(E. BLOSCHt.)
Bibliography: Frau M. Bach-Gelpke, in Sammlung bernischer Biographien, i. 26 sqq., Bern, 1885; ADB, viii. 552.
GELZER, gelt'zer, HEINRICH: 1. German historian; b. at Schaffhausen Oct. 17, 1813; d. at his estate " Witwald " in the Jura Mountains, canton of Basel, Aug. 15, 1889. He was the son of an artisan, began the study of theology at Zurich, but on the advice of his physician, who considered his health not strong enough for the office of a preacher,
Gelzer Geneva
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
turned to history. He continued both theological and historical studies in Jena, Halle, and Gottingen where he was influenced especially by Hase, Tholuck, Otfried Miiller, and Ewald. Returning to Switzerland, he became private tutor in Bern, and formed here an intimate friendship with K. J. von Bunsen, the Prussian ambassador. In 1839 he established himself as privat-docent at Basel. In
1543 he became professor extraordinary of the history of Switzerland and universal history; in
1544 he was called to Berlin as professor of history. Besides his activity as teacher, he was frequently consulted in political and educational problems. A severe illness compelled him to go to southern France and Italy, and after a time he settled at Basel and founded and edited the Protestantische M onatsbldtter fiir innere Zeitgeschichte (1853-70), a periodical which attempted " to win the educated circles for the great moral-religious mission belonging to them, from the universal standpoint of genuine German Protestantism." At the same time, Gelzer was active in the spheres of secular and ecclesiastical politics. From the beginning of the sixties he was an intimate adviser of Grand duke Frederick of Baden. His theological standpoint was on the whole that of Rothe and Hundeshagen. As early as 1839, before the appearance of Rothe's "Ethics," Gelzer expressed the opinion that " perfect religion must be moral throughout and that perfect morality must be religious throughout." He demanded a theology that should go back to the leading ideas of a Herder, Fichte and Schleiermacher, without giving up the spiritual acquisition of romanticism and pietism, and in that way renew its conception of Christianity and Christian redemption.
Gelzer published among other works Die drei letzten Jahrhunderte dcr Schweizergeschichte (2 vols., Aarau, 1838-39), in which he treats in detail the religious conditions and history of morals beside political events; Die Religion im Leben (Zurich, 1839); Die zwei ersten Jahrhunderte der Schweizer-. geschichte (Basel, 1840); Die neuere deutsche National- Litteratur nach ihren ethischen und religiosen Gesichtspunkten (2 vols., Leipsic, 1847), his most popular work; Protestantische Briefe aus Sudfrankreich und Italien (Zurich, 1852), the result of a journey to Italy. His Dr. Martin Luther in
geschichtlichen Umrissen (Hamburg, 1847-51) appeared in several English translations, The Life of Martin Luther in Fifty Pictures (London, 1853;
Philadelphia, 1855; London, 1858).
(Karl Gelzer.)
Bibliography: F. Curtius, Heinrich Gelzer, Gotha, 1892; R. Stahelin, in Kirchenblatt fiir die reformirte Schweiz, 1892.
2. German historian, ko.i of the preceding; b. at Berlin July 1, 1847; d. at Jena in 1906. He studied in Basel and Gottingen, taught in a gymnasium in Basel 1869-73, and was appointed associate professor of ancient history in Heidelberg. After 1878 he was professor of classical philology and ancient history at Jena. Among his works those of special theological interest are Patrum Nicmnorum nomina Latine, Grace, Coptice, Syriace, Arabice, Armenice in collaboration with A. Hilgen-
feld and O. Cuntz (Leipsic, 1898); Geistliches und Weltliches aus dern tiirkisch-griech'lschen Orient (1900); Ungedruckte und ungeniigend veroffentlichte Texte der notitim episcopatum (Munich, 1901)and Vom heiligen Berge und axis Makedonien (1905). He was also the editor of the series Scriptores sacri ct prof am (5 parts, Leipsic, 1897-1903),
GEMARA. See Talmud.
GEMISTOS PLETHON, gc-mis'tus ple'then, GEORGIOS: Byzantine philosopher; b. at Constantinople c. 1355; d. in the Peloponnesus 1450. His early years were spent at the court of Sultan Murad I. at Adrianople and Brescia. There he was a pupil of the rationalistic Jew Elissseus, who inspired him with anti-Christian views, so that he later assumed the name of Pletho, in an attempt to approximate his ideal Plato. From the Turkish court Gemistos went to Sparta, where, with a few interruptions, he spent the remainder of his life as teacher, author, and statesman. He was on intimate terms with the despots of the Peloponnesus, one of whom, Theodore the Younger, bestowed certain estates upon him. As a member of the imperial council he attended the Council of Florence (see Ferrara-Florence, Council of) in the interests of a union of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches, and there advocated the cause of orthodoxy for political reasons. There too ho strengthened the bond with the philosophical representatives of the Italian Renaissance.
Gemistos can scarcely be regarded as a theologian. He was a modern pagan, deeply influenced by Neoplatonism and devoid of sympathy with Christianity. He was one of the protagonists of Platonism in its struggle with Aristotelianism, and at his suggestion Cosmo de' Medici drew up the scheme of a Platonic academy in Florence. The decline of the Greek Church and the conquest of the Roman Catholic Church by the Renaissance led him to see no hope for the future save in a return to classic paganism with the Neoplatonistic coloring which his ideals postulated. In his view, the summum bonum lay in the knowledge of the all, to which reason and the sages of antiquity, such as Zoroaster, Plato, and the Neoplatonists, were the guides. The supreme god, the author of the all, bore the name of Zeus, and was absolute existence and absolute goodness. From him proceeded, in a manner not altogether clear, the gods of the second rank, the world of ideas, comprised under the name of Poseidon. This differentiation of concepts continues in an analogous manner, always under a mythological terminology, until the phenomenal world is reached. Man shares in ideas and matter, and his soul is eternal, preexistent, and immortal, and is perfected by transmigration through various human bodies. Final blessedness is gained through the virtues of which Gemistos gives a detailed scheme, of which the chief are thought and the contemplation of deity. The religion of his ideal state was to be conducted by priests, who were to be required on certain days to hold services consisting of the recitation of prayers and the singing of hymns with symbolic ceremonies, all of which were detailed by Gemistos in full.