Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem

Life & Legacy

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem (22 November 1709 - 2 September 1789) was a heterodox german lutheran theologian during the Age of Enlightenment. He was also known as "Abt Jerusalem".
He was court-preacher and a major advisor to Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, to whom he suggested the foundation of the Collegium Carolinum in 1745 - this was the forerunner of the present-day TU Braunschweig. He also had a strong influence on the Duchy of Brunswick's educational policy as well as becoming one of the most important German theologians of his era.
He is considered one of the heads of the German school of natural theology, which radically departed from conventional Lutheran theological dogma. His main work, "Reflections on the Noble Truths of Religion" looked into speculative-universalist philosophy of history and harmonised salvation history with the secular history of progress.