Robert Preus said that Johannes Andreas Quenstedt
was the Thomas Aquinas, so to speak, of Lutheran Orthodoxy, the last great representative. To anyone following his arrangement of material and noting his exegesis it will become evident that he was fair and meticulous in his work and drew from the best which his precursors had to offer.
Preus, Robert D. (1961) “The Vicarious Atonement in John Quenstedt,” Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 32, Article 8, 78-97, 79.
Yet only a little of his work has been translated into English. Works available include:
- Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy: Johannes Quenstedt
- The Church: Theologia Didactico-Polemica Part IV, Chapter XV: De ecclesia
- Creation: Theologia Didactico-Polemica, Part I, Chapter X, Third Edition, 1696
Just in his Theologia Didactico-Polemica, Sive Systema Theologicum (Didactic-Polemical Theology, Or a Theological System), there is a considerable mass of valuable material comprising well more than 1800 pages in Latin. The index or table of contents itself is 23 pages in English translation.
The reception of Atonement in Lutheran Orthodoxy: Johannes Quenstedt published last month demonstrates the contemporary value of Quenstedt’s work. The book quickly became the number one selling new title on Amazon in multiple categories and even number one overall (not just among new titles) off-and-on for some weeks. It is being used in a dual circuit pastors’ conference.
To facilitate the translation of more material from Quenstedt by as many publishers as might be interested, Synoptic Text Information Services, Inc. commissioned Matthew Carver to translate the index of Theologia Didactico-Polemica so that publishers could more easily survey his material and consider undertaking translations of topics into English.
“Index of Parts, Chapters, Members, Sections, and Questions, Theologia Didactico-Polemica, Sive Systema Theologicum,” Johannes Andreas Quenstedt, translated by Matthew Carver for Synoptic Text Information Services, Inc., March 2023 is downloadable as a PDF here.
