Amsdorf, Nicolaus Von

Amsdorf, Nicolaus Von born near Wurtzen, in Misnia, Dec. 3,1483, was a celebrated disciple and warm supporter of Luther. Educated at Leipsic and Wittenberg, he became licentiate of theology in 1511, and accompanied Luther in 1519 to the Leipsic disputation, and in 1521 to Worms. He was greatly instrumental in introducing the Reformation into Magdeburg and Goslar. In 1542 he was consecrated bishop of Naumburg by Luther; but his life in this office was embittered by strife, and in 1548 he had to flee to Jena. In the adiaphoristic controversy he opposed Melancthon strenuously. A work having a title purporting that good works are pernicious, and a hindrance to salvation, came from his pen (reprinted in Baumgarten, Geschichte der Relgionsparteien, p. 1172-78). He died May 14, 1565. A biography of Amsdorf, with a selection from his works, has been published by Pressel, in the collective work Leben und ausgewdhlte Schriften der Viter d. luth. Kirche, vol. 8 (also published separately, Elberfeld, 1862, 8vo). See also Mosheim, Ch. Hist. 3, 147; Bibliotheca Sacrl, 1863, p. 641.