| Willibald Beyschlag | |
| Birth Date: | 5 September 1823 |
| Birth Place: | Germany |
| Death Place: | Halle an der Saale, Germany |
| Occupation: | Theologian |
| Education: | Bonn and Berlin |
Johann Heinrich Christoph Willibald Beyschlag (5 September 1823 - 25 November 1900 in Halle an der Saale) was a German theologian from Frankfurt am Main.
He studied theology at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin, afterwards serving as an assistant pastor in Koblenz (1849), then as a pastor in Trier (1850). During the following year, Beyschlag began working as a religious instructor in Mainz. In 1856 he became a court preacher in Karlsruhe, and four years later, he was appointed a professor of practical theology and New Testament exegesis at the University of Halle.[1]
Beyschlag was the leader of the Kirchenpartei[2] called Mittelpartei ("Middle Party"), and in 1876, with Albrecht Wolters, founded the Deutsch-evangelische Blätter (a publication of the Mittelpartei in the Kirche der Altpreußischen Union). Because of the combative nature of the magazine, he was once sued for libel.[1] [3] Also, he was a primary catalyst in the founding of the (Protestant Confederation) - [4] he believed that only in unity could German Protestantism find strength.
He was a leading supporter of the Vermittlungstheologie and was opposed to Chalcedonian Christology.[4] Also, he stood for the rights of the laity, and believed in the autonomy of the church, leading him to be in favor of separation of church and state.[5] [6] Beyschlag was viewed as an antagonist of the Roman Catholic Church and a sharp critic of Ultramontanism.[1]
In 1891 he published Neutestamentliche Theologie, oder, geschichtliche Darstellung der lehren Jesu und des Urchristenthums nach den neutestamentlichen Quellen, a book that was later translated into English and published as "New Testament theology; or, Historical account of the teaching of Jesus and of primitive Christianity according to the New Testament sources" (translation by Rev. Neil Buchanan; 1895). The following are a few of his many other writings: