Johann Joachim Spalding

Johann Joachim Spalding (1714-1804)

Johann Joachim Spalding (November 1, 1714 – May 25, 1804) was a German Protestant theologian and philosopher of Scottish ancestry who was born in Tribsees, Swedish Pomerania. He was the father of Georg Ludwig Spalding (1762–1811), who was a professor at Grauen Kloster in Berlin.

He studied philosophy and theology at the Universities of Rostock and Greifswald, and afterwards worked as an auxiliary preacher in his hometown. In 1755 he became a pastor in Lassan, and two years later served as a minister in the town of Barth.

In 1764 he gained the titles of provost and Oberkonsistorialrat, and became known for his sermons at St. Nicholas Church and at the Church of St. Mary in Berlin. He was a highly influential minister who had as friends, renowned personalities that included Ewald Christian von Kleist and Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim. As a protest against the Wöllnersche Religionsedikt (Wöllner Edict of July 9, 1788), he resigned from his official duties.

Spalding was an important figure of the German Enlightenment. In 1748 he published Betrachtungen über die Bestimmung des Menschen (Reflections on the Destination of Man), which is considered to be a manifesto of German Enlightenment theology. In this work he rejected dogmatic authoritarianism and confessional orthodoxy, and promoted a common sense philosophy that explained an individual's path from sensuality to spirituality that ultimately led to immortality. In his writings he was strongly opposed to Julien Offroy de La Mettrie's philosophy of French materialism.

His autobiography (Lebensbeschreibung, von ihm selbst aufgesetzt) was published by his son in 1804. Other noted works by Spalding include:

• Gedanken über den Werth der Gefühle in dem Christenthum
• Über die Nutzbarkeit des Predigtamtes und deren Beförderung
• Vertraute Briefe, die Religion betreffend
• Religion, eine Angelegenheit des Menschen

References

• This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.