THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Canticles in English Verse (1903); and Doctrinal Hymns, with the Life of Our Lord in the Mass (1906).
BAHRDT, bort, KARL FRIEDRICH : A caricature of the vulgar rationalism of the eighteenth century; b. at Bischofswerda (20 m. e.n.e. of Dresden), Saxony, Aug. 25, 1741; d. at Halle Apr. 23. 1792. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor who afterward became professor at Leipsic, and commenced his studies at Leipsic when quite young. In spite of his many pranks he was promoted as magister and appointed catechist at St. Peter's. Beingdevoted to Biblico-exegetical studies under the influence of the learned Ernesti, he was made extraordinary professor in Biblical philology 1766, but was dismissed in 1768 for immoral life. At the same time he abandoned the orthodox standpoint, which he probably never had held seriously. From now on his life is that of a dissolute adventurer. He appears first at Erfurt, afterward at Giessen (1771), where he managed to obtain a theological professorship. Here he published (1772) a silly " Musterrevision " of the Bible, entitled Neueste Ofjenbarungen Gottes in Briefen und Erzahlungen, which even Goethe ridiculed (in his Prolog zu den ncuesten Offenbarungen Gottes). The enlightener was dismissed from his office in Giessen in 1775. He then tried his luck as director of a philanthropicum in the Grisons, then as superintendent-general in the Palatinate, finally as privat-docent at Halle. That he was received here, was due to the liberal government of King Frederick II of Prussia, whose free-thinking minister of ecclesiastical affairs and of public instruction, Zedlitz, procured for Bahrdt the venia legendi. He attracted great attention, not so much by his lectures as by his surprisingly prolific literary productivity. With reckless brutality he attacked every kind of belief in revealed religion. His System der moralischen Religion (Berlin, 1787) advocates open naturalism; Christ is to him the greatest naturalist. Having ruined his religious and moral reputation, he finally opened an inn in a vineyard near Halle, and thus sought to attract the interest of students of the university. Meanwhile the Prussian government had taken a different course; Frederick II was succeeded by the reactionary Frederick William II (1786-97), whose minister of worship, Wollner, in 1788 endeavored to restore orthodoxy. Bahrdt did not hesitate to ridicule (anonymously) Wollner's religious edict in a comedy. For this he was imprisoned in the fortress of Magdeburg in 1789. During the year which he spent here he wrote smutty stories and his autobiography, a mixture of falsehood, hypocrisy, and impudent self-abasement. In 1790 he again opened his inn fell ill in 1791 ; and died of disease induced by a too free use of mercury in the attempt to effect a self-cure. In Halle the report was spread that he died of an unclean disease. Highly gifted, Bahrdt never yielded to moral discipline, and thus sunk into the deepest baseness; in his later years he seems to have lost every trace of decency; the flood of writings which he sent out into the world ie altogether worthless; he is in
every respect merely a representative of a wholly demoralized rationalism. Paul Tschackert.
Bibliography: D. Pott, Leben, Meinungen und Schicksale des C. F. Bahrdt, aus Urkunden gezogen, 4 parts, Berlin, 1790- 91; G. Frank, in Raumers Historische Taschenbuch, ser. 4, vol. vii, 1866, 203-370, especially 346 sqq.
BAIER, boi'er, JOHANN WILHELM: Lutheran theologian of the seventeenth century; b. at Nuremberg Nov. 11, 1647; d. at Weimar Oct. 19, 1695. He studied philology, especially Oriental, and philosophy at Altdorf from 1664 to 1669, in which year he went to Jena and became a disciple of the celebrated Musseus, the representative of the middle party in the syncretistic controversy, whose daughter he married in 1674. Taking his doctor's degree the same year, he became in 1675 professor of church history in the university, and lectured with great success on several different branches of theology. In 1682 he was chosen to represent the Protestant side in the negotiations with the papal legate Steno, bishop of Tina, for reunion of the Churches. He was three times rector at Jena before he was called by the elector Frederick III, in 1694, as professor and provisional rector to the new university of Halle. Here his devotion to strict orthodoxy brought him into conflict with some of his colleagues, and the pietistic movement also gave him trouble, so that after a year he was glad to accept the combined positions of chief court preacher, superintendent, and pastor at Weimar — which, however, he held only a few months. He left a name in the history of theology, especially by his dogmatic compendium, which still preserves the early Protestant traditions among High Lutherans, especially in America. The Jena theologians, and Musseus in particular, had been asked by Ernest the Pious to draw up such a work, to take the place of the antiquated Hutter, and Musseus urged his son-in-law to do it. The first edition appeared in 1686, the second, enlarged, in 1691, and it has been frequently reprinted since. It was commended for general use as a text-book by its method, its conciseness, and its absence of mere polemics. It was obviously, however, intended by its author as a vindication of the Jena theology, which had been sharply attacked from Wittenberg, and lay under some suspicion of syncretism. Its dependence upon Musseus is really the distinguishing feature of the book, which is largely a compilation from him. Baier's other works include polemical writings against Erbermann, a convert to Roman Catholicism and a Jesuit, and against the Quakers; and three other compendiums, published after his death (1698), one of exegetical, and one of moral theology, as well as one of the history of dogma. His real significance lies in the fact that he handed on and popularized the theology of Musseus; and his work was continued by Buddeus, whom he left at Halle as professor of moral philosophy.
(Johannes Kunze.)
Bibliography: G. A. Will, Nilrnbergisches Gelehrtenlexikon, i, 47-53, v, 39, Nuremberg, 1755; W. Schrader, Geschu-hte der Friedrichsuniversitat zu Halle, i, 49-50, Berlin, 1S9); C. Stance, Die systematiscfien Prinzipien in der Theologie des Musaus, Halle, 1895.