gave
expression to the world's real conviction when he wrote of him: "_Vir
placidus, candidus, pius et doctus._"

A personal friend and spiritual son of Arndt, John Gerhard, followed
closely in his footsteps. He was possessed of the same general
characteristics which we have traced in connection with the two
preceding names. His love was boundless, his spirit unruffled, his piety
deep and lasting. He was more serviceable in some respects to the
interests of the orthodox church than any other theologian of that time.
Like Arndt he had been inclined to the study of medicine, but a
dangerous sickness turned his mind to religious contemplation and to the
study of theology. His mental capacities had been cast in a great mould.
He grasped whatever he undertook with gigantic comprehension. His
attainments were so rapid that at the age of twenty-four he received the
degree of doctor of divinity; and, somewhat later, was the most famous
and admired of all the professors of the university of Jena. His
influence was such that princes placed themselves before him for his
counsel, and the highest ecclesiastical tribunals deemed themselves
honored in receiving a share of his attention. His works embrace the
departments of exegesis, doctrine, and practical religion.

But it was chiefly the two former branches of theology that engaged his
attention. In his _Exegetical Explication of Particular Passages_ he
accomplished an important service for the church. He introduced all the
leading doctrines of inspiration into this work, and discussed the
merits of contemporary controversy in connection with them. He explained
those almost indefinable terms which had been so variously employed by
the schoolmen, and summed up the literature on the points in question.
His style was prolix but his conclusions carried great weight with them.
As a specimen of his tedious method, he begins his discussion of
original sin with the questions, "Is there such a thing as original sin?
Then, what is it? What is its subject? How is it continued?" Many other
inquiries are made in the same manner, but it is only after a hundred
pages have been passed over that he gives his own definition of it. But
we should not smile at such latitude of style when we remember the
literary standard of those times. The German language was then in its
plastic state; and by far the greater portion of writers had been much
more interested in gaining points than rounding periods. It