Imperium Orthodoxiae Evangilicum [Empire of Evangelical Orthodoxy]
- Title:
- Imperium Orthodoxiae Evangilicum [Empire of Evangelical Orthodoxy]
- Alternate Title:
- Imperium Orthodoxiae Evangilicum
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Langii, Joachimi
- Date:
- 1709
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2490.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2490_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- Before 1800
- Subject:
- Allegorical
Religion - Measurement:
- 18 x 14 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This allegorical map in Latin of the Empire of Evangelical Orthodoxy illustrates one of the numerous works produced during the scholarly disputes among Protestant German theologians at the beginning of the 18th century. The controversy here involved Pietism, the "spiritual movement within the Lutheran tradition that rejected the scholastic and theological turn that Lutheranism had taken and proposed a further, internal reformation . . . aimed at cultivating a 'living faith' rather than mere lip-service to Christian ideals. The Pietists sought the personal and interior experience of a relationship to Christ, an individual transformation that was the result of an act of divine grace." Their teaching "focused on the study of the Bible itself and devotional literature in small groups." Dyck 2021, sec. 3.2; Gieseler 1880, 288.
This map appeared in Antibarbarus Orthodoxiae (1709), written by Joachim Lange in defense of the work of one of founders of the Pietist movement, Philip Jacob Spener (d. 1705). While most Pietist theologians "maintained a very temperate attitude in this controversy," Lange was a "distinguished exception, on account of the multitude and acrimony of his controversial writings . . . particularly his Antibarbarus Orthodoxiae." Gieseler 293 & n.4. In this work, Lange "accused orthodoxy of the error of Neopelagianism" (Alwast 1982), the heretical view that original sin affected only Adam, and therefore people have the free will to live righteously, avoid sin, and achieve human perfection even without divine grace. The full title asserts that Lange's work provided "a system of evangelical dogmas solidly demonstrated, but rashly opposed by the false evangelicals . . . under the guise of orthodoxy."
In the center of the map is the River of Orthodoxy as seen by the Pietists. It rises between Mt. Sinai and the Mount of Olives and flows through the Kingdom of Enlightenment, the Kingdom of Doing Right, and the Kingdom of Renewal. Along the way it passes a number of cities, including the Beginning of Recantation (Palingenesia), Concordia, Theophilia, and Sophia. Finally, it enters the Sea of Peace, leading to the Sainted Island and the New Jerusalem.
To the left of these three Kingdoms is the Region of Pseudo Orthodoxy, Lange's view of traditional Lutheran theology. In this land are the cities of Heresy, Death, Indifference (Adiaphoria), and New Rome. Most telling is the presence here of Pelagianopolis. To the right of the map is the Region of Fanatics or Pagans, with the cities of Fantasy and New Babylon. (There were in fact a number of Lutheran theological fanatics at the time, some of whom damaged the standing of the Pietists. Gieseler 290-92.) Neither the Region of Pseudo Orthodoxy nor the Region of Fanatics is open to the Sea of Peace and the New Jerusalem.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Langii, Joachimi. 1709. Antibarbarus orthodoxiae dogmatico-hermeneuticus, sive Systema dogmatum evangelicorum solide demonstratorum ... adversus B.D. Phil. Jac. Spenerum aliosque. Berlin: Joh. Guilielmi Meyeri.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.