User:Jfhutson/Johann Lange (theologian)

Johannes Lang (1488–1548) was a German Lutheran reformer and church leader in Erfurt and Schwarzburg-Blankenburg.

Early life
He went to the University of Erfurt in 1500 and recieved a bachelor's degree in 1503. There ge became acquainted with and Eobanus Hessus, among other humanists. Sometime before 1506, he became a monk at the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. There he met Martin Luther. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1508. Luther and Lang were transferred to the order's Wittenberg monastery in 1511 due to a dispute in the order. Lang received a Master of Arts from the University of Wittenberg and began lecturing on ethics. He began to study theology in 1515, receiving a doctoral degree from the University of Erfurt in 1519. He served as prior at the Erfurt monastery from 1516 to 1518 and district curate from 1518 to 1520, succeeding Luther. He became part of Luther's reformist circle and advanced reforms. He published a translation of the Gospel of Matthew in 1521.

Lang left the monastery in 1522 and lead a small reform group. He became the pastor of the and lead visitations of churches in Schwarzburg-Blankenburg in 1533 and 1539.