Johann Wilhelm Petersen

Petersen, Johann Wilhelm, was born June 1, 1649, at Osnabrück; his father Georg Petersen, Kanzlei-beamter at Lubeck, having gone to reside at Osnabrück as representing Lübeck in the negotiations which ended in the Peace of Westphalia. Petersen matriculated at the University of Giessen, in 1669; "went in 1671 to Rostock, and was then for short periods at Leipzig, Wittenberg, and Jena; the degree of M.A. being conferred on him by Giessen in absentia. He returned to Giessen in 1673, and began to lecture on philosophy and rhetoric as private docent. About 1675 he visited Spener, at Frankfurt. This proved an important turning-point in his life. In 1677 he began to lecture at Rostock, as Professor of Poetry (D.D. from Rostock 1686), but in the same year accepted the pastorate of the St. Aegidien church at Hannover. He was then, in May, 1678, appointed by Duke August Friedrich of Holstein, as Court preacher at Eutin, and general superintendent of the diocese of Lübeck. In Advent, 1688, he became pastor of St. John's church and superintendent at Lüneburg. Here he made himself obnoxious to his fellow clergy by refusing to take fees for hearing confessions; received into his house Fraulein Rosamunde Juliane von Asseburg, and began publicly to teach her ideas of the Millennial Kingdom. Being accused of Chiliasm and having his opinions condemned by the theological faculty of Helmstädt, he was removed from his office in the end of January, 1692. Thereafter he resided at various places, made tours over Germany, during which he propagated his views, and expounded his peculiar doctrines by books and pamphlets. He finally bought a small estate at Thymer, near Zerbst, and died there, Jan. 31, 1727 (Koch vi. 121; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie xxv. 508, &c).

Apart from his importance as a theological writer, Petersen deserves attention as the author of several hymns. A considerable number of them are in Latin, his manuscript being entitled Cithara sacra. Of these he contributed seven to Freylinghausen's Geistreiches Gesang-Buch , 1704. Two of these have passed into English, viz.: "Cerne lapsum servulum", and "Salve crux beata, salve" (q.v.). His German hymns were published as (1) Stimmen aus Zion, in two parts, Halle, 1698 and 1701 [Wernigerode Library]. These are hymns in prose and not versions of the Psalter; and 8 passed into Freylinghausen's Gesang-Buch 1704. (2) ccc. Stimmen aus Zion, N. P. 1721 [British Museum and Wernigerode]. These are obscure, mystical, and diffuse, and do not appear to have come at all into use. (3) Others of his hymns appeared in the Pietistic hymn-books of the period, 1692-1704. One of this last class is translated into English, viz:—
Liebster Jesu, liebstes Leben. Spiritual Watchfulness. In A. Luppius's Andächtig Singender Christen-Mund, Wesel, 1692, p. 150, in 5 st., repeated in Freylinghausen, 1704, and the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863, No. 651. Translated as, "Jesus, Lord of life and glory" (st. v.), as No. 1188 in the Supplement of 1808 to the Moravian Hymn Book 1801 (1886, No. 980).

[Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)