Carl Christian Ullmann (March 3, 1796 in Epfenbach,

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

January 12, 1865) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

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

He studied at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

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 ...

, and in 1820 delivered exegetical and historical lectures at Heidelberg. He received a professorship at Heidelberg from 1821 to 1829. In 1829 he went to

Halle upon Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

as professor to teach

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

, dogmatics and

symbolics Symbolics was a computer manufacturer Symbolics, Inc., and a privately held company that acquired the assets of the former company and continues to sell and maintain the Open Genera Lisp system and the Macsyma computer algebra system.

, but in 1836 he returned to a chair at Heidelberg, where he taught until 1856. This work in turn cites: *

Otto Pfleiderer Otto Pfleiderer (1 September 1839 – 18 July 1908) was a German Protestant theologian. Through his writings and his lectures, he became known as one of the most influential representatives of liberal theology. Biography Pfleiderer was born at ...

, ''Development of Theology'' (1890) * Willibald Beyschlag, ''Karl Ullmann'' (1867) * Adolf Hausrath in ''

Kleine Schriften ' is a German phrase ("short writings" or "minor works"; la, Opuscula) often used as a title for a collection of articles and essays written by a single scholar over the course of a career. "Collected Papers" is an English equivalent. These short ...

religionsgeschichtlichen Inhalts'' (1883). Between 1853 and 1861 he officiated as

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

, i.e. spiritual leader, of the United Evangelical Protestant State Church of Baden (german: Vereinigte Evangelisch-protestantische Landeskirche Badens). A lifelong exponent of the "meditation school" of theology (''Vermittelungs-Theologie''), in 1828, with the help of Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Umbreit (1795–1860), he founded and edited the ''Theologische Studien'' and ''Kritiken'' in its interests. When Julius Wegscheider and

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 s ...

were denounced by

Hengstenberg Ernst Wilhelm Theodor Herrmann Hengstenberg (20 October 1802, in Fröndenberg28 May 1869, in Berlin), was a German Lutheran churchman and neo-Lutheran theologian from an old and important Dortmund family. He was born at Fröndenberg, a Westphal ...

as rationalists, he pleaded for freedom in theological teaching (cf. his ''Theol. Bedenken'', 1830). On the other hand, he vigorously attacked

David Strauss David Friedrich Strauss (german: link=no, Strauß ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus", whose divine nature h ...

. His ''Historisch oder mythisch? Beiträge zur Beantwortung der gegenwärtigen Lebensfrage der Theologie'' (1838; 2nd ed., 1866) was a reply to Strauss's ''Life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

'', and his criticism resulted in Strauss making numerous concessions in later works. Ullmann became second class associate member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands in 1844, he resigned when this institute was disbanded in 1851. He joined the successor institute, the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

as foreign member in 1855.

Works

''In Das Wesen des Christenthums'' (1845; 5th ed., 1865; English translation, 1860), Ullmann explains that

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

is independent of the orthodox formulas, and contends that a distinction should be made between

faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...

and dogmatics. His principal historical works are ''Gregor von Nazianz'' (1825; 3rd ed., 1867) and ''Die Reformatoren vor der Reformation'' (The Reformers before the Reformation, 2 vols., 1841; 2nd ed., 1866; Eng. trans., 1854). Another well-known work is ''Die Sundlösigkeit Jesu'' (The Sinlessness of Jesus, 1854; English translation 1858 and 1870).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ullmann, Karl 1796 births 1865 deaths People from Rhein-Neckar-Kreis People from the Electoral Palatinate German Calvinist and Reformed theologians Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of Heidelberg University University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 19th-century German Protestant theologians 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers