CALIXTUS, GEORG

Professor of theology and propagator of theoretical and historical bases of ecumenism; b. Medelby, Schleswig-Holstein, Dec. 14, 1586; d. Helmstedt, March 19, 1656. At 16 Calixtus (Callisen), son of a Lutheran pastor, entered Helmstedt University, where philippism was protected. Among his professors were the humanist Johann Caselius (1533–1613) and the Aristotelian Cornelius Martini (1568–1621). With this background, his principle that "mind is godlike and logic divine" spelled an approach to theology in large part disdained by contemporary Lutheran theologians Although personally devoted to the augsburg confession (1530), he believed a man could be saved though a Calvinist or Roman Catholic. In his concern for reunion, Calixtus appealed to spokesmen of an irenic tradition, such as St. vincent of lÉrins (d. before 456), Desiderius erasmus, Philipp melanch thon, George cassander, Georg witzel, and Marcantonio de Dominis. In such irenicists he found support for the idea of all churches measuring their creeds by the Apostles' Creed and the Fathers.

Calixtus's writings, though prolific, do not present a systematic theology. They consist mainly of elaborately reasoned proposals for interdenominational meetings, conciliatory tracts aiding reunion, a vast and varied correspondence, and polemical brochures. His reunion proposals were generally well received, especially by the Calvinists, partly through their wish for equal status with Lutherans within the Empire, partly because of their experience in France and the Lowlands, partly because of a lingering force of humanism. He corresponded on Protestant reunion with Franciscus Junius (1545–1602), David Pareus (1548–1622), Isaac Casaubon (1559–1614), Hugo grotius, John Durie (1596–1680), Gerhardus Johannes Vossius (1577–1649), Ludwig Crocius (1586–1655), Johannes Bergius (1587–1658), and Moïse amyraut, as well as with the Mt. Athos monk Metrophanes Kritopoulos (d. c. 1640), with whom he discussed his proposals in regard to Greek Orthodoxy.

Efforts at reunion with Catholicism foundered on the differences in the conception of the Church as a visible and continuous entity, the Petrine doctrine, Tridentine authority, and the nature of heresy. Calixtus urged Catholics to recognize man's obligation toward reason and the benefits of dialogue in mitigating bitterness. Vitus Erbermann (1597–1675), Valeriano magni, Johannes C. von Boyneburg (1622–72) were among the Catholic scholars to whom Calixtus submitted his proposals. The strict orthodox Lutherans also resisted his efforts, and the conflict that ensued between them and Calixtus and his school was called the "syncretistic controversy." Beginning in 1645 it continued to the end of the century. The orthodox included Coelestinus Myslenta (1588–1653), Johannes Behm (1578–1648?), Michel Behm (1610–88), and particularly Abraham calov. Conrad Horney the philosopher (1590–1649), Herman Conring the jurist (1606–81), and Johannes Latermann (1620–82)—all Calixtine students—defended their master's arguments. After his death, the influence of Calixtus was further extended by his student Gerard Wolter Molanus (1633–1722) and the philosopher G. W. leibniz.

See Also: confessions of faith, ii protestant; gnesiolutheranism.

Bibliography: Works . Epitomes theologiae moralis pars prima una cum Digressione de arte nova (Helmstedt 1634); ed., Sancti … Augustini De doctrina christiana libri IV: De fide et symbolo liber unus (Helmstedt 1655); Disputatio theologica de auctoritate antiquitatis ecclesiasticae by j. henich (Helmstedt 1639). e. l. henke, ed., G. Calixtus Briefwechsel: In einer Auswahl aus Wolfenbüttelschen Handschriften (Halle 1833); Commercii literarii Calixti (Marburg 1835–40) fasc. 2–3. Literature . e. l. henke, Georg Calixtus und seine Zeit, 2 v. (Halle 1853–56), still definitive. j. t. mcneill, Unitive Protestantism (rev. ed. Richmond, Va. 1964). w. c. dowding, … Life and Correspondence of G. Calixtus (London 1863). r. preus, The Inspiration of Scripture: A Study of the Theology of the 17th Century Lutheran Dogmaticians (Edinburgh 1955). p. petersen, Geschichte der aristotelischen Philosophie im protestantischen Deutschland (Leipzig 1921). h. schÜssler, Georg Calixt, Theologie und Kirchenpolitik: Eine Studie zur Ökumenizität des Luthertums (Wiesbaden 1961). h. schmid, Geschichte der syncretistichen Streitigkeiten in der Zeit des Georg Calixt (Erlangen 1846). o. ritschl, Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus, 4 v. (Leipzig-Göttingen 1908–27). f. law, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart 1:1586–87.

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