Willibald Beyschlag
Johann Heinrich Christoph Willibald Beyschlag (5 September 1823 – 25 November 1900 in Halle an der Saale) was a German theologian from Frankfurt am Main.
Biography
He studied theology at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin, afterwards serving as an assistant pastor in Koblenz (1849), then as a pastor in Trier (1850). During the following year, Beyschlag began working as a religious instructor in Mainz. In 1856 he became a court preacher in Karlsruhe, and four years later he was appointed a professor of practical theology and New Testament exegesis at the University of Halle.[1]
Beyschlag was the leader of the Evangelical Mittelpartei ("Middle Party"), and in 1876, with Albrecht Wolters, founded the Deutsch-evangelischen Blätter (a publication of the Mittelpartei in the Kirche der Altpreußischen Union). Because of the combatative nature of the magazine, he was once sued for libel.[1][2] Also, he was a primary catalyst in the founding of the Evangelische Bund (Protestant Confederation) —[3] he believed that only in unity could German Protestantism find strength.
He was a leading supporter of the Vermittlungstheologie and was opposed to Chalcedonian Christology.[3] Also, he stood for the rights of the laity, and believed in the autonomy of the church, leading him to be in favor of separation of church and state.[4][5] Beyschlag was viewed as an antagonist of the Roman Catholic Church and a sharp critic of Ultramontanism.[1]
Selected works
In 1891 he published Neutestamentliche Theologie, oder, geschichtliche Darstellung der lehren Jesu und des Urchristenthums nach den neutestamentlichen Quellen, a book that was later translated into English and published as "New Testament theology; or, Historical account of the teaching of Jesus and of primitive Christianity according to the New Testament sources" (translation by Rev. Neil Buchanan; 1895). The following are a few of his many other writings:
- Die Christologie des Neuen Testaments : ein biblisch-theologischer Versuch, 1866 – Christology of the New Testament.
- Godofred, ein Märchen fürs deutsche Haus, 1890 – Godofred. A fairytale for German households.
- Das Leben Jesu, 1887 – The life of Jesus.
- Bischof D. Reinkens und der deutsche Altkatholizismus, 1896 – Bishop Joseph Hubert Reinkens and German Old Catholicism.
- Deutschland im Laufe des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 1900 – Germany during the nineteenth century.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 Catalogus-professorum-halensis biography of Willibald Beyschlag
- ↑ Catalogus-professorum-halensis biography of Albrecht Wolters
- 1 2 Oxford Reference Willibald Beyschlag, Overview
- ↑ Google Books The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes; Volume 3
- ↑
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Beyschlag, Willibald". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. - ↑ Catalog HathiTrust published works