WETTE, d6 vet'te, WILHELM MARTIN LEBE

RECHT DE: German exegete and theologian; b. at 1Jlla (3 m. w. of Weimar) Jan. 12, 1780; d. at Basel June 16, 1849. He entered Jena in 1799,

and obtained the doctorate in 1805, becoming

privat-docent the same year. His earliest publics

- dons, a critical dissertation upon

Life at Deuteronomy (Jena, 1805, republished

Jena and in his Opuscttla. theologica, Berlin, 1830),

Heidel- and his Beiträge zur Einleitung in das

berg. Alte Testament 1806-07] proved his originality and independence. He was called to Heidelberg as extraordinary pro fessor in exegesis, 1807, and became ordinary professor in theology, 1809. While there he made,

at first in conjunction with Augusti, but later

alone, a translation of the entire Bible (Hei-

333

delberg, 1809-14, 4th ed., 1858), and wrote his Commentary on the Psalms (1811, 5th ed., ed: G. Baur, 1856), which is so exclusively critical that he felt it necessary to add an appendix "On the Devo tional Use of the Psalms" (1837). He denies the Davidic origin of many psalms, and also that the historical Christ is prophesied anywhere in the col lection, referring the so-called Messianic incidents and allusions to nearer historical events. In 1810 he was called to the newly founded university at Berlin, where he came into touch with Schleiermacher, and the two labored for that "better day" in theology when the demands of faith and science should alike be met. In 1815 De Wette published his Commentatio de morte Jesu Christi expiatoria (Berlin), in 1814 his Lehrbuch der hebräisch-judischen Archaeologie (4th At Berlin. ed. by Rsbiger, 1864), in 1817 His torisc)trkritisch Einleitung in . . . das Alte Testament (seven editions during his life time; 8th ed. by E. Schrader, Berlin, 1869, Eng. transl. by T. Parker, 2 vols., Boston, 1843; A Critical and Historical Introduction to the Canonical Scriptures of the Old Testament, 2d ed. 1850); in 1826 his Einleitung in das Neue Testament (6th ed., 1860, Eng. transl., by F. Frothingham, 1858). His entrance into the sphere of dogmatic theology was made in the volume on the death of Christ. He followed this up by Lehrbuch der christ lichen Dogmatik (2 vols., Berlin, 1813-16, 3d ed., 1831-40), Ueber Religion and Theologie (1815,.2d ed. 1821), and Christliche Sittenlehre (3 vols., 1819 23; Eng. transl., Human Life; or, Practical Ethics, by S. Osgood, 2 vols., Boston, 1838, reprint, 1856). This period was made bright with the friend ship of Schleiermacher, Lücke, F. W. Krnmmacher, and Spitta. But he was opposed by Marheineke, who had followed him to Berlin and had lectured against him. De Wette's reply was in the anony mous Die neue Kirche and Glauben in Bunde (1815). The last work composed by him in Berlin was Krit ischer Yersuch über die Schriften des Lukas (1817). Taking a great interest in public affairs, he wrote a letter to the mother of an Erlangen student, Karl Ludwig Sand (who murdered August Dismissal von Kotzebue), in which, while ex from Ber