Johann Christian Friedrich Steudel Explained

Johann Christian Friedrich Steudel (25 October 1779, in Esslingen am Neckar  - 24 October 1837, in Tübingen) was a German Lutheran theologian. He was a brother of botanist Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (1783–1856).

From 1797 he studied Protestant theology at the University of Tübingen. Beginning in 1803, he worked as a vicar in Oberesslingen, and two years later, became a tutor at Tübinger Stift. In 1808 he traveled to Paris, where he studied with Silvestre de Sacy and Carl Benedict Hase. Following his return to Germany, he served as a deacon in Cannstatt (from 1810) and Tübingen (from 1812). In 1815 he became an associate professor of theology at the University of Tübingen, where in 1822 he gained a full professorship. From 1826 onward, he was a professor of dogmatics and Old Testament theology at the university.^{[1] [2]}

He was a proponent of rational supernaturalism, and was the last prominent member of the so-called "Old Tübingen School" of theology. During the latter part of his career, he spearheaded an attack on David Strauss's controversial book, Das Leben Jesu.^{[3] [4]}

Selected works

In 1828 he founded the journal Tübinger Zeitschrift für Theologie.^{[2] [5]} The following are a few of Steudel's significant writings:

• Ueber die Haltbarkeit des Glaubens an geschichtliche, hohere Offenbarung Gottes, 1814  - On the durability of faith in an historical, higher revelation of God.
• Neuere Vorträge über Religion und Christenthum, 1825  - Newer lectures on religion and Christianity.
• Grundzüge einer Apologetik für das Christenthum, 1830  - Principles of apologetics for Christianity.
• Die Glaubenslehre der evangelisch-protestantischen Kirche, 1834  - The doctrine of the faith of the Evangelical-Protestant Church.^[6]

After his death, his lectures on Old Testament theology were published by Gustav Friedrich Oehler.^[7]

Further reading

• Werner Raupp: Steudel, Johann Christian Friedrich, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB), Vol. 25. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 2013, p. 309–310 (with genealogy and selected bibliography).

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=0-hrRQvGV7sC&dq=%22Steudel%2C+Johann+Christian+Friedrich%22&pg=PA537 Schmidt - Theyer
2. https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Steudel,_Johann_Christian ADB:Steudel, Johann Christian
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=7PhYg3b6IV0C&dq=%22Johann+Christian+Friedrich+Steudel%22&pg=PA107 Old Testament Theology: Its History and Development
4. https://books.google.com/books?id=y3pyCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Johann+Christian+Friedrich+Steudel%22&pg=PT119 Pandora's Box Opened: An Examination and Defense of Historical-Critical ...
5. http://idb.ub.uni-tuebingen.de/digitue/theo/tzth.html Tübinger Zeitschrift für Theologie (TZTh)
6. https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Johann+Christian+Friedrich+Steudel%22 Google Search
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=f04XAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Steudel,+Johann+Christian+Friedrich%22&pg=PA1017 Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Volume 9