Johann Georg Walch (17 June 1693 – 13 January 1775) was a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Life

He was born in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 26,000 (2024).

, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, amongst his teachers being J. F. Buddeus, whose only daughter he married. He published in 1716 a work, ''Historia critica

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

ae linguae'', which soon came into wide use. Two years later he became professor extraordinarius of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1719, he was appointed professor ordinarius of

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

, in 1721 of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, and in 1724 professor extraordinarius of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. In 1728 he became professor ordinarius of theology, and in 1730 professor primarius. His theological position was that of moderate

orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

, greatly influenced by the philosophy and controversies of the

Deistic Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term ''deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation o ...

period. His university lectures and published works ranged over the wide fields of church history in its various branches, particularly the literature and the controversies of the church, dogmatics, ethics and pastoral theology. Of his works the most valuable were ''Bibliotheca theologica'' (1757–1765); ''Bibliotheca patristica'' (1770); his edition of Luther's works in 24 vols. (1740–1752); ''Historische und theologische Einleitung in die religiösen Streitigkeiten, welche sonderlich ausser der evangelische-lutherischen Kirche entstanden'' (5 vols., 1733 ff.); the companion work to this, ''Einleitung in die Religionsstreitigkeiten der evangel.-luth. Kirche'' (1730–1739), and ''Philosophisches Lexikon'' (1726, 4th ed. 1775). Also important is the ''Historia logicae'', published in Leipzig in 1721. His life, with a complete list of his writings, which amounted to 287, ''Leben und Charakter des Kirchenraths J. G. Walch'', was published anonymously by his son CWF Walch (Jena, 1777). Cf. Wilhelm Gass, ''Protestantische Dogmatik'', iii. p. 205 sq. His sons, Johann Ernst Immanuel and Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch were also noted theologians. Son Karl Friedrich Walch became a law professor. Johann Georg Walch died in

on 13 January 1775.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walch, Johann Georg 1693 births 1775 deaths People from Meiningen People from Saxe-Meiningen German Lutheran theologians 18th-century German Protestant theologians German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers Leipzig University alumni