Menius (or Menig), Justus, an eminent German theologian of the Reformation period, noted for his part in the spread of the Protestant doctrines, was born at Fulda Dec. 13, 1499. He studied for the Church, and intended to become a monastic in order to serve the cause of Home the more faithfully, but, while living as deacon at Meilbirg, he was made acquainted with the doctrines of Luther, and he .became so interested in the reformatory movement that he decided to go to the verj' stronghold of the heretics and judge for himself. He accordingly set out for Wittenberg to hear Luther preach, and while there was made a convert to the new cause, and at once identified himself with the Protes- tants. In 1546 he was made ecclesiastical superintend- ent of Gotha, and afterwards he became pastor of St. Thomas's Church at Leipsic, which situation he retained until his death, Aug. 11,1588. Menius was a devoted friend of Luther, whom he accompanied to the (dllcxmy of Marburg (q. v.),and in 1532 he signed the an ides of Smalcald (q. v.). Together with George Spalatin, Cru- ciger, Mj'conius, and John Webern, he drew up the first ecclesiastical ritual used in Saxonv. Among his works,
we notice Cummentaria in lib. SdiiiiKlis it
loruni (Wittenb. 1532, 8v(
,1/1/1
If, IS
■II Lull,,,-; ( 1538,
4to) : — low (Uist d. U'iedrr/diiji'cr (W'ilteiil). 1544. 4lo) : — I '-// ./. .\o/li,ribr (Wittenb. 1547. 8vo) ■.—JJlstorira De- srripiin ,/, /„ //„ Cothico (15(i8, 8vo). See IMotschmann, F.i-fiirdid IMirata; K\hxfiK\\i, Sdchsisvhe Kirelumjesch. i, 30G ; Tcntzel, Suppl. Reliqua Jlist. Gothame, p. 787 ; Schmidt, Justus Menius, der Refvrmator Thiiringens (1867, 2 vols. 8vo); Jahrb. deutsch. Theol. 1870, No. iv; llerzog, lieal-Knn/Mojmdie, ix, 325 sq.
Menken, Gottfried, D.D., an eminent (icrman Protestant ilivine, was born at Bremen ^L^y 29. 1768. His early education was somewhat imperfect, from want of means, but in 1788 he entered the L'niversity of Jena, bringing with him only his Bible, a lexicon, and the works of Jacob Bilhme. The rationalistic tendency which prevailed in the German universities at that time was thoroughly repugnant to liis nature, and he deter- mined to give liimself to a close and (juiet study of his Bible, and of those languages which could assist him in that object, leaving entirely aside the divers purely the- ological systems. He wrote at the time a number of essays and expositions, which, however, not being satis- fied with them, he afterwards destroyed at Wetzlar, with the exception of some valuable pieces forming one vol- ume of about 150 pages. In 1790 he went to the L'ni- versity of Duisburg, where he found the .same general tendency prevailing as at Jena. He met. however, with .some kindred spirits, such as Aehelis (t judge at Duis- burg in 1857) and Schlechtendal, earnest evangelical men, with whom he formed a friendship which lasted all his life. About 1791 he became an inmate in the family of the rector, Fr. A. Hasenkamp, whose exam]>le and precepts appear to have exerted a lasting inliueiice over him. In 1794 he became assistant ])rea(hcr at Frankfort-on-the-Main; in 1796, pastor of the Protes- tant Church at Wetzlar ; removed in the same capacity
MENNANDER
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to Bremen in 1802, and died there June 1, 1831. He was a great admirer of Bengel, and opposed not only Wolf and Baumgarten's views, but also those of such men as Lavater, Pfenninger, Hitfeli, Stolz, Ewald, and Yung Stilling, whom he accused of conceding too much to the philosophical notions of the times. Among his numerous works we notice Beitrag z. Ddmonolor/ie, oder Wideiiegung d. exegetischen A ufsatze d. H. Prof. Grimm (Frankf. and Leips. 1793) -.— U'eber Gliick u. Sieg d. Gott- losen (Frankf. and Leips. 1795) — both of which were published anonymously : — ChristUche Homilien (Nurenb. 1798) : — Xeue Sammlung (1802) : — Homilien ii. d. Pro- jiheten Elias (1801) ■.—Predigteii (1825). After his death there appeared Letzte Sammlung ch-istlicher Predigten (Cologne, 18'17): — Anleitung z. eigenen Unterricht in d. Wahrheiten d. Ueiligen Sckrift (Frankf. 1805; 2d edit. 182b) ■.—Leiffaden z. Unterricht f. Conjirmiuidrn (1817; 3d edit. 182g")- See Osiander (J. E.), in the Tiih;,i,i, r Z> it- schrift, 18;32, vol. ii ; also, separately, M( iiL; n al.^ Sflirift- steller (Bremen, 1832) ; Herzog, Real-Encyklopddie, ix, 328 sq. (J.N. P.)
Mennander, Carl Fredrik, a learned Swedish prelate, was born July 19, 1712, at Stockholm. After having been bishop of Abo, in Finland, he was called to teach physics at the University of Upsala. Towards the close of his life he was made archbishop of that citv. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences at Upsala, in which city he died May 22, 1786. He wrote JJe Usu Logices in historia (Abo, 1748) : — De Ophio- lafria Gentiliiim (ibid. 1752, 4to) :—De Sgnodis Aboensi- bus (ibid. 1773, 4to) ; and many papers on archseology inserted in the collection of the society of Upsala. — Hoefer, N'ouv. Biog. Generale, s. v.
Meniias, a patriarch of the Eastern Church, flour- ished in the first half of the Gth century. He was for a time superintendent of the great hospital "Holy Sam- son," at Constantinople. In 536 he became patriarch of that city by the choice of the emperor Justinian and the clergy, to supersede the Monophysite Antimus I, who had left his episcopal seat at Trapezunt, and had usurped the patriarchal dignity. Mennas was the first among Oriental patriarchs who was consecrated as bishop by a Roman pope (March 13, 563) (see Labbe, Condi, col. 47 sq. : also Baronius, A nnal. ad ann. 536, n. 27 ; Pagi, Critica, ad ann. 536, n. 6). Mennas attended quietly to his duties at the Church of Constantinople till the war of the " Three Chapters" broke out and in- volved him [see Chapters, Three], and finally brought about his deposition from Rome, because of his adhe- sion to the side of the emperor against the Roman pontiff. In this trying hour Mennas displayed a most amiable disposition, and acted the part of a truly hon- orable man. He bowed submissively to the severe decision of the pope, and even used his influence to persuade the other bishops of the Eastern Church, who had suffered like him the displeasure of the papal vice- gerent, to bear patiently with the holy father and to approve his decisions, and to revoke their previous ap- proval of the imperial decrees (Hardouin, iii, 10 ; Labbe, v, 338). Mennas soon after died, August, 552. He Lad presided over the Church of Constantinople for sixteen years and six months. He is commemorated in the Latin Martyrologium Aug. 25, and in the (ireek Menologium Aug. 24. A pretty full account of the life of Mennas is furnished both in the Latin and Greek Martyrologies under the dates of commemoration. See also Wetzer und Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon, vii, 57,