THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
consistories. It has a voice in appointing the teachers of the Protestant gymnasium, has the right of nominating the inspectors, licenses and ordains preachers, and executes the decrees of the upper consistory. The latter meets annually in regular session. The business to be brought before it must have the approval of the government and its decisions require government confirmation. Its sessions are limited to six days and a representative of the government must be present. Ministers' salaries range between 1,420 and 2,840 marks according to position and length of service. The most important foundations are under the administration of the Chapter of St. Thomas in Strasburg; they are partly ecclesiastical, partly educational, the latter being the more important.
The Reformed Church of Alsace-Lorraine has substantially the same constitution as the Church of the Augsburg Confession. Its con- Reformed gregations are led and governed by and Other similar presbyterial councils and con- Bodies, sistories, but the latter are not united into an external administrative unity. It has a numerical strength about one- fifth that of the Lutheran Church. Of other Protestant bodies the Mennonites, with a membership of about 2,500, are the strongest. The government expenditures for salaries and other Church purposes are more than 700,000 marks yearly.
The Roman Catholic Church of Alsace-Lorraine comprises the two bishoprics of Strasburg (Alsace) and Metz (Lorraine), formerly belong- The ing to the province of Besancon, but Roman since 1S74 independent of all archi- Catholic episcopal or metropolitan jurisdiction. Church. The bishops are named by the reigning prince, and receive canonical institution from Rome. They select all books to be used in church services, and present priests for appointment to the prince, but name directly the lower clergy as well as the directors and professors of the diocesan seminaries, in which the clergy receive their training. They also direct these seminaries and order the instruction in them. Each bishop has two vicars-general and a chapter, which becomes influential only in the case of a vacancy in the bishopric. The salaries of priests range from 1,500 to 2,000 marks; vicars receive 540 marks. Church buildings and rectories by law belong to the civil authorities so that the latter are charged with their maintenance, if the ordinary revenues (managed by a committee of the congregation) do not suffice. Such buildings may not be diverted from their original purpose. Many of the churches are used by both Protestants and Roman Catholics. The cemeteries also are common property, and any resident may be buried in them without confessional distinction. The taking of monastic vows for life is forbidden, and the law recognizes no religious order; nevertheless, more than twenty are represented, the greater number being for females. The expenditures of the State for the Roman Catholic Church amount to more than 2,000,000 marks yearly.
The Jews are divided into three consistories, each with a chief rabbi, at Strasburg, Colmar, and
Metz, respectively. Rabbis receive salaries from the State, varying from 1,500 to 1,900 marks.
WlLHELM GOETZ.
ALSTED, al'sted, JOHANN HEINRICH: Reformed theologian; b. at Ballersbach, near Herborn (43 m. n. of Wiesbaden), Nassau, 1588; d. at Weissenburg (Karlsburg, 240 m. e.s.e. of Budapest), Siebenbiirgen, Hungary, Nov. 8, 1638. He studied at Herborn and became professor there in the philosophical faculty in 1610, and in the theological faculty in 1619. In 1629 he went to the newly founded University of Weissenburg. He represented the Church of Nassau at the Synod of Dort (1618-19). He was one of the famous teachers of his time, and compiled a series of compends of pretty nearly every branch of knowledge, which are interesting as showing the scholarly and literary methods and achievements of the seventeenth century. The most remarkable were Cursus philosophici encyclopedia (Herborn, 1620) and Encyclopaedia septem tomis distincta (ib. 1630). The first of these comprises two volumes; one a quarto of 3,072 pages, containing: i., quatuor prcecognita philosophica : archelogia, hexilogia, technologia, didactica; ii., undecim scientice philosophica theoreticcB : metaphysica, pneumatica, physica, ariihmetica, geometria, cosmographia, uranoscopia, geographia, optica, musica, architectonica ; iii., quinque prudentice philosophical practicce : ethica, ceconomica, politica, scholastica, historica; vol. ii. gives the septem artes liberates. The second work, in two folios, includes as its first, third, and fourth divisions the three given above, and adds: ii., philologia, i.e., lexica, grammatica, rhetorica, logica, oratoria, poetica; v., tres facilitates principes : theologia, jurisprudentia, medicina; vi., artes mechanics; vii., a miscellaneous section, prcecipum Jarragines disciplinarum : mnemonica, historica, chronologia, architectonica, critica, magia, alchymia, magnetographia, etc., including even tabacologia, or the doctrina de natura, usu et abusu tabaci. Theology is divided into seven branches: naturalis, catechetica, didactica, polemica, casuum, prophetica (homiletics), and moralis. He also wrote a Diatribe de millc annis (Frankfort, 1627), in which he fixes the beginning of the millennium at the year 1694.
(E. F. Karl Muller.)
Bibliography: F. W. E. Roth, in Monatshefte der Comenius- Gesellschaft, 1895, pp. 29 sqq.; H. F. Criegern, J. A. Comenius als Theolog, pp. 365 sqq., Leipsic, 1881.
ALTAR.
In Primitive Religion. Altar not Necessarily a Raised Structure (§1). Altar and Divinity One
(§ 2). Altar and Divinity Differentiated (§ 3). In the Old Testament. Pre-Deuteronomic and
Deuteronomic (§1). Post-Deuteronomic(§2). III. In the Christian Church. 1. Before the Reformation.
II
a. To about the year 1000. Form and Structure( § 1 ). Accessories and Ornamentation (§ 2).
Number and Varieties of Altars (§ 3).
b. From the year 1000 to
1300.
c. From 1300 to the Ref-
ormation. 2. Since the Reformation. Lutheran and Reformed
Churches (§ 1). ChurchofEngland(§2).
I. In Primitive Religion: The word "altar," derived ultimately from the Latin alere, " to nourish," through altus, derived meaning " high,"