he came to Hamburg.

Works

• Homily of 1759 to contemplate the reconstruction of the tower of the church in 1659. Erneuertes Andenken der im Jahr 1659, den 3ten Febr. glücklich vollendeten Wiederherstellung des Thurms und der Hauptkirche zu St. Catharinen in Hamburg : welche im Jahr 1648, den 15ten Februar, durch einen erschröcklichen Sturmwind zerbrochen und verwüstet worden : Durch eine Dank- und Gedächtnis-Predigt Hamburg, 1759. OCLC 190825183 (German)

• Goezes Streitschriften gegen Lessing or Goeze's Debate Writings Against Lessing. Deutsche Litteraturdenkemale 43/45. Stuttgart: G.J. "Goschen'sche Verlangshandlung," 1893, 208 pages. (Google Books) (German)

• Etwas vorläufiges gegen des Herrn Hofraths Lessings mittelbare und unmittelbare feindselige Angriffe auf unsre allerheiligste Religion und auf den einigen Lehrgrund derselben, die heilige Schrift or A Small, Tentative Response against Mr. Hofrath Lessing's Direct and Indirect Hostile Attack on our Most Holy Religion and on the Sole Basis of its Teachings, the Holy Scriptures. Hamburg: Gedruckt und zu bekommen bey D.A. Harmsen, 1778. (Google Books) (German)

• Die Wichtigsten Abschnitte der Lehre vom Tode: In einigen heiligen Reden abgehandelt or The Most Important Sections of the Doctrine of Death, Dealt with in Some Sacred Discourses. Breslau and Leipzig: Korn, 1753. (Google Books) (German)

• Heilsame Betrachtungen des Todes und der Ewigkeit, auf alle Tage des Jahres or Salutary Considerations on Mortality and Eternity, on all Days of the Year. Breslau and Leipzig: Korn, 1767. (Google Books for Vol. 1 and Google Books for Vol. 2) (German)

• Heilsame Betrachtungen der Geschichte des grossen Leydens und Versönungs-Todes Jesu Christi auf alle Tage des Jahrs: Vier Theile or Salutary Reflections of the History of the Great Suffering and Atoning Death of Jesus Christ on All Days of the Year: in Four Parts. Mevius, 1760. 544 pages. (Google Books for January-May, Google Books for April-June, Google Books for July-September, Google Books for October-December) (German)

• Eine Probe von der Art, wie der Herr D. Semler seine Zeugen anzuführen pflegt: Kennern und Freunden der Wahrheit zur unpartheyischen Beurtheilung, und zur Erweckung, zum Vortheile der Wahrheit und der Religion, ähnliche Untersuchungen anzustellen or Undertake a Sampling of those like Dr. Semler, Who Won't Reveal his Sources: Judge, Experts and Friends of the Simple Truth, for the Awakening, and conduct Similar Studies for the Benefit of Truth and Religion. Hamburg: Bode, 1771, 32 pages. (Google Books) (German)

References

In English

• Kleinig, Vernon P. "Confessional Lutheranism in Eighteenth-Century Germany." Concordia Theological Quarterly 60(1-2) Jan-April 1996: Part II, Melchior Goeze p. 109-112.
• Johann Melchior Goeze from the German Literature Companion.
• Goeze, Jobart(n) Melchior in the Christian Cyclopedia

In German

• Ernst-Peter Wieckenberg: Johan Melchior Goeze. Ellert & Richter Verlag, Hamburg, 2007. (Reihe: Hamburger Köpfe) ISBN 978-3-8319-0294-1
• Hans Höhne: Johan Melchior Goeze. Stationen einer Streiterkarriere. Münster: Lit 2004. (Vergessene Theologen 3) ISBN 3-8258-7784-1
• Heimo Reinitzer und Walter Sparn (Hrsg.): Verspätete Orthodoxie. Über D. Johann Melchior Goeze (1717-1786). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1989. (Wolfenbütteler Forschungen 45) ISBN 3-447-02976-5
• Georg Reinhard Röpe: Johan Melchior Goeze, Hamburg 1860
• Heimo Reinitzer (Hrsg.): Johann Melchior Goeze 1717-1786. Hamburg: Wittig 1986. (Vestigia bibliae 8) ISBN 3-8048-4332-8

This article incorporates information from the revision as of March 2010 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

Persondata
Name	Goeze, Johann Melchior
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1717
Place of birth
Date of death	1786
Place of death