GERHARD, JOHANN

born Oct. 17, 1582, Quedlinburg, Halberstadt died Aug. 17, 1637, Jena, Saxony leading German theologian of his era, biblical scholar, renowned polemicist, author of the standard treatise Loci Theologici, and chairman of every major Lutheran theological assembly of his time. Gerhard was deeply influenced as a youth by the Lutheran theologian Johann Arndt and obtained training in theology and philosophy at the universities of Wittenberg, Marburg, and Jena. In 1606 he became superintendent of the churches in Heldburg in the Duchy of Coburg; this responsibility was later expanded to include all the churches in the duchy. He joined the faculty of theology at Jena in 1616 and remained there until his death. Gerhard's strict interpretation of the Bible is evident in the theological system set forth in his nine-volume Loci Theologici (161022), the most significant dogmatic work of the era of Lutheran orthodoxy. Recognizing the Bible as the only guiding principle, the Loci argues for the infallibility of the Bible against the infallibility of the pope. Designed deliberately to be both catholic and evangelical, Gerhard's work represents the culmination of a tradition of Lutheran dogmatics that was begun with Philipp Melanchthon. Among Gerhard's other writings are the four-volume Confessio Catholica (163437) and Meditationes Sacrae (1606), a devotional manual.