From my reading of the history of Protestant theology of the 17th Century I have gathered that along with Johann Gerhard, the two Tarnows were among the very best.
As an addendum to this text by Hans Groth, Ulrich Groth, his brother, has researched the Tarnow theological background. This section is based on translation of research about the Tarnows.
Regarding Paul and Johann Tarnow of Grevesmuhlen, relatives of Emma Tarnow, we have found that these men were known as outstanding Lutheran theologians of Mecklenburg. Both were born in Grevesmuhlen. Paul, the uncle of John, was born 1562, Johan in 1586. Both were professors of theology at the University of Rostock where they also died, Paul in 1633 and the nephew before him in 1629. Recall that the bloody Thirty Years War was going on 1618-1648. This war was fought ostensibly over theological differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant princes and dukes. Theological beliefs and texts were of most critical importance in this era.
Paul Tarnow, after holding important university positions, became the successor to David Chytraeus in Rostock. There he published "De Sacros Ministerios" (The Sacred Ministry) in 1624, then "De Sacros Trinitate" in 1625. Also, in 1629 he published an important commentary on the gospel of St John, still highly respected.
Johann Tarnow, a student in Basel Orientalia under Johan Buxtorf, in 1614 succeeded Luc. Baumeister Jr. as the old testament exegete Rostock (an exegete being one who interprets text for meaning). He edited many commentaries, including one on the twelve minor prophets (we have a copy of this book) and for a long time was rated as an outstanding exegete. Instead of one-sided dogmatic and confessional interpretation of the scriptures, he strove to practice and fight for specific and individual interpretation of text that was historically and grammatically appropriate. That is to say, trying to bring out (exegesis) what the text meant in the language, time and context in which it was written.
In his "Exercitationes Biblicae" (Rostock 1619), in which he treated a number of dogmatic and important scripture passages, he chided the interpretations of Luther, Chemnitz, and Hunnius as untextual. That "hazardous enterprise" (of speaking so frankly and even giving names), which at the beginning was not disallowed or disapproved by scholars, such as the eminent Johan Gerhard, did arouse quite a number of Saxon theologians, who put a complaint out against Johan Tarnow. That was serious business in those times. The complaint gained enough fury that Saxon theologians threatened the Duke of Mecklenburg, who was sponsor of the University of Rostock. The battles of the Thirty Years War had begun when this book was publicized (1618). There was the threat of bringing the war to Mecklenburg because Tarnow's writings were "fighting words" to Saxon theologians.
Johan's uncle Paul at first vigorously supported him. But in 1621, Johan thought it necessary for the sake of peace to withdraw the names of those he chided in a new edition. This event and other hostile affairs (not specified in biographical sketch) contributed to his early demise in 1629. Such was the effect of theology on the social and political climate that theological texts could trigger wars.
It is a fact that the Tarnows with other faculty members at Rostock were like-minded , without compromising , in their views on Lutheran confession (faith). They agreed in opposition to the then ruling theological and churchly directors at Jena, Leipzig and Wittenburg. It was the Saxon Lutheran theologians who established the ideology and beliefs to rally around and unite Protestants in the Thirty Years War. So they exerted their pressure on dissenters in order to keep Protestants unified around Luther's interpretations of text.
In 1615, Johan Tarnow fought for principles of citizen tolerance. Paul Tarnow fought against the one-sided, high evaluation of outward (ostentatious) Christianity as the cause of church deterioration. To offer some interpretation of this subject, one could say that Tarnow saw words as human representations of God's word, and to elevate a representation to the level of what it represents is to make the represenation into a fetish, since no symbol or representation can be considered as equal to what it represents, as in words or text or icons. Therefore, one-sided, dogmatic interpretation of text as absolute truth was what the Tarnows objected to. His book "Rektoratsrede de novo evangelio " was published in 1624.
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