Matthias Knutzen
Encyclopedia
Matthias Knutzen (1646 – after 1674) was a German critic of religion and the author of three atheistic pamphlets. In modern Western history, he is the first atheist known by name and in person.
(North Germany) early in 1646. His parents were Berend Knutzen, organist in Oldenswort, and his wife Elisabeth (Elsebe). In the same year Knutzen was born his father died. As a boy, Knutzen was sent to his brother Johann Knutzen, an organist in Königsberg in East Prussia
, and attended there a secondary school (the Altstädtische Gymnasium) from 1661 to 1664. In 1664, he registered at the university of Königsberg and in 1668, at the university of Copenhagen
to do studies of theology. In between he earned some money as a private tutor. In 1673, he took a position as a village schoolteacher and auxiliary preacher in the Kremper Marsch (North Germany). However, he was dismissed at the end of that very year 1673, because he had sharply criticised the ecclesiastical authorities in his sermons. In the February of 1674 he went to Rome
and in the September of 1674 to Jena
(Middle Germany
). There, Knutzen distributed handwritten pamphlets with atheistic contents. The town and the university of Jena carried out an investigation. In order not to be arrested, Knutzen went first to Coburg
and then to Altdorf
near Nuremberg
. On October 22nd, 1674, he was last seen in Jena. Then his track is lost. The author Johannes Moller
wrote in his biography of North German writers, Cimbria Literata (printed in 1744), that Knutzen had died in an Italian monastery, but that was probably only an invention made up to discredit both Knutzen and the Roman Catholic church.
, Jena, Paris
, Amsterdam
, Rome), allegedly more than 700 at Jena alone. However, this claim is regarded as a disguise and the teachings which Knutzen spread as an alleged member of the Conscientarians were in fact his own.
According to Knutzen, there are no transcendent entities such as God, the devil and immortal souls. The Bible is not plausible because of its many contradictions. The guidelines for human behavior should be reason and conscience. Therefore, both secular and ecclesiastical authorities are superfluous. In his Latin letter Amicus Amicis Amica! Knudsen summarizes his beliefs as,
The uppermost rule is for Knutzen, “Live honestly, do not harm anybody and give everybody what they deserve” (in Latin, Honeste vivere, neminem laedere, suum cuique tribuere), an old Roman legal principle according to Ulpian
.
. Other influences (Spinoza
?) are hard to tell and disputed. However, it can be shown that Knutzen was well versed in the philosophical literature of his time even when it comes to insignificant details.
Knutzen’s views provoked the violent rejection of ecclesiastical authors. E. g. in 1677, the German theologian Tobias Pfanner claimed that Knutzens work surpasses the infamy of all enemies of religion known until then. Pierre Bayle
included Knutzen in his dictionary Dictionnaire historique et critique
(first editon in 1697, further editions throughout the 18th century). Thus, for the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, Knutzen became the first modern atheist known by name.
Life
Matthias Knutzen was born at OldenswortOldenswort
Oldenswort is a municipality in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, next to the river Eider.-Personalities:The founder of German sociology, Ferdinand Tönnies , was born here. A memorial of him has been unveiled 1990....
(North Germany) early in 1646. His parents were Berend Knutzen, organist in Oldenswort, and his wife Elisabeth (Elsebe). In the same year Knutzen was born his father died. As a boy, Knutzen was sent to his brother Johann Knutzen, an organist in Königsberg in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, and attended there a secondary school (the Altstädtische Gymnasium) from 1661 to 1664. In 1664, he registered at the university of Königsberg and in 1668, at the university of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to do studies of theology. In between he earned some money as a private tutor. In 1673, he took a position as a village schoolteacher and auxiliary preacher in the Kremper Marsch (North Germany). However, he was dismissed at the end of that very year 1673, because he had sharply criticised the ecclesiastical authorities in his sermons. In the February of 1674 he went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and in the September of 1674 to Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
(Middle Germany
Middle Germany
Central Germany is an economic and cultural region in Germany. Its exact borders depend on context, but it is often defined as being a region within the federal states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, or a smaller part of this region .The name dates from the German Empire, when the region...
