THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
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when he saw that the movement was becoming revolutionary. When the government executed three of the ringleaders he preached a sermon admonishing his hearers not to become involved in affairs not their own. He was a protector of Huguenot refugees and of Waldenses. (EBERHARD VISCHER.)
BrsuiocRAPHy: Theone satisfactory account of Werenfels’s life is by A. von Salis, in the Beitrage zur vaterlandischen Geschichte, published by the Historical and Antiquarian Society of Basel, new series, v. 1 sqq., Basel, 1901.
WERENFELS, SAMUEL: Swiss theologian: b. at Basel Mar. 1, 1657; d. there June 1, 1740. After finishing his theological and philosophical studies at Basel, he visited the universities at Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. On his return he held, for a short time, the professorship of logic, and in 1685 became professor of Greek at Basel. The next year he undertook an extensive journey through Germany, Belgium, and Holland, one of his companions being Gilbert Burnet (q.v.). In 1687 he was appointed professor of rhetoric, and in 1696 became a member of the theological faculty, occupying successively according to the Basel custom the chairs of dogmatics and polemics, Old Testament, and New Testament. He was thus in a manner compelled to manifest a many-sided activity.
In his De logomachiis eruditorum (Amsterdam, 1688) Werenfels shows how often controversies that divide even Christians are at bottom mere verbal disputes arising from moral deficiencies, especially from pride. He proposed to do away with such disputes by making a universal lexicon of all terms and concepts. In the Oratio de vero et falso theologorum zelo he admonishes those who fight professedly for purity of doctrine but in reality for their own system to show their zeal where the fruits of faith are wanting and Christian love has grown cold. He considers it the duty of the polemist not to combat antiquated heresies and to warm up dead issues, but to overthrow the prevalent enemies of true Christian living. His epigram on the misuse of the Bible is well known: ‘‘ This is the book in which each both seeks and finds his own dogmas.”’ He had a high conception of his duties as a theological professor, as shown in his address, De scopo doctoris in academia sacras litteras docentis. He believed that it was more important to care for the piety of candidates for the ministry than for their scholarship. It was his belief that a professor of practical theology is as necessary as a professor of practical medicine. He represented a theology that put doctrinal quibbles in the background and laid emphasis upon the pure doctrine which demands a Christian life of purity and love. He stood for the necessity of a special revelation of God, and defended the Biblical miracles as confirmations of the words of the divine evangelists. In his Cogitationes generales de ratione uniendi ecclesias protestantes, que vulgo Lutheranarum et Reformatorum nominibus distingut solent, he sought a way of reconciling the two branches of the Protestant Church.
Werenfels’s writings went through many editions, as did the sermons he preached in French, which were received with great applause, and were translated into German and Dutch. During the last twenty years of his life he lived in retirement in
order to devote his whole time to the care of his soul’s welfare, though his solicitude for students did not cease.
It is all the more surprising, on this account, that he thought proper to issue from his retirement and take part in the proceedings against Johann Jakob Wetstein (q.v.) for heresy, especially as he had himself in 1720 expressed the opinion that fallible man ought ndtsto decide upon the regularity of another’s faith. He expressed regret afterward at having become involved in the affair.
His Sylloge dissertationum theologicarum appeared first Basel, 1609; a further collection of his works is Opuscula theologica, philologica, et philosophia (Basel, 1718, new ed., 3 vols., 1782).
(EBERHARD VISCHER.) BisuiocRApuy: Letters by Werenfels are in E. de Budé,
Lettres inédites .. . a J. A. Turrettini, vol. iii., Paris and
Geneva, 1887, and in Museum Helveticum, part viii., Zu-
rich, 1748. Consult: K. R. Hagenbach, Die theologische
Schule Basels und ihre Lehrer, Basel, 1860; A. Schweizer,
Die protestantischen Centraldogmen, ii. 776 sqq., Zurich,
1856; L. Junot, in Le chrétien évangélique, xi (1868), 274
sqa.
WERKEMEISTER, vark/mai’’ster, BENEDIKT MARIA VON (LEONHARD): German Roman Catholic reformer; b. at Fiissen (57 m. s.w. of Munich) Oct. 22, 1745; d. at Steinbach (near Stuttgart) July 16, 1823. After preliminary education, by 1764 he had decided to become a monk, and that year entered upon his novitiate; but becoming interested in secular literature, especially in the works of Frederick the Great and Pope’s Essay on Man, doubts entered his mind. Nevertheless, his first inclination triumphed and in 1765 he entered the order, assuming the name of the prelate Benedikt Maria. He continued his studies in theology and canon law at Neresheim and Benediktbeuren; was ordained priest in 1769; became master of novices and instructor of philosophy at Neresheim in 1770; held a similar position at the episcopal lyceum of Freising, 1772-74; and then returned to Neresheim as secretary to the abbot, keeper of the archives, librarian, and master of novices. Two works belong to this period in which the reforming tendencies of Werkmeister find expression: Unmassgeblicher Vorschlag zur Reformation des niederen katholischen Klerus nebst Materialien zur Reformation des héheren ( Munich,” 1782); and Ueber die christliche Toleranz (“ Frankfort and Leipsic,” 1784). Both works appeared anonymously through the mediation of Protestants.
In 1784 Werkmeister became court chaplain to Karl Eugen, count of Wiirttemberg. The count was filled with enthusiasm for reform and his wishes coincided with those of his chaplain. Soon after Werkmeister’s assumption of his office he issued a modified liturgy, Gesangbuch nebst angehingtem Offentlichem Gebete zum Gebrauch der herzoglich wiirttemburgischen Hofkapelle (1784), the hymns in which were borrowed from Protestant sources. This passed through several editions. The Latin vesper service was next altered to resemble the Protestant afternoon service. Werkmeister introduced the use of German in prayers, readings from the New Testament, and sermons. Gradually he worked into use the German mass and communion service. Only