Johann Karl Thilo (

Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands along t ...

, near

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, 28 November 1794 — Halle 17 May 1853) was a German

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

. He studied theology at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

and a final semester at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, where he was appointed to teach at the preparatory ''Paedagogium'' of the Francke institutions, and assisted his father-in-law, Georg Christian Knapp, director of the theological seminary. In 1820 he travelled to Paris, London and Oxford with his colleague

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (3 February 178623 October 1842) was a German orientalist, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, Lutheran theologian, Biblical scholar and critic. Biography Gesenius was born at Nordhausen. In 1803 he became a ...

for the examination of rare Eastern manuscripts. At Halle he was ''privat-docent'' from 1819, appointed professor of theology (1822, full professor, 1825) and in 1853 a consistorial councillor of the

Evangelical State Church in Prussia The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pru ...

. He lectured on the history of

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

, church history,

patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

, and after Knapp's death, on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. He is remembered for his planned series of editions of

apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

, ''Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti'' of which the first volume appeared in 1832, which set a new standard in textual criticism in this field. His editions appeared of ''

Acts of Thomas ''Acts of Thomas'' is an early 3rd-century text, one of the New Testament apocrypha within the Acts of the Apostles subgenre. References to the work by Epiphanius of Salamis show that it was in circulation in the 4th century. The complete ver ...

'' (1823), ''

Acts of Peter and Paul The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

'' (1838), ''

Acta Andreae et Matthiae apud Anthropophagos ''Acta Andreae et Matthiae apud Anthropophagos'' ("The Acts of Andrew and Matthias among the Anthropophagi") which exists in several Latin manuscript traditions, is the dramatic romance featuring the Apostles Andrew and Matthias among the canniba ...

'' (1846), ''

Acts of John The ''Acts of John'' refers to a collection of stories about John the Apostle that began circulating in written form as early as the 2nd-century AD. Translations of the ''Acts of John'' in modern languages have been reconstructed by scholars from ...

'' by "

Leucius Charinus Leucius, called Leucius Charinus by Photios I of Constantinople in the ninth century, is the name applied to a cycle of what M. R. James termed " Apostolic romances" that seems to have had wide currency long before a selection was read aloud at th ...

" (1847). He also edited a second edition of Knapp's ''Vorlesungen über die christlichen Glaubenslehre''. He was completely deaf in his left ear, but disguised this fact by always positioning himself to the left of people he was talking to, ensuring that his right ear was closest to them and he could hear them perfectly. Thilo managed to stay apart from the theological disagreements that divided Halle, remaining on cordial terms with members of both parties. Johann_Karl_Thilo

References

*''The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge'' 1862, ''s.v.'' "Johann Karl Thilo" *(E. Henke), ''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia'', ''s.v.'' "Johann Karl Thilo", {{DEFAULTSORT:Thilo, Johann Karl 1794 births 1853 deaths People from Bad Langensalza German biblical scholars 19th-century German Protestant theologians Leipzig University alumni University of Halle alumni Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers