Johann Tobias Beck (22 February 1804 in

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

– 28 December 1878 in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

) 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 ...

Biography

Graduating from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

in 1826, he was ordained a minister, but later accepted an appointment as professor of theology at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. In 1843 he went to Tübingen, where he filled the same position. He was one of the Tübingen faculty who was strongly opposed to the general radical tendency of that university, under the influence of

F. C. Baur Ferdinand Christian Baur (21 June 1792 – 2 December 1860) was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hegel ...

, the leader of the so-called

Tübingen school Ferdinand Christian Baur (21 June 1792 – 2 December 1860) was a German Protestant theologian and founder and leader of the (new) Tübingen School of theology (named for the University of Tübingen where Baur studied and taught). Following Hege ...

. Beck was and remained absolutely orthodox. He was known as a critic of both left and right wing Christian groups in Germany in the 19th century. His polemical style centered around " biblical realism," which considered the scriptures as an integrated system in and of themselves, an unconditional authority over both Enlightenment-style reasoning and ecclesiastical confessions. As for doctrinal science, Beck held that there was no such thing as "speculative knowledge," but only "believing knowledge," which he called ''gnosis''. Anything not biblically given (and believed as such) does not qualify as real knowledge of God. It needs neither human philosophy or churchly synthesis in order to be the truth, though spiritual (''pneumatische'')

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...

had its place by virtue of the work of the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

. In such a way, "The scientific theological system should thus reproduce the real life-system of the biblical doctrine, for which the coherent activity of God is central." Claude Welch, ''Protestant Thought in the Nineteenth Century'', New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

, 1972, v. 1, p. 197.

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...

(among others) has responded to J.T. Beck as an important dialogue partner.

Works

*''Einleitung in das System der christlichen Lehre'' (2d ed., Stuttgart 1870) *''Christliche Reden'' (1834-1870) *''Erklärung der zwei Briefe Pauli an Timotheus'' (1879)

English publications

*''Outlines of Biblical Psychology'' (1877) *''Pastoral Theology of the New Testament'' (1885)

Notes

References

* 1804 births 1878 deaths 19th-century German Protestant theologians University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Tübingen Academic staff of the University of Basel German male non-fiction writers 19th-century male writers {{Germany-academic-bio-stub