Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/748

 736 GERHARD! GERMAN CATHOLICS which he presents a complete account of the actual progress of organic chemistry. The work was intended as an appendix to Ber- zelius's Ghimie miner ale. GERHARDf, Paul, a German poet and theolo- gian, born atGrafenhainichen, near Wittenberg, March 12, 1607, died at Lubben, June 7, 1676. Little is known of his life till in 1651 he became pastor at Mittenwalde, a position which he exchanged in 1657 for that of deacon in the church of St. Nicholas in Berlin. He was there at the head of the strict Lutherans against the syncretism of Calixtus and his followers, and was deprived of his diaconate because he refused to obey the edict of 1664 forbidding either party to defame the other in the pulpit or tax it with heresy. In January, 1667, he was reinstated in his office, but resigned the following month, and in 1668 became arch- deacon in Liibben. He is esteemed the author of the best German hymns after those of Luther; several of them were translated by John Wesley, and are found, in part at least, in the Methodist hymn book. In Germany they were first collected under the title of Geistliche Andachten in 120 Liedern (Berlin, 1666), and many of them are contained in most of the Protestant hymn books in Ger- many. Of their numerous editions, the best is that of Philipp Wackernagel (Stuttgart, 1843). GERICAFLT, Jean Lonis Theodore AndrS, a French painter, born in Rouen in 1790, died in Paris, Jan. 18, 1824. He was a pupil of Carle Vernet and of Guerin, and his first pictures, the "Guide of the Imperial Guard in 1812" and the " Wounded Cuirassier," were well re- ceived. In 1816 he went to. Italy, and in 1819, on his return to France, he exhibited the " Raft of the Medusa," a very dramatic scene, executed in the most powerful style, which is considered one of the masterpieces o the French school. GERLACH, Otto Ton, a German theologian, born in Berlin in 1801, died there, Oct. 24, 1849. He held various ecclesiastical offices, and not long before his death became professor at Berlin. He published several works, prom- inent among which are a commentary on the Scriptures, known as the GerlacTi 1 sclie Bibel, which was continued after his death by Schmie- der. He also edited Avswahl von Luthers Schriften (24 vols., Berlin, 1840-'48). His elder brother, EENST LTJDWIG, born in Berlin, March 7, 1795, is prominent as an ultra-con- servative journalist and politician, and as the parliamentary leader of the high-church party in Prussia. GERMAN CATHOLICS (DeutechJuatholifon), a religious denomination, formed in 1844 by se- cession from the Roman Catholic church of Germany. It owed its origin mainly to a let- ter written Oct. 1, 1844, by Johannes Ronge, an excommunicated priest of Silesia, to Bishop Arnoldi of Treves, in which the exhibition of the holy coat of Treves was called an idola- trous festival, and the bishop was called upon to suppress it. In the Prussian province of Posen another Catholic priest, Johann Czerski, had already declared on Aug. 22 his secession from the Roman Catholic church, and had at- tempted the foundation of a Christian apostolic Catholic congregation. After the publication of the letter of Ronge these two united, and a number of congregations, who called them- selves German Catholics, sprang up within a short time. The "Confession of Schneide- muhl," drawn up by Czerski, rejected the re- ception by the priests alone of the Lord's sup- per in both kinds, the canonization and invo- cation of saints, indulgences and purgatory, fasting, the use of the Latin language in divine service, the celibacy of priests, the prohibition of mixed marriages, the supremacy of the pope, and other points. They retained the seven sacraments and the mass, which they celebra- ted in the vernacular language. The " Con- fession of Breslau," which set forth the views of Ronge, also claimed free investigation of the Bible and freedom of belief for every individu- al member. A council which met at Leipsic, March 22, 1845, adopted a new creed mostly based on the " Confession of Breslau." From this time the principles of German Catholicism spread very rapidly. The attitude of the gov- ernments with regard to it was very diverse. In Austria and Bavaria it was even forbidden to use the name. A serious obstacle to the growth of the new religious denomination was found in their internal dissensions. There had been from the beginning a radical disagreement between Ronge and Czerski. The latter agreed in general with the doctrines of orthodox Prot- estantism, while the former adopted almost all the views of the Protestant rationalists. Czerski issued a circular ("New Confession of Schneidemiihl ") against those who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. An attempt to unite the two parties on a common platform was made in an assembly at Rawicz, February, 1846, but it had not the desired effect. The revolu- tions of 1848 seemed to be very favorable, and some additions were made to their congrega- tions in Austria and Bavaria; but after their suppression German Catholicism was again pro- hibited in those countries. The second council of Leipsic, which met in May, 1850, had to be transferred to Kothen on account of the inter- ference of the police ; it proposed an alliance with the Free congregations, which had formed themselves by secession from the Protestant churches, and the election of a joint executive committee from both denominations, which was to act as a presiding board until the meeting of a triennial diet, which was appointed for 1852, but it did not meet. In June, 1859, the repre- sentatives of the German Catholics and Free congregations met at Gotha, where a union between the two parties was effected under the name of Bund freireligioser Gemeinden. In 1862, however, they were again divided, and the majority of the German Catholics joined the national Protestant church. The fullest