Adolf Bernhard Christoph Hilgenfeld (2 June 182312 January 1907) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologian.

Biography

He was born at Stappenbeck near

Salzwedel Salzwedel (, officially known as Hansestadt Salzwedel; Low German: ''Soltwedel'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salz ...

in the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merg ...

. He studied at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

, and in 1890 became ''professor ordinarius'' of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...

. He belonged to the Tübingen school. Fond of emphasizing his independence of

Ferdinand Christian Baur Ferdinand Christian Baur (21 June 1792 – 2 December 1860) was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hegel ...

, he still, in all important points, followed in the footsteps of his master; his method, which he is wont to contrast as ''Literarkritik'' with Baur's ''Tendenzkritik'', "is nevertheless essentially the same as Baur's."Otto Pfleiderer, ''The Development of Theology in Germany Since Kant: And Its Progress in Great Britain Since 1825,'' tr. J. Frederick Smith (London; New York: S. Sonnenschein & Co.; Macmillan & Co., 1890), 239. On the whole, however, he modified the positions of the founder of the Tübingen school, going beyond him only in his investigations into the Fourth Gospel. In 1858 he became editor of the ''Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie''. Hilgenfeld died in Jena in 1907, aged 83.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilgenfeld, Adolf Bernhard Christoph 1823 births 1907 deaths People from the Province of Saxony German Lutheran theologians German biblical scholars New Testament scholars 19th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers Lutheran biblical scholars 19th-century Lutherans