Gottfried Christian Friedrich Lücke (24 August 1791 – 4 February 1855) was a German

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. Luecke was born at

Egeln Egeln () is a small town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Egelner Mulde. Geography Egeln is situated on the river Bode (river), Bode, ...

near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, where his father was a merchant. He studied theology at Halle and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. In 1814 he received the degree of doctor in philosophy from Halle; in 1816 he moved to the Friedrich Wilhelm University,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he became licentiate in theology, and qualified as ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

''.Lücke, Friedrich
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, , S. 447. He soon became friendly with

Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed Church, Reformed theology, theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Age o ...

and de Wette, and was associated with them in 1819 in the redaction of the ''Theologische Zeitschrift''. Meanwhile, his lectures and publications (among the latter a ''Grundriss der Neutestamentlichen Hermeneutik'', 1817) had brought him into considerable repute, and he was appointed professor extraordinarius at the new

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

in the spring of 1818; in the following autumn he became professor ordinarius. From Bonn, where he had JCW Augusti (1772–1841), JKL Gieseler, and

Karl Immanuel Nitzsch Karl Immanuel Nitzsch (21 September 1787, Borna – 21 August 1868, Berlin) was a German Lutheran church leader. He was the father of theologian Friedrich August Nitzsch. Biography He was born in the small Saxon town of Borna near Leipzig. Hi ...

for colleagues, he was called in 1827 to Göttingen to succeed KF Staudlin (1761-1826). In that year he helped to found the ''Theologische Studien und Kritiken'', the chief organ of the "mediation" theology (''Vermittelungstheologie''). At Göttingen he remained, declining all further calls elsewhere, as to Erlangen, Kiel, Halle, Tübingen, Jena and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, until his death. Lücke, who was one of the most learned, multilateral and influential of the so-called "mediation" school of evangelical theologians (''Vermittelungstheologie''), is now chiefly known by his ''Commentar über die Schriften des Evangelisten Johannes'' (4 vols., 1820–1832). He is an intelligent maintainer of the Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel; in connection with this thesis he was one of the first to argue for the early date and non-apostolic authorship of the

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

. His ''Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannes'' was published in 1832. He also published a ''Synopsis evangeliorum Matthaei, Marci et Lucae cum parallelis Joannis pericopis'', jointly with W. M. L. de Wette (1818).Synopsis evangeliorum
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References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucke, Gottfried Friedrich Christian 1791 births 1855 deaths 19th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Bonn Academic staff of the University of Göttingen People from Salzlandkreis 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers German male non-fiction writers