Karl Theodor Keim (December 17, 1825 – November 17, 1878) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

theologian. He was born at Stuttgart. His father, Johann Christian Keim, was headmaster of a gymnasium. Here Karl Theodor received his early education, and then proceeded to the Stuttgart Obergymnasium. In 1843 he went to the university of

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

, where he studied philosophy under J. F. Reiff, a follower of Hegel, and Oriental languages under

Heinrich Ewald Georg Heinrich August Ewald (16 November 18034 May 1875) was a German orientalist, Protestant theologian, and Biblical exegete. He studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1827 he became extraordinary professor there, in 1831 ordinary profess ...

and Heinrich Meier.

F. C. 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 ...

, the leader of the new Tübingen school, was lecturing on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

and on the history of the church and of dogma, and by him in particular Keim was greatly impressed. The special bent of Keim's mind is seen in his prize essay, ''Verhältniss der Christen in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten bis Konstantin zum römischen Reiche'' (1847). His first published work was ''Die Reformation der Reichstadt Ulm'' (1851). In 1850 he visited the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

, where he attended some of the lectures of

Friedrich Bleek Friedrich Bleek (4 July 1793, in Ahrensbök in Holstein (a village near Lübeck)27 February 1859, in Bonn), was a German Biblical scholar. Life At 16 Bleek's father sent him to the gymnasium at Lübeck, where he became so interested in ancient lang ...

Richard Rothe Richard Rothe (28 January 1799 – 20 August 1867) was a German Lutheran theologian. Biography Richard Rothe was born at Posen, then part of Prussia. He studied theology in the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin (1817–20) under Karl Daub, ...

, C. M. Arndt, and Isaak Dorner. He taught at Tübingen from June 1851 until 1856, when, having become a pastor, he was made deacon at

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is th ...

, in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. In 1859 he was appointed archdeacon, but a few months later he was called to the

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

as professor 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 the ...

(1859-1873), where he produced his important works. Before this he had written on church history (e.g. ''Schwäbische Reformationsgeschichte bis zum Augsburger Reichstag'', 1855). His inaugural address at Zürich on the human development of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, ''Die menschliche Entwicklung Jesu Christi'' (1861), and his ''Die geschichtliche Würde Jesu'' (1864) were preparatory to his chief work, ''Die Geschichte Jesu von Nazara in ihrer Verkettung mit dem Gesamtleben seines Volkes'' (3 vols., 1867–1872; Eng. trans., ''Jesus of Nazareth, and the National Life of Israel'', 6 vols.), 1873–1882. In 1873 Keim was appointed professor of theology at

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

. This post he resigned, through ill-health, shortly before his death. He belonged to the "mediation" school of theology. Chief works, besides the above: ''Reformationsblätter der Reichsstadt Esslingen'' (1860); ''Ambrosius Blarer, der Schwäbische Reformator'' (1860); ''Der Übertritt Konstantins d. Gr. zum Christenthum'' (1862); his sermons, ''Freundesworte zur Gemeinde'' (2 vols., 1861–1862); and ''Celsus' wahres Wort'' (1873). In 1881 H. Ziegler published one of Keim's earliest works, ''Rom und das Christenthum'', with a biographical sketch.See also Ziegler's article in Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopädie''

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keim, Karl Theodor 1825 births 1878 deaths