Pistor, Henricus, is the author of a Latin hymn, " De S. Jolianne Baptista," commencing, " Pro?cursoris et Baptists." The only notice we have of Pistor is that given by Clichtovlus in Elucidator Eccles. p. 198, where we read: " Auctor ejus (viz. of the hymn) fuisse traditur eximius pater Henricus Pistor, doctor theolo- gus Parisiensis, et in religiosa domo Sti. Yictoris juxta Parisios monasticam vitam professus, qui etiam Con- cilio Constantinensi (1414-18) interfuit, eaque tempes- tate, doctrina et virtute mirifice floruit." This is about all. As to the hymn itself, the first verse runs thus:
Prsecursoris et Baptistie
Diem istum chorus iste Veueretur landibns.
Vero die jam dii-sc.it,
Ut in nostris elncescat
Verus dies mentions.
See Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnol. ii, 169; Trench, Sacred
Latin Poetry, p. 91 sq. ; Rambach, Anthologie christl.
Gesange, p. 364. (B. P.)
Pistorius (Germ. Becker~), a name common to many
PIT
theologians in the first two centuries of the Reformation, of whom we mention the following:
1. Conrad, a Brunswick theologian. Together with Paul Eitzen, of Hamburg, and Joachim Morlin, of Bruns- wick, he took part in the proceedings of the Harden- berg controversy (comp. Herzog, Ri-a/-I\mgklop. v, 510 sq.). In 1502 he was superintendent in Giistrow; in 1572 the duke Ulric of Mecklenburg dismissed him from his estates. He then went to Rostock ; thence to Antwerp and Vienna; was appointed superintendent at Hildesheim, and. when expelled, returned again to Brunswick, where he died in 1588. See Herzog, Rzal- Encyklop. s. v. ; Theologisches Universul-Lexikon, s. v.
2. John (1), at first a Roman Catholic priest of St. John's in Nidda, a Hessian city, afterwards first Lu- theran pastor and superintendent there, took part with Melancthon and Bucer as a representative of the Prot- estants in the colloquy at Patisbon in 1541, and after- wards at Worms in 1557. In 1544 he was very ac- tive in aiding the prince Herman, count of Wied, to introduce the Reformation in the archbishopric of Co- logne, but the battle at Mlihlberg put an end to the whole movement. Pistorius died in 1583. See Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s. v. ; Theolog. Univi rsal-Lexihon, s. v.; Smith, Hist, of the Church of Christ in Chronological Tables, p. 53 ; Kurtz, Lehrbuch der Kirchengesch. § 135, 3 ; Niedner, Lehrbuch der christl. Kirchengesch. p. 035.
3. John (2) (also called Xiddauus, from his native place), son of the former, was born Feb. 4, 1546. He studied first medicine, law, and history, and finally the- ology. Originally a Lutheran, he became next a zeal- ous Calvinist, and induced the first son of the margrave Charles II of Baden, Ernest Frederick, to join him. Soon afterwards he joined the Roman Catholic Church, in which alone he could see the continuity of the Church of Christ, and induced the second son of the margrave Jacob to follow him. In behalf of his patron, he held in 1589 a colloquy at Baden with Andrea and Heerbrand, who represented Lutheranism, and Schyrius, who represented Calvinism. A second colloquy he held at Emmendingen in 1590, with Dr. Peppus, of Strasburg. After the death of his patron, Pistorius went to Frei- burg and Constance ; became doctor of theology, canon of Constance, cathedral-provost of Breslau, and imperial counsellor to the emperor Rudolph II. Pistorius died in 1608. In his Theorema de fidei Christiana defnita mensura, and in Unser von Goth s Gi naden Jakobs Mark- grafen zu Baden . . . christl. erhebliche und wohlfun- dirte Motif en, etc., he endeavored to justify his own and his patron's conversion to the Church of Rome. His polemics against Luther in his A natomia Lutheri,seu de septem spiritibus Lulheri, called forth a number of re- joinders. Pistorius is also the author of some medical works, and some historical works on Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Spain. In the service of the Church of Rome, Pistorius also wrote a Wegioeiser fur alle ver- fiihrten Christen, to which Dr. Mentzer replied in his Anti - Pistorius. See Fechti Historia Colloquii Em- mendingerisis, mi subjicitur protocollum et conclusio (Ros- tockii, 1709) ; Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s. v. ; Theolog. Universal-Lexikon, s. v. ; Jocher, Gelehrten-Lexikon, s. v. ; Buchanan, Justification (see Index).
4. Theophili's (1), succeeded the excellent John Mathesius (q. v.) in the ministry at Joachimsthal ; and his son,
5. Theophilus (2), a great Oriental scholar, lectured at Leipsic, Tubingen, Jena, and Copenhagen, and wrote Enchiridion Ungual sanctie grammaticani (Leips. 1012), etc. See Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s. v. ; Jocher, Gi l< hrtt u- Lexikon, s. v. ; Fiirst, Bibl. Jud. iii, 106 ; Steinschneider, Bibliog. Handbuch, p. 11 1, No. 1574. (B. P.)
Pit. In the A. V. this word appears with a figura- tive as well as a literal meaning. It passes from the facts that belong to the outward aspect of Palestine and its cities to states or regions of the spiritual wortf With this power it is used to represent several Hebn and Greek words, and the starting-point which the
tit
238
PITAKA
t
end meaning presents for the spiritual is, in each case, a subject of some interest
1.01 ill'-- bar, lis (root 1K3, cognate *n: a well '. occurs most frequently, and means a deep hole or pit. dm,' in tin' firsl instance for a well, or a cistern hewn "i- 'Hi in Btone, a reservoir, which the oriental- arc in iln- lial.'u of preparing in those regions where there are few or no springs, for the purpose ofpreserv- . ater for travellers and cattle. Thesecistems and trenches are often withoul water, no Bupply being obtainable for them excepl from the rain. In old de- terns the water leaks out, or becomes slimy (jer. H. L3 . Such cisterns or pits, when withoul water, were often used in the East apparently for three pur- lace of sepultun (Psa. xxviii, 1 ; xxx, 1: I-a. xxxviii, 18), hence TI3 -~ — . •• th<> thai go down i" tin- pit" a phrase of frequenl occurrence, em- ployed sometimes i" denote dying without hope, bul commonly a simple going down to the place ol the dead (see Gesen. Lex. -.\.<: also, "the graves sel in of the pit" (Exod. xxxii, 23), the recesses cm out for purposes of burial: or they mighl be the natural Gssun - in the rocks, abounding in all limestone forma- tions, of which iln- rocks of Sj ria and Palestine chiefly "they shall be gathered as prison rs are gathi red in the pit, and shall he shul up" (Isa. xxiv, 22; also Jer. xxwii. 16; Exod. xii, ■_".»). The pii or dungeon was a common place of punishment in the East, and very dreadful it was. as the case of