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

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

.

Lucke was born at Egeln near Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

, where his father was a merchant. He studied theology at Halle and Göttingen. In 1814 he received the degree of doctor in philosophy from Halle; in 1816 he moved to the Friedrich Wilhelm University

Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

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

Privatdozent

Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...

.

He soon became friendly with Friedrich Schleiermacher and de Wette

Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette

Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette , was a German theologian and biblical scholar.-Life and Education:He was born at Ulla, near Weimar, where his father was pastor. He was sent to the gymnasium at Weimar, then at the height of its literary fame...

, 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, 1816) had brought him into considerable repute, and he was appointed professor extraordinarius in the new University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 in the spring of 1818; in the following autumn he became professor ordinarius. From Bonn, where he had JCW Augusti

Johann Christian Wilhelm Augusti

Johann Christian Wilhelm Augusti was a German theologian.Born at Eschenberga, near Gotha, Augusti was of Jewish descent, his grandfather having been a converted rabbi. He was educated at the gymnasium of Gotha and the University of Jena. At Jena he studied Oriental languages, of which he became...

 (1772-1841), JKL Gieseler

Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler

Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler, KH was a Protestant German church historian.-Biography:He was born at Petershagen, near Minden, where his father, Georg Christof Friedrich, was preacher...

, and Karl Immanuel Nitzsch

Karl Immanuel Nitzsch

Karl Immanuel Nitzsch , was a German Lutheran church leader.He was born at the small Saxon town of Borna near Leipzig. His father, Karl Ludwig Nitzsch, at that time pastor and superintendent in Borna, later became professor at Wittenberg and director of the seminary for preachers...

 for colleagues, he was called in 1827 to Göttingen to succeed KF Staudlin

Karl Friedrich Stäudlin

Karl Friedrich Stäudlin was a German Protestant theologian born in Stuttgart.He studied theology in Tübingen, and from 1790 was a professor of theology at the University of Göttingen, where in 1803 he was appointed Consistorialrath.Stäudlin was a prominent supporter of Kantianism, and as his...

 (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

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, until his death.

Lucke, who was one of the most learned, many-sided and influential of the so-called "mediation" school of evangelical theologians (Vermittelungstheologie), is now chiefly known by his Kommentar über die Schriften d. 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

An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...

. His Einleitung in die Offenbarung Johannes was published in 1832. He also published a Synopsis Evangeliorum, jointly with W. M. L. de Wette (1818).