Heinrich Lang (born 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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, 14 November 1826) was a German Protestant

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

who was well known for preaching that all were equal before God without class distinction.

Early life and teaching

Although known for works in Switzerland, Lang grew up in the German state of

near Frommern. He was the eighth of ten children. In Frommern his father was a pastor and the ministry had been the family's occupation for generations. His father's teachings were highly influential, and from them Heinrich took his understanding of

supernatural revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and theology. Types Individual revelation Thomas A ...

, and his belief that all people are equal before God. Heinrich and his brothers were taught Latin by their father while preparing for divinity school. Heinrich studied theology in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, 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 (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, where he was influenced by

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 Hege ...

. In 1840, he graduated from college with honors, continued his education, and began living in a Roman Catholic school where he taught. In 1866, he was promoted and began teaching at a college and living at a monastery. He experienced bouts of melancholy while teaching mathematics, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but he said that he was reinvigorated by each new group of students.

Works and ministry

Lang's theology writings got him invited to the

Saint Peter Church In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

as a pastor, where he served until his death. In 1859, Lang became the editor of the ''Zeitstimmen für die reformierte Schweiz'' periodical, which was replaced by ''Reform'' in 1872. The Protestáns Society was formed in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in 1860 as a result of Lang's ideas. In 1863, he moved from the bank of

Lake Zürich Lake Zurich (, ; ) is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zurich. Depending on the context, Lake Zurich or can be used to describe the lake as a whole, or just that part of the lake downstream of the Hurden peninsula and ...

Meilen Meilen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Meilen (district), Meilen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. History Archaeological finds in Meilen date back more than ...

. He was invited to the

in Zürich as a pastor, where Lang served until his death. He died in 1876.

Works

* ''Versuch einer christlichen Dogmatik'' (2. ed. 1865); * ''Ein Gang durch die Welt'' (2. ed. 1870); * ''Religiöse Charaktere'' (2. ed. 1872); * ''Stunden der Andacht'' (1862–65, 2 vol); * ''Das Leben des Apostels Paulus'' (1866); * ''Martin Luther'' (1870);

Sources

Pallas Nagy Lexikona
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang Heinrich German Protestant clergy 1826 births 1876 deaths People from the Kingdom of Württemberg