August Tholuck

August Tholuck
Born	(1799-03-10)10 March 1799 Breslau,Holy Roman Empire
Died	10 June 1877(1877-06-10)(aged 78) Halle (Salle)
Alma mater	University of Breslau
Occupation(s)	Pastor, theologian, historian
Notable work	Die wahre Weihe des Zweiflers(1823), Stunden christlicher Andacht (1839)
Theological work
Language	German
Main interests	Apologetics,1700s Christian history
Signature

Friedrich August Gotttreu Tholuck(30 March 1799 – 10 June 1877), known asAugust Tholuck,was a GermanProtestanttheologian, pastor, and historian, and church leader.

Biography

Tholuck was born atBreslau,and educated at thegymnasiumand university there. He distinguished himself by his ability to learn languages. A love of Oriental languages and literature led him to exchange theUniversity of Breslaufor that ofBerlin,in order to study to greater advantage, and there he was received into the house of the OrientalistHeinrich Friedrich von Diez(1750–1817). He was introduced topietisticcircles in Berlin, and came under the influence of BaronHans Ernst von Kottwitz,who became his "spiritual father," and of the historianNeander.Before deciding on the career of theological professor, he had in view that of amissionaryin the East. Meanwhile, he was feeling the influence to a certain degree of the romantic school, and ofSchleiermacherandG. W. F. Hegeltoo, though he never sounded the depths of their systems.

At length, in his twenty-first year, he finally decided to adopt the academical calling. In 1821 he wasPrivatdozentand in 1823 became professor extraordinarius oftheologyin Berlin, though he was at the same time active in the work of home and foreign missions. He lectured on theOldandNew Testaments,theology,apologeticsand the history of the church in the 18th century. In 1821 appeared his first work,Sufismus, sive theosophia Persarum pantheistica;following the same line of study he publishedBlütensammlung aus der morgenlandischen Mystik(1825) andSpeculative Trinitätslehre des späteren Orients(1826). His well-known essay on the nature and moral influence of heathenism (1822) was published by Neander, with high commendation, in hisDenkwürdigkeiten;and hisCommentary on the Epistle to the Romans(1824) secured him a foremost place amongst the most suggestive, if not the most accurate, Biblical interpreters of that time.

Another work, soon translated into all the principal European languages,Die wahre Weihe des Zweiflers(1823), the outcome of his own religious history, obtained for him the permanent position of the modernPietisticapologist ofEvangelical Christianity.In 1825, with the aid of thePrussiangovernment, he visited the libraries of England and the Netherlands, and on his return was appointed (in 1826) professor ordinarius of theology at theUniversity of Halle,the centre of Germanrationalism,where he afterwards became preacher and member of the supremeconsistorialcouncil of theEvangelical State Church in Prussia.Here he made it his aim to combine in a higher unity the learning and to some extent the rationalism ofJohann Salomo Semlerwith the devout and active pietism ofA H Francke;and, in spite of the opposition of the theological faculty of the university, he succeeded in changing the character of its theology.

This he achieved partly by his lectures, but above all by his personal influence on the students, and, after 1833, by his preaching. His theological position wasorthodox,but laid more stress upon Christian experience than upon rigiddogmaticbelief. On the two great questions of miracles and inspiration he made great concessions to modern criticism and philosophy. His lifelong battle was on behalf of personal religious experience, in opposition to the externality of rationalism, orthodoxy orsacramentarianism.Karl Schwarzhappily remarks that, as the English apologists of the 18th century were themselves infected with the poison of the deists whom they endeavoured to refute, so Tholuck absorbed some of the heresies of the rationalists whom he tried to overthrow. He was also one of the prominent members of theEvangelical Alliance,and few men were more widely known or more beloved throughout the Protestant churches of Europe and America than him. He died atHalle.As a preacher, Tholuck ranked among the foremost of his time. As a teacher, he showed remarkable sympathy and won great success. As a thinker he can hardly be said to have been endowed with great creative power.

After his commentaries (onRomans,theGospel of John,theSermon on the Mountand theEpistle to the Hebrews) and several volumes of sermons, his best-known books areStunden christlicher Andacht(1839; 8th ed., 1870), intended to take the place ofJ H D Zschokke's standard rationalistic work with the same title, and his reply toDavid Strauss'sLife of Jesus(Glaubwürdigkeit der evangelischen Geschichte,1837).

He published at various times valuable contributions towards a history of rationalism--Vorgeschichte des Rationalismus(1853–1862),Geschichte des Rationalismus(1865), and a number of essays connected with the history of theology and especially of apologetics. His views on inspiration were indicated in his workDie Propheten und ihre Weissagungen(1860), in his essay on the "Alte Inspirationslehre,"inDeutsche Zeitschrift für christliche Wissenschaft(1850), and in hisGespräche über die vornehmsten Glaubensfragen der Zeit(1846; 2nd ed., 1867).

He also contributed many articles toHerzog'sRealencyklopädie,and for several years edited a journal (1830–1849),Literarischer Anzeiger.

In 1864, he was elected as a member to theAmerican Philosophical Society.

Tholuck had an international influence. Philip Schaff says, "Next to Neander, no German divine of the present century is more extensively known in the Protestant churches of... America than Dr. Frederick Augustus Tholuck."In the nineteenth century, many of his books were translated into English. His popular works, such as his sermons, were also translated. American scholars were especially interested in his biblical commentaries. Several Americans, likeCharles HodgeandEdward Robinson,studied with Tholuck in Halle.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Tholuck, Friedrich August Gottreu".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 862.This work in turn cites:
  • Leopold Witte,Das Leben d. Friedrich August Gotttreu Tholuck's(2 vols, 1884–1886).
  • Martin Kähler,August Tholuck... ein Lebensabriss(1877).
  • Martin Kähler, "Tholuck" inHerzog'sRealenzyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche.
  • Carl Siegfried,"Zur Erinnerung an Tholuck" inProtestantische Kirchzeitung,1885, No. 45, and 1886, No. 47.
  • Karl Schwarz,Zur Geschichte der neuesten Theologie(4th ed., 1869).
  • F. W. F. Nippold,Handbuch der neuesten Kirchengeschichte
  • Philip Schaff,Germany; its Universities, Theology and Religion(1857)
  • Gustav Frank(1894), "Tholuck, August",Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie(in German), vol. 38, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 55–59
• Geck, Albrecht, "Friendship in Faith.E.B. Pusey(1800–1882) und F.A.G. Tholuck (1799–1877) im Kampf gegen Rationalismus und Pantheismus - Schlaglichter auf eine englisch-deutsche Korrespondenz, "in:Pietismus und Neuzeit27(2001), 91-117.
• Geck, Albrecht, "Pusey, Tholuck and the Oxford Movement," in: Stewart J. Brown/Peter B. Nockles (ed.),The Oxford Movement. Europe and the Wider World 1830-1930,Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 2012, 168–184.
• Geck, Albrecht (ed.), "Authorität und Glaube. Edward Bouverie Pusey und Friedrich August Gottreu Tholuck im Briefwechsel (1825–1865)." Teil 1-3: in:Zeitschrift für Neuere Theologiegeschichte10(2003), 253–317;12(2005), 89-155;13(2006), 41-124.

External links

• Tholuck, Friedrich August Gottreu(New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge)