Karl August von Hase (25 August 1800 – 3 January 1890) was a German Protestant theology, theologian and church historian.

Background

He was born at Steinbach (near Penig) in Saxony. He studied at Leipzig and Erlangen, and in 1829 was called to Jena as professor of theology. He retired in 1883 and was made a baron. He was the great-grandfather of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Hase's aim was to reconcile modern culture with historical Christianity in a scientific way. But though a liberal theologian, he was no dry rationalist. Indeed, he vigorously attacked rationalism, as distinguished from the rational principle, charging it with being unscientific inasmuch as it ignored the historical significance of Christianity, shut its eyes to individuality and failed to give religious feeling its due.

Works

His views are presented scientifically in his
Evangelisch-protestantische Dogmatik
' (1826; 6th edition, 1870), the value of which "lies partly in the full and judiciously chosen historical materials prefixed to each dogma, and partly in the skill, caution and tact with which the permanent religious significance of various dogmas is discussed" (Otto Pfleiderer). More popular in style is his ''Gnosis: Oder evangelische Glaubenslehre, für die gebildeten in der Gemeinde'',
volume 1, 1827volume 2, 1828volume 3, 1829
second edition in two volumes, 1869 & 1870). But his reputation rests chiefly on his treatment of church history in his
Kirchengeschichte, Lehrbuch zunächst für akademische Vorlesungen
' (1834, 12th edition, 1900
English translation, 1870
. His biographical studies,
Franz von Assisi
' (1856; second edition, 1892),
Caterina von Siena
' (1864; second edition, 1892), ''Neue Propheten (Die Jungfrau von Orleans, Savonarola, Thomas Münzer)'' are judicious and sympathetic. Other works are: * ''Hutterus Redivivus, or, doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church'' (1827; 12th edition, 1883), a work in which he sought to present the teaching of the Protestant church in such a way as Leonhard Hutter would have reconstructed it, had he still been alive. *
Das Leben Jesu
' (1829; 5th edition, 1865
English translation, 1860
; in an enlarged form, ''Geschichte Jesu'' (second edition, 1891). *
Handbuch der protestantischen Polemik gegen die Römisch-katholische Kirche
' (1862; 7th edition, 1900; English translation
volume 1volume 2
1906). For his life, see his
Ideale und Irrtümer
' (1872; 5th edition, 1894) and
Annalen meines Lebens
' (1891); and for comparison — Otto Pfleiderer
"The development of theology in Germany since Kant"
(1890) and Frédéric Auguste Lichtenberger, Frédéric Lichtenberger
"History of German theology in the nineteenth century" (1889)

References

*
Biography
@ Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hase, Karl August von 1800 births 1890 deaths 19th-century German Protestant theologians University of Jena faculty 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers