Michael Baumgarten (25 March 1812 – 21 July 1889) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

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 ...

. Baumgarten was born at Haseldorf in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

Life

He studied at

Kiel University Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

(1832), and became professor ''ordinarius'' of theology at

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

(1850). A liberal scholar, he became widely known in 1854 through a work, ''Die Nachtgesichte Sacharjas. Eine Prophetenstimme aus der Gegenwart'', in which, starting from texts in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and assuming the tone of a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, he discussed topics of every kind. At a pastoral conference in 1856 he boldly defended evangelical freedom as regards the legal sanctity of Sunday. This, with other attempts to liberalize religion, brought him into conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

, and in 1858 he was deprived of his professorship. He then travelled throughout Germany, demanding justice, telling the story of his life ("''Christliche Selbstgesprache''", 1861), and lecturing on the life of Jesus ("''Die Geschichte Jesu: für das Verständniss der Gegenwart''", 1859). In 1865 he helped to found the Deutsche

Protestantenverein The Protestantenverein (''Allgemeiner Deutscher Protestantenverein'' or ''Deutscher Protestantenverein''; DPV) was a society in Germany the general object of which was to promote the union (''Verein'') and progress of the various Protestant establi ...

, but withdrew from it in 1877. On several occasions (1874, 1877 and 1878) he sat in the Reichstag as a member of the progressive party.

Other published works

* ''Die Apostelgeschichte, oder, der Entwickelungsgang der Kirche von Jerusalem bis Rom: Ein biblisch-historischer Versuch'', (1852, second edition 1859), translated into English by A. J. W. Morrison as he Acts of the Apostles: or, The history of the church in the Apostolic age 1854.OCLC Classify
published works * ''Doktor

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

, ein Volksbuch'' (1881). Hans Hinrich Studt published his autobiography in 1891 (2 volumes); see also Karl Schwarz, ''Zur Geschichte der neuesten Theologie'' (1856, 4th edition 1869);

Frédéric Auguste Lichtenberger Frédéric Auguste Lichtenberger (1832 in Strasbourg – 1899) was a French theologian. Biography He obtained his degree in theology, and was made professor at the University of Strasbourg (1864). In 1877 he was appointed professor in the newly f ...

, "History of German theology in the nineteenth century" (1889); Paul Zeller, ''Calwer Bibellexikon''.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumgarten, Michael 1812 births 1889 deaths People from Pinneberg (district) People from the Duchy of Holstein German Lutheran theologians German Progress Party politicians National Liberal Party (Germany) politicians Members of the 2nd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 3rd Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the 4th Reichstag of the German Empire 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers University of Kiel alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Rostock German male non-fiction writers 19th-century Lutherans