Julius Wegscheider


Julius August Ludwig Wegscheider, was a German Protestant theologian.

Life

Wegscheider was born at Küblingen. He studied theology at the University of Helmstedt, where he was a pupil of Heinrich Philipp Konrad Henke. From 1795 to 1805, he worked as a tutor to the family of a wealthy Hamburg merchant. In 1805 he presented a dissertation titled Graecorum mysteriis religioni non obtrudendis at the University of Göttingen. He then served as a professor of theology at the University of Rinteln, and at the University of Halle from 1810 onwards.
Wegscheider was a leading figure of dogmatic theological rationalism—for instance, he considered supernatural revelation to be an impossibility. Because of his rationalist teachings, he, along with his colleague Wilhelm Gesenius, were attacked by followers of Supernaturalism, creating a situation that led to a government investigation. Ultimately, he retained his office at Halle, but lost his former influence.

Principal works