SPENCER
921
SPENER
iiciim Potteries, and was seen soon after by one of the workmen to be carried rapidly by tlie tide around a projectiii,^ rock beyond the reach of help, and after vain- ly struggling he sank to rise no more. His b<idy was recovered fifty minutes afterwards. Every effort that kind friends and medical skill could exert to resuscitate the body proved unavailing. (W. P. S.)
Spencer, 'Williain H., a Presbyterian minister, was born in Madison, Conn., Oct. 13, 1813. He was ed- ucated in the University of New York ; graduated at the Theological Seminary of Auburn, N. Y., in 1845 ; was licensed by Genesee Presbytery, and ordained by Utica Presbytery as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Utica, N. Y., the same year. After spending some years there, he accepted a call to Milwaukee, Wis. ; subsequent- ly became the secretary of the Presbyterian Publication Committee in Philadelphia ; then returned to pastoral labor in the city of Rock Island, 111. ; and more recently in Chicago, where he was pastor of the Westminster Church at the time of his death, Feb. IG, 1861. Mr. Spencer possessed fine mental powers, was eminently jiublic-spirited, and loval to the Church. See Wilson, J'lt^sh. Hist. Almunac, 1862, p. 196.
Spener, Philip Jacob, the father of Pietism (q. v.), and one of the most remarkable personages in the Church of the 17th century, was born in Alsace, at Rap- poltsweiler, in 1635, though he was wont to consider himself a Strasburger because the family had originated in that city. Reared amid pious surroundings, and pos- sessed of a naturally serious and retiring disposition, he was easily impressed with religious things; and the in- tluence of his godmother, a dowager countess of Rap- ]ioltstein, the reading of edifying books like Arnd's True Christianity, and the habit of prayer, early cultivated, contributed to a rapid development of his religious character while he was yet a child. He was indebted for both religious and intellectual training to Joacliim StoU (subsequently his brother-in-law, and from 1645 preacher to the counts of Rappoltstein [see the bio- graphical sketch of Stoll in Rtihrich, Mittheiluw/en uus d. eruiif/. Kirche des Elsasses (1855), iii, 3"21]), and en- tered the University of Strasburg when in his sixteenth year. His theological instructors in Strasburg were Dorsche (who left in 1653), Dannhauer, J. Schmid, and Sebastian Schmid. Dannhauer indoctrinated him in the strictest tenets of the Lutheran faith, J. Schmid be- came his " father in Christ," and Seb. Schmid ranked as one of the most accomplished exegetes of his time. To these must be added Bocler, who excited in the youth an abiding love for the study of history.
Spener tilled the position of tutor to the two sons of the count-palatine Christian H from 1654 to 1656, and afterwards entered on the then usual pereririnutio aca- deinica. He went to Basle in 1659, and studied Hebrew under the younger Buxtorf, and thence to Geneva, for the purpose of studying French. A severe illness de- tained him at Geneva a whole year, and the association with Reformed clergj-men which thus became possible to him greatly enlarged his views and sympathies. His letters of this period breathe the warmest admiration of the (ienevan Church. He met Labadie and published a German edition of that fiery preacher's Manuel de Priere. On his return from Geneva he visited the court of Wurtemberg in the capacity of companion to count Rappoltstein. His bearing impressed the duke favorably, and induced the latter to offer him an ap- pointment; but a call to Strasburg, which allowed him tlie privilege of devoting a portion of iiis time to the delivery of historical and philosophical lectures in the university, intervened, and was accepted in 1663 by Spener, who was in consequence obliged to apply for the doctorate of theology. Three years afterwards, in 1666, Spener became minister and senior at Frankfort- on-the-Main. This position gave him authority over clergymen older than himself, and involved heavy re- sponsibilities. A low state of discipline existed in the I
churches, and the constitution of the city rendered im- provement difficult, inasmuch as the civil authorities were charged with the suiiervision of the churches, and their indifference prevented the application of any thor- ough measures of reform. Spener, however, did what he could. He infused new energy into catechetical in- struction, by giving to it his personal attention, and urg- ing a clearer exposition of the subject-matter than had been usual in the former practice of the Frankfort churches. He also published, as aids to the teachers, an Eiiifdltitje Erkldnmg der christl. Lehre (1677). and the Tabula Catechetiae in 1683. In preaching he dis- cussed a wider range of subjects than a slavish follow- ing of the prescribed pericopes would admit of, his in- tention being to afford his people opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the contents of the entire Scriptures. His preaching was rather didactic than pathetic or emotional, and yet the effect produced was often profound and of abiding influence. His force lay in an intimate acquaintance with the Bible and in a devout walk, whose agreement with the doctrines he advocated in the pulpit was known to all bis hearers. A sermon preached by him in 1669 on the insufficient and false righteousness of the Pharisees caused a di- vision among his hearers, which resulted in 1670 in a closer union of the more earnest ones for their mutual edification. Spener invited them to assemble in his study for religious and social intercourse, and, after a time, for the study of the gospels. Their number was at first small, but it grew in time so that more than a hundred persons were habitually present at these gath- erings; and after repeated applications had been made, the authorities granted, in 1682, the use of a church for their assemblies. Such was the origin of the " Frank- fort conventicles." (See Spener, Sendschreiben an einen christeifri[ien Theolog. etc. ; Becker, Beitr. zur Frankf. Kirchengesch. [1853], p. 87. Gribel. in Rhein.-wesfpfidl. Kirche, ii, 560, gives a different account, as do a num- ber of other writers, but their statements are effectual- ly disposed of bv Spener, A bferliyung von D. Pfeifer, p. 108, etc.)