WITSCHEL, vit'shel, JOHANN HEINRICH WILHELM: German pastor, author of devotional literature; b. at Henfenfeld (17 m. e.n.e. of Nuremberg) May 9, 1769; d., at Kattenhochatadt near Weissenburg (30 m. s.w. of Nuremberg) Apr. 24, 1847. After preparatory studies at Grafenberg and Nuremberg he attended the University of Altdorf (1788-93); in 1794 was appointed noon preacher at the Dominican Church in Nuremberg; removed to the pariah of Igensdorf in Nuremberg, 1801; succeeded his father as preacher in Grafenberg in 1810, becoming dean in 1815 and school-inspector of the district; in 1819 he assumed charge of the parish of Kattenhochstadt, where after 1820 he conducted for thirteen years an institution for the higher education of school-teachers. He was the author of several collections of poems that corresponded to the taste of the time. He was the representative of an amiable and respectable rationalism, as is evident from his principal work, Morgen-and Abendopfer in Gesitngen (Sulzbach, 1803). This contains a series of devotional exercises in rime, for morning and evening, arranged according to weeks and seasons, and became a very popular book of devotion in spite of its rationalism. It is still used in all parts of Germany, among both Protestants and Catholics, and the demand remains so large that it is constantly reprinted. Other works are Pantheon für Damen (1799); and Mortxlische Blktler (1801).
Bibliography: The Morpen- and Abendopfer after the 11th ed. contains a biography.
WITSIUS, HERMANNUS (HERMANN WITS):
Dutch theologian; b. at Enkhuizen (30 m. n.e. of Amsterdam) Feb. 12, 1636; d. at. Leyden Oct. 22, 1708. After a very thorough training, especially in the classics, in 1651 he entered the University of Utrecht, and in 1654 removed to the University of Groningen; in 1656 he passed his theological examination at Utrecht, and in 1657 was installed preacher of Westwoud, not far from his native place; in 1661 he removed to Wormer, in 1666 to Goes, and in 1668 to Leeuwarden. In all these pastorates he proved to be an excellent preacher, a distinguished catechist, and a faithful pastor. In 1675 he accepted a call as professor and preacher to Franeker; in 1680 he undertook like duties at Utrecht; in 1698 he became professor at Leyden, remaining till illness caused his retirement in 1707. While in his theology Witsius aimed at a reconciliation between orthodoxy and federalism, he was first of all a Biblical theologian, his principal field being systematic theology. His chief work is entitled, De ceconomia foderum Dei cum hominibus (Leeuwarden, 1677; often reprinted, e.g., Basel, 1739; it appeared in Dutch tranal, also in Engl. transl., The (Economy of the Covenants between God and Man, 3 vols., Edinburgh, 1771-72). He was induced to publish this work by his grief at the controversies between Voetians and Cocceians. Although himself a member of the federalistic school, he was in no way blind to the value of the scholastically established dogmatic system of the Church. Besides his principal work he published, Exercitationes sacrce in symbolism, qltod Apostolorum dicitur (Franeker, 1681; Dutch transl., Delft, 1700; Eng. transl., Sacred Dissertations on what is commonly .called the Apostles Creed, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1823); lEgyPtiaea: sine, de lEgypticicorum sacrorum cum Hebraicis collatione (Franeker, 1683; frequent eds.); Exercitationum academicarum, maxima ex parte historico-critieo-theologicarum duodecas (Utrecht, 1694); Animadversiones irenicte ad controversies, qacce sub infatcstis antinomorum et neonomorum nominibus in Britannia nuns agitantur (1696); Meletemata Leidensia (Leyden, 1703); Disquisitio critieo-theologica de Paulo Tarsensi, eive Romano (1704). Of minor works there have appeared in Eng. transl. A Treatise.on Christian Faith (London, 1761); On the Character of a True Theologian (Edinburgh, 1877); and -The Question: Was Moses the Author of the Pentateuch Answered in the Affirmative (1877).
Bibliography: The funeral oration by J. a Merck, Leyden, 1708; Witsius, Schediasma lheologia practice, Groningen, 1729, contains a biography by H. C. van Bijler; B. Glasius, Godyeleerd Nederland, iii. 611-617, 's Hertogenbosch, 1856; W. B S. Boeles, Frieslands Hoogeschool en het Bijes Athe_ ttwum to Franeker, ii. 256-261, Leeuwarden, 1889; C. Sepp, Het Bodgeleerd Onderwijs in Nederland gedurerule de 16. en 17. Eeuw, Leyden, 1874.
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