Pistis Sophia

PISCATOR, pis-ke'tor (FISCHER), JOHANNES: German theologian; b. at Strasburg Mar. 27, 1546; d. at Herborn (32 m. n.e. of Nassau) July 26, 1625. He was educated at T�bingen; became professor of theology at Strasburg in 1573; and of philosophy at Heidelberg in 1574 as a follower of Peter Ramus; was made scholastic rector at Siegen in 1577; professor of theology at Neustadt-on-the-Haardt in 1578; rector at Moers in 1581; and was instructor at the high school at Herborn, in 1584-1625. Tireless in industry, Piscator prepared Latin commentaries collectively of the New Testament (Herborn, 1595-1609) and the Old Testament (1612, 1618), and a German translation of the Bible (1605-19). He followed with Anhang des herbonischen biblischen Wercks (1610), noted for its wealth of archeological, historical, and theological material. He left a multitude of text-books in philosophy, philology, and theology, of which Aphorismi doctrin� christian� (1596) was much used. His significance for theology was his opposition to the doctrine of the active obedience of Christ. " Whoever denies that Christ was subject to the law, denies that he was man." If the imputation of the active obedience were sufficient man would be free from obedience as well as from the curse. [From being an advocate of supralapsarianism in the most extreme form, as in his controversy with Conrad Vorstius (cf. extracts in A. H. Newman, Manual of Church History, ii. >338-339, 3 vols., Philadelphia, 1900-03), Piscator became a pronounced Arminian. A. H. N.]

(E. F. KARL M�LLER.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Steubing, in ZHT, 1841, part 4, pp. 98 sqq.; F. C. Baur, Die christliche Lehre van der Verabhnung, pp. 352 sqq., T�bingen, 1838; W. Gass, Geschichte der protestantischen Dogmatik, i. 422 sqq., 4 vols., Berlin, 1854-67; A. Ritsehl, Die christliche Lehre van der Rechtfertigung and Versbhnung, i. 271 sqq., Bonn, 1889, Eng. transl., Critical Hist. of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation, Edinburgh, 1872.