Johann Karl Wilhelm Vatke, known as Wilhelm Vatke (March 14, 1806 - April 18, 1882), 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...

 Protestant 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...

, was born at Behnsdorf

Behnsdorf

Behnsdorf is a village and a former municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Flechtingen....

, 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....

. After acting 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...

in Berlin

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...

, he was appointed in 1837 professor extraordinarius.

Vatke was one of the founders of the newer Hexateuch

Hexateuch

The Hexateuch is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible . Some scholars propose that Joshua represents part of the northern Yahwist source , detached from JE document by the Deuteronomist and incorporated into the Deuteronomic history, with the books of Judges, Kings, and Samuel.Reasons...

 criticism. In the same year in which David Strauss published his Life of Jesus, Vatke issued his book, Die Religion des Alten Testaments nach den kanonischen Büchern entwickelt, which contained the seeds of a revolution in the ideas held about the Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

. Since, however, his book was too philosophical to be popular, the author's theories were practically unnoticed for a generation, and the new ideas are now associated especially with the names of Abraham Kuenen

Abraham Kuenen

Abraham Kuenen , Dutch Protestant theologian, the son of an apothecary, was born in Haarlem, North Holland....

 and Julius Wellhausen

Julius Wellhausen

Julius Wellhausen , was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah ....

.

His other works include: Die menschliche Freiheit in ihrem Verhältniss zur Sünde und zur göttlichen Gnade (1841), Historisch-kritische Einleitung in das Alte Testament (1886), and Religionsphilosophie (1888). See O Pfleiderer

Otto Pfleiderer

Otto Pfleiderer was a German Protestant theologian.-Biography:He was born at Stetten in Württemberg. From 1857 to 1861 he studied at the University of Tübingen under FC Baur, and afterwards in England and Scotland...

, Development of Theology (1890), and TK Cheyne

Thomas Kelly Cheyne

Thomas Kelly Cheyne was an English divine and Biblical critic. He was born in London and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, and Oxford University....

, Founders of Old Testament Criticism (1893).