Autobiogrāfiskā skice

The article presents Pastor Ernst Glück’s autobiographical sketch—his report dated 10 May 1699 to Governor General Count Erik Dahlbergh, preserved in the Riksarkivet, Liv. II, 473 (Dorpat–Pernau University Archives). This historically and theologically significant document offers Glück’s own testimony concerning his calling, his translation of the Bible into Latvian, and his broader vision of Christian education and mission in Northeastern Europe. In the letter, Glück explains his motivation for undertaking the Latvian Bible translation, viewing it as the restoration of divine light to a nation “without its own Bible.” He recounts the process from the preparation of the Latvian Catechism and consultation with Superintendent Johann Fischer to the royal authorization and support of King Charles XI, under whose patronage the translation was completed after eight years of work. Glück also describes the founding of the first network of parish schools in Alūksne (1683–1685) as a decisive step toward the Christian education of Latvian peasants’ children. The document further reveals his missionary intentions toward the Russian-speaking population, including plans to prepare religious texts in Church Slavonic and vernacular Russian. Glück presents a coherent theological and pedagogical vision in which Bible translation, catechesis, and education are understood as unified aspects of a single salvific and civilizational task. The letter thus provides valuable insight into Ernst Glück’s self-understanding as a servant of the Word and reformer of Livonia’s spiritual culture, whose lifelong mission was to bring the Word of God into the vernacular and to lay the foundations of Latvian Christian written culture.