Otto Pfleiderer 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...

 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...

.

Biography

He was born at Stetten (now a part of Kernen

Kernen

Kernen im Remstal is a municipality in the Rems-Murr district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Rems valley, 4 km south of Waiblingen, and 11 km east of Stuttgart....

, Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

) in Württemberg

Kingdom of Württemberg

The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...

. From 1857 to 1861 he studied at the University of Tübingen under FC Baur

Ferdinand Christian Baur

Ferdinand Christian Baur was a German theologian and leader of the Tübingen school of theology...

, and afterwards in England and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He then entered the ministry, became "repetent" at Tübingen, and for a short time held a pastorate at Heilbronn

Heilbronn

Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....

 (1868). In 1870 he became chief pastor and superintendent at the University of Jena and soon afterwards professor ordinarius of theology, but in 1875 he was called to the chair of systematic theology

Systematic theology

In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...

 at Berlin, having made his name by a series of articles on New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 criticism and Johannine and Pauline theology, which appeared in Adolf Hilgenfeld's Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, and by his Der Paulinismus, published in 1873. Das Urchristentum, seine Schriften und Lehren, in geschichtlichen Zusammenhang beschrieben was published in 1878 and considerably enlarged for a second edition in 1902.

In 1890 appeared The Development of Theology since Kant, and its Progress in Great Britain since 1825, which was written for publication in England. A more elaborate work was his Religionsphilosophie auf geschichtlichen Grundlage (1878). "The Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Development of Christianity" was the title of a course of Hibbert Lectures

Hibbert Lectures

The Hibbert Lectures are an annual series of non-sectarian lectures on theological issues. They are sponsored by the Hibbert Trust, which was founded in 1847 by the Unitarian Robert Hibbert with a goal to uphold "the unfettered exercise of private judgement in matters of religion."...

 given in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1885. In 1894 he delivered the Gifford Lectures

Gifford Lectures

The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...

 at Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, the subject being "The Philosophy and Development of Religion." His later publications included:

• The Early Christian Conception of Christ (1905)
• Die Entstehung des Christentums (1905)
• Religion und Religionen (1906)
• Die Entwicklung des Christentums (1907).

He died at Gross Lichterfelde, near Berlin. In New Testament criticism, Pfleiderer belonged to the critical school, which grew out of the impulse given by FC Baur. However, like other modern German theologians, he showed a greater disposition to compromise. All his work shows a judicial tone of mind, and is remarkable for the charm of its style.

External links to the works of Otto Pfleiderer

• The Development of Theology since Kant - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Lectures on the influence of the apostle Paul on the development of Christianity, delivered in London and Oxford in April and May, 1885 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Paulinism; a contribution to the history of primitive Christian theology, Vol. 1, 1877 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Paulinism; a contribution to the history of primitive Christian theology, Vol. 2, 1877 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• The Philosophy of Religion: On the Basis of Its History, Vol. 1, 1886 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• The Philosophy of Religion: On the Basis of Its History, Vol. 2, 1887 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• The Philosophy of Religion: On the Basis of Its History, Vol. 4, 1888 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Philosophy and Development of Religion Vol. 1, 1894 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Philosophy and Development of Religion Vol. 2, 1894 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Philosophy and Development of Religion Vol. 3, 1888 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Philosophy and Development of Religion Vol. 4, 1894 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Religion and historic faiths 1907 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Primitive Christianity: Its Writings and Teachings in Their Historical Connections 1906 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• Evolution and Theology and Other Essays 1900 - online text at the Internet Archive.
• The development of Christianity 1910 - online text at the Internet Archive.