Julius August Ludwig Wegscheider (27 September 1771 – 27 January 1849), was a German Protestant theologian.
Julius Wegscheider
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Born | Julius August Ludwig Wegscheider (1771-09-27)27 September 1771
Küblingen, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire
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Died | 27 January 1849(1849-01-27) (aged 77)
Halle, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire
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Nationality | German |
Alma mater | University of Helmstedt |
Theological work | |
Language | German |
Wegscheider was born at Küblingen (now a part of Schöppenstedt, Lower Saxony). He studied theology at the University of Helmstedt, where he was a pupil of Heinrich Philipp Konrad Henke. From 1795 to 1805, he worked as a tutor to the family of a wealthy Hamburg merchant. In 1805 he presented a dissertation titled Graecorum mysteriis religioni non obtrudendis at the University of Göttingen. He then served as a professor of theology at the University of Rinteln (1806–1810), and at the University of Halle from 1810 onwards.[1]
Wegscheider was a leading figure of dogmatic theological rationalism—for instance, he considered supernatural revelation to be an impossibility.[2] Because of his rationalist teachings, he, along with his colleague Wilhelm Gesenius, were attacked by followers of Supernaturalism, creating a situation that led to a government investigation (1830).[3] Ultimately, he retained his office at Halle, but lost his former influence.[4]