). There, Knutzen distributed handwritten pamphlets with atheistic contents. The town and the university of Jena carried out an investigation. In order not to be arrested, Knutzen went first to Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
and then to Altdorf
Altdorf
Altdorf may refer to: In Switzerland:*Altdorf, Switzerland, the capital of the canton of Uri , *Altdorf, Schaffhausen, a village in the canton of Schaffhausen ,...
near Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
. On October 22nd, 1674, he was last seen in Jena. Then his track is lost. The author Johannes Moller
Johannes Moller
Johannes Moller was a German Pietist, headmaster of Flensburg's Latin School, and author of a noted biography of North German scientists „Cimbria literata".-References:...
wrote in his biography of North German writers, Cimbria Literata (printed in 1744), that Knutzen had died in an Italian monastery, but that was probably only an invention made up to discredit both Knutzen and the Roman Catholic church.
Teachings
In his three pamphlets of 1674 (listed below under 'Writings'), Knutzen claimed that there was a sect or community called the “Gewissener” or “Conscientarians” (i.e. the conscience-people). According to him, the Conscientarians had many members at different places (HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Jena, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Rome), allegedly more than 700 at Jena alone. However, this claim is regarded as a disguise and the teachings which Knutzen spread as an alleged member of the Conscientarians were in fact his own.
According to Knutzen, there are no transcendent entities such as God, the devil and immortal souls. The Bible is not plausible because of its many contradictions. The guidelines for human behavior should be reason and conscience. Therefore, both secular and ecclesiastical authorities are superfluous. In his Latin letter Amicus Amicis Amica! Knudsen summarizes his beliefs as,
Insuper Deum negamus, Magistratum ex alto despicimus, Templa quoque cum omnibus Sacerdotibus rejicientes.
Moreover, we deny God, we despise authorities from the [heavenly] heights and we reject the churches together with all ministers.
The uppermost rule is for Knutzen, “Live honestly, do not harm anybody and give everybody what they deserve” (in Latin, Honeste vivere, neminem laedere, suum cuique tribuere), an old Roman legal principle according to Ulpian
Ulpian
Gnaeus Domitius Annius Ulpianus , anglicized as Ulpian, was a Roman jurist of Tyrian ancestry.-Biography:The exact time and place of his birth are unknown, but the period of his literary activity was between AD 211 and 222...
.
Sources and reception
Knutzen was obviously inspired by SocinianismSocinianism
Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini , which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 15th and 16th centuries and embraced also by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period...
. Other influences (Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch de Spinoza and later Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death...
?) are hard to tell and disputed. However, it can be shown that Knutzen was well versed in the philosophical literature of his time even when it comes to insignificant details.
Knutzen’s views provoked the violent rejection of ecclesiastical authors. E. g. in 1677, the German theologian Tobias Pfanner claimed that Knutzens work surpasses the infamy of all enemies of religion known until then. Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....
included Knutzen in his dictionary Dictionnaire historique et critique
Dictionnaire Historique et Critique
The Dictionnaire Historique et Critique is a biographical dictionary written by Pierre Bayle , a Huguenot who lived and published in Holland after fleeing his native France due to religious persecution. The dictionary was first published in 1697, and enlarged in the second edition of 1702...
(first editon in 1697, further editions throughout the 18th century). Thus, for the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, Knutzen became the first modern atheist known by name.
Writings
- Epistola amici ad amicum [Latin: Letter of a Friend to a Friend], also under the title Amicus Amicis Amica!, 1674.
- Gespräch zwischen einem Gastgeber und drei Gästen ungleicher Religion [German: Conversation between a Host and three Guests of different Religion], 1674.
- Gespräch zwischen einem Feldprediger namens Dr. Heinrich Brummern und einem lateinischen Musterschreiber [German: Conversation between an Army Chaplain called Dr Heinrich Brummern and a Latin Pattern-Writer], 1674.
Editions
- M. Knutzen, ein deutscher Atheist und revolutionärer Demokrat des 17. Jahrhunderts. Flugschriften und zeitgenössische sozialkritische Schriften, ed. and prefaced by Werner Pfoh. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag 1965.
- Matthias Knutzen: Schriften und Materialien, ed. by Winfried Schröder. (Philosophische Clandestina der deutschen Aufklärung. Texte und Dokumente / Philosophische Clandestina der deutschen Aufklärung Abteilung I: Texte und Dokumente). Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog 2010.
Literature
- Pierre Bayle, Matthias Knuzen, in: Dictionnaire historique et critique, edition of 1740, vol. 3, p. 12 online here (French)
- Winfried Schröder, Matthias Knutzen: Flugschriften, in: Winfried Schröder, Ursprünge des Atheismus. Untersuchungen zur Metaphysik- und Religionskritik des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart 1998, p. 420 f., vol. 4, col. 190-193.