Wilhelm Abraham Teller (9 January 17349 December 1804) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

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 s ...

who championed a rational approach to Christianity.

Life and career

Teller was born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as we ...

. His father, Romanus Teller (1703–1750), was a pastor at Leipzig, and afterwards became professor of theology in the University of Leipzig. He edited the earlier volumes of a ("Bible Book", 19 volumes, 1749–1770) which was designed as an adaptation for German readers of the

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

works of Andrew Willet,

Henry Ainsworth Henry Ainsworth (1571–1622) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar. He led the Ancient Church, a Brownist or English Separatist congregation in Amsterdam alongside Francis Johnson from 1597, and after their split led his own con ...

Simon Patrick Simon Patrick (8 September 1626 – 31 May 1707) was an English theologian and bishop. Life He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, eldest son of Henry Patrick, a wealthy merchant, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Gramm ...

Matthew Poole Matthew Poole (1624–1679) was an English Non-conformist theologian and biblical commentator. Life to 1662 He was born at York, the son of Francis Pole, but he spelled his name Poole, and in Latin Polus; his mother was a daughter of Alderman T ...

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition of the Old and New Testament ...

and others. Wilhelm Abraham studied philosophy and theology in the university of his native town. Amongst the men whose influence mainly determined his theological position and line of work was

Johann August Ernesti Johann August Ernesti (4 August 1707 – 11 September 1781) was a German Rationalist theologian and philologist. Ernesti was the first who formally separated the hermeneutics of the Old Testament from those of the New. Biography Ernesti was b ...

. Teller's writings presented

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy'' ...

in its course of development from biblical

supernaturalism Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

to the borders of deistical naturalism. His first learned production was a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translation of Benjamin Kennicott's ''Dissertation on the State of the Printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament'' (1756), which was followed the next year by an essay in which he expounded his own critical principles. In 1761 he was appointed pastor, professor of theology and general superintendent in the

University of Helmstedt The University of Helmstedt (german: Universität Helmstedt; official Latin name: ''Academia Julia'', "Julius University"), was a university in Helmstedt in the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel that existed from 1576 until 1810. History Founded ...

. Here he pursued his exegetical, theological and historical researches, the results of which appeared in his ''Lehrbuch des christlichen Glaubens'' ("Textbook of Christian Faith", 1764). This work caused some commotion, as much by the novelty of its method as by the

heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, ...

of its matter, and more by its omissions than by its positive teaching, though everywhere the author sought to put theological doctrines in a decidedly modern form. In 1767 Teller, whose attitude had made his position at

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...

intolerable, accepted an invitation from the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n minister for ecclesiastical affairs to the post of provost of

Cölln Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin ( Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities ...

, with a seat in the Lutheran Supreme Consistory of Berlin. Here he found himself in the company of the rationalistic theologians of Prussia: Friedrich Samuel Gottfried Sack (1738–1817),

Johann Joachim Spalding Johann Joachim Spalding (1 November 1714 – 25 May 1804) was a German Protestant theologian and philosopher of Scottish ancestry who was a native of Tribsees, Swedish Pomerania. He was the father of Georg Ludwig Spalding (1762–1811), a profess ...

(1714–1804) and others and became one of the leaders of the rationalistic party, and one of the chief contributors to CF Nicolai's ''Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek''. Teller was not long in making use of his freer position in Berlin. In 1772 appeared the most popular of his books, ''Wörterbuch des Neuen Testamentes zur Erklärung der christlichen Lehre'' ("Dictionary of the New Testament for the Explanation of Christian Doctrine", 6th ed., 1805). The object of this work was to recast the language and ideas of 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 Christi ...

and give them the form of 18th-century

illuminism The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

. The author maintains that the Graeco-

Hebraic Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved t ...

expressions must not be interpreted literally, but explained in terms intelligible to the modern mind. By this

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or for w ...

Teller had put himself amongst the most advanced rationalists, and his opponents charged him with the design of overthrowing positive Christianity altogether. In 1786 the author became a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. The Wollner Edict of 9 July 1788, for the enforcement of

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

orthodoxy, and Teller's action, as member of the consistorial council, in defiance of it (cf. his ''Wohlgemeinte Erinnerungen'', "Well-Meaning Reminders", 1788), led the Prussian government to pass upon him the sentence of suspension for three months, with forfeiture of his

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work p ...

. He was not, however, moved by such means, and (1792) issued his work ''Die Religion der Vollkommeneren'' ("The Religion of the More Perfect"), an exposition of his theological position, in which he advocated at length the idea, subsequently often urged, of the perfectibility of Christianity, that is, of the ultimate transformation of Christianity into a scheme of simple morality, with a complete rejection of all specifically Christian ideas and methods. This book represented the culminating point of German

, and is separated by a long process of development from the author's . In the same year he published his ''Anleitung zur Religion überhaupt und zum Allgemeinen des Christenthums besonders; für die Jugend höherer und gebildeter Stünde aller Religions parteien'' ("Manual of All Religion and the Generalities of Christianity Especially; for the Youth of Upper and Educated Classes of all Religious Denominations"). Besides his contributions to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek'', he edited a popular and practically useful ''Magazin für Prediger'' ("Magazine for Preachers", 1792–1801). He died in Berlin.

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Wilhelm Gass, ''Geschichte der protestantischen Dogmatik'' (A history of Protestant dogma), iv. pp. 206–222. ** P. Wolff, article in Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopädie'' (ed. 1907) ** Heinrich Döring, ''Deutsche Kanzelredner des 18ten und 19ten Jahrh.'' (German preachers of the 18th and 19th century), p. 506 seq. **

Edward Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years H ...

, ''Causes of the Late Rationalistic Character of German Theology'' (1828), p. 150 ** cf {{DEFAULTSORT:Teller, Wilhelm Abraham 1734 births 1804 deaths 18th-century German Protestant theologians Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Clergy from Leipzig People from the Electorate of Saxony Leipzig University alumni University of Helmstedt faculty German male non-fiction writers 18th-century German male writers