Christian Scriver was born at
Rendsburg in the
Duchy of Schleswig, Germany. He entered the
University of Rostock in 1647. He was awarded a master's degree in Theology in 1651. During 1653, he was appointed
archdeacon at
Stendal. He was called in 1667 to
Magdeburg in
Saxony as
pastor of St. James's Church (
Sankt-Jakobi-Kirche Magdeburg). Here he remained twenty-three years, until in 1690 he was made chief court
chaplain at
Quedlinburg, a position which he held until his death. The friend of
Philipp Jakob Spener, Scriver was one of those theologians of the latter part of the seventeenth century who opposed the formalism then besetting
Lutheranism, and thus prepared the way for
Pietism, even while himself maintaining strict
orthodoxy. Scriver died in
Quedlinburg. The writings of Scriver were devotional, including
Gottholds vierhundert zufällige Andachten (1667; last ed., Basel, 1893; Eng. transl., (''Gotthold's Emblems: or, Invisible Things understood by Things that are made
), by R. Menzies, Edinburgh, 1857), a collection of 400 parables; Gotthold's Siech- und Siegesbette
(1687; new ed., Stuttgart, 1870); and Chrysologia Catechetica, Goldpredigten über die Hauptstücke des lutherischen Katechismus'' (1687; new ed., Stuttgart, 1861). The collected works of Scriver have been edited by J. H. Heinrich and R. Stier (6 vols., Barmen, 1847–52). His most important work was
Seelen-Schatz ("The Soul's Treasure", 5 parts, 1675-1692; new ed., 3 vols., Berlin, 1852–53), describing the progress of the
soul from misery to eternal life and combining
allegory,
dogmatics, and
ethics. It has been translated into numerous languages, including Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Finnish. Scriver was also a hymn-writer, though his hymns never gained wide acceptance. A number of his compositions have been translated into English including
Auf, Seel, und danke deinem Herrn ("To God, my soul, thank-offerings pay") and
Hier lieg ich nun, mein Gott, zu deinen Füssen ("Here, O my God, I cast me at Thy feet"). His most well-known hymn
Den lieben Sonne Licht und Pracht ("Love the sun light and splendor") is found in a number of renderings. ==See also==