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Georg Witzel (Wizel, Wicel, Wicelius) [1] (b. at Vacha, Landgraviate of Hesse, 1501; d. at Electorate of Mainz, 16 February 1573) was a German theologian.
He received his primary and academic education in the schools of Schmalkalden, Eisenach, and Halle, and then spent two years at the University of Erfurt, and seven months at the University of Wittenberg. In keeping with his father's wishes, Witzel was ordained a priest in 1520, and was appointed Vicar of Vacha. In 1524, however, the teachings of Martin Luther attracted him.
Abandoning the Catholic faith, he married, and the following year was appointed to the pastorate of Wenigenlupnitz by James Strauss, and a little later to that of Niemeck by Luther himself. He then began a thorough study of the Scriptures and the Church Fathers, and soon became convinced that the Church of Luther was not the true Church and that Lutheran morals did not make for the betterment of the people. To express his dissatisfaction with the new teaching, he wrote in 1527 two works which he sent to the theologians of Wittenberg without, however, receiving any satisfaction from them.
To give more emphatic expression to his conviction of the error of the new religion, he resigned his charge in 1531 and returned with his family to Vacha. Here he spent two years in extreme poverty. In 1532 he published, under the pseudonym Agricola Phaqus, his Pro defensione bonorum operum, a work which aroused all the bitterness of his enemies. Among his works published at this time his Apologia (Leipzig, 1533) deserves special mention, since in it he gives his reasons for returning to the Church of Rome.
Owing to Witzel's opposition to the doctrinal novelties of the age, he was forced to leave Vacha. He proceeded to Eisleben, and in 1538 was called to Dresden. Here he conceived a plan of reunion, which took the form of a public disputation in Leipzig in 1539. He had already (1537) published his Methodus concordiae ecclesiasticae, and for the new disputation he prepared Typus prioris Ecclesiae in which he proposed the Church of the first centuries as the ideal to be sought for. His endeavours for reunion, however, were without result. Opposition forced him to flee to Bohemia, thence to Berlin. The rapid progress of Protestantism soon convinced him that here too his efforts would be fruitless, and he forthwith proceeded to Fulda, where he directed his efforts towards defending the Church; but in 1554 he was again forced to flee, now to Mainz, where he spent the remainder of his life in literary work and probably as professor at the university of Mainz.
The number of Witzel's works is extraordinarily large. Rass in his Convertiten enumerates ninety-four, but this is far from complete.
He contributed to Michael Vehe's hymnbook (1537). He supported using the German vernacular for hymns, psalms, and liturgy. [1]
Nicolaus von Amsdorf was a German Lutheran theologian and an early Protestant reformer. As bishop of Naumburg (1542–1546), he became the first Lutheran bishop in the Holy Roman Empire.
Johann Maier von Eck, often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the Counter-Reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important interlocutors and theological opponents.
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The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, then a professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. The Theses is retrospectively considered to have launched the Protestant Reformation and the birth of Protestantism, despite various proto-Protestant groups having existed previously. It detailed Luther's opposition to what he saw as the Roman Catholic Church's abuse and corruption by Catholic clergy, who were selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates supposed to reduce the temporal punishment in purgatory for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones.
Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems.
Johannes Bugenhagen, also called Doctor Pomeranus by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th century. Among his major accomplishments was organization of Lutheran churches in Northern Germany and Scandinavia. He has also been called the "Second Apostle of the North".
Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt, better known as Andreas Karlstadt, Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, in Latin, Carolstadius, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a contemporary of Martin Luther and a reformer of the early Reformation.
Justus Jonas, the Elder, or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. He accompanied Martin Luther in his final moments.
Johann Faber was a Catholic theologian known for his writings opposing the Protestant Reformation and the growing Anabaptist movement.
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Georg Rörer was a German Lutheran theologian, clergyman, Protestant reformer and stenographer of Martin Luther's sermons and lectures.
Lutheranism as a religious movement originated in the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church. The movement originated with the call for a public debate regarding several issues within the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, then a professor of Bible at the young University of Wittenberg. Lutheranism soon became a wider religious and political movement within the Holy Roman Empire owing to support from key electors and the widespread adoption of the printing press. This movement soon spread throughout northern Europe and became the driving force behind the wider Protestant Reformation. Today, Lutheranism has spread from Europe to all six populated continents.
Vacha is a town in the Wartburgkreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, 15 km west of Bad Salzungen, and 23 km east of Bad Hersfeld.
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Johann Pistorius, also anglicized as John Pistorius or distinguished as Johann Pistorius the Younger, was a German controversialist and historian. He is sometimes called Niddanus from the name of his birthplace, Nidda in Hesse.
Michael Vehe was a German monk and theologian.
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Matthias Garbitius or Matija Grbić was a German humanist, classical philologist and translator. Born in Istria, he emigrated to Nuremberg. Between 1545 and 1557 he was the dean of the philosophical faculty at the University of Tübingen. He is the first known Protestant from the Balkans.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Georg Witzel". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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