This week in Christian history: US Christian Commission formed; Richard Baxter born

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, November 12, 2023

Johann Gerhard earns theology doctorate – Nov. 13, 1606

Johann Gerhard (1582-1637), a notable Lutheran theologian. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Johann Gerhard, a prominent theologian sometimes called the “Archtheologian of Lutheranism,” received his doctorate in theology at the University of Jena.

Suffering a severe illness and a bout of depression when he was a teenager, Gerhard grew up to study theology and would write multiple influential works on Lutheran theology and personal piety, as well as lecture at Jena.

Notable opuses of Gerhard included Daily Exercise of Piety (also known as Meditations on Divine Mercy), Theological Commonplaces, and Handbook of Consolations.

“To many in the strain of confessional Lutheranism, Johann Gerhard is held to be the third preeminent theologian of the Reformation,” explained the website Lutheran Reformation.

“After Luther came Martin Chemnitz, after Chemnitz came Johann Gerhard. Some have even called him ‘the third after which there is no fourth.’ From him we can learn how to pray; from him we can learn the truths of the faith.”