Beck, Johann Tobias

Beck, Johann Tobias one of the most prominent Protestant theologians of the 19th century, was born Feb. 22, 1804, at Balingen, in WUirtemberg. He studied at Tubingen; was in 1827 pastor at Waldthaun, and in 1829 teacher and preacher in Mergentheim. In 1836 he accepted a call as professor of theology at Basle. and remained there till 1843. In that year he accepted a call to Tubingen, where he remained until his death, Dec. 28, 1878. The great influence which he had exercised at Basle caused him to be honored by the Basle faculty with the doctorate of divinity when he left there for Tubingen. Greater yet was his influence in the latter place, where he was the complete antipode of Baur, the father of the hypercritical "Tubingen school." He was most popular as a professor. All modern novelties he treated with the silence of utter contempt, professing to know nothing but the Bible as the book of life. His writings are very numerous. Thus he wrote, Versuch eizner pneumatisch-hermeneutischen Entwickelung des neunten Kapitels. im Briefe an die Romer (Mergentheim, 1833): — Christliche Reden (Stuttgart, 1834-60, 6 vols.): — Einleitung in das System christlicher Lehre (ibid. 1838, 1870): — Leitfaden der christl. Glaubenslehre (ibid. 1869): — Gedanken aus und nach der Schrift (Tubingen, 1868): — Ueber die wissenschaftliche Behandlung der christlichen Lehre (ibid. 1865): — Unriss der biblischen Seelenlehre (Stuttgart, 1871; Eng. transl. Outlines of Biblical Psychology, Edinburgh, 1877)Erklarun der zwei Briefe Pauli an Timotheus (edited by Julius Lindenmeyer, Gutersloh, 1879), etc. See Zuchold, Bibl. Theol. 1, 87 sq.; Worte der Erinnerung an Dr. Johann Tobias Beck (Tub., 1879). (B. P.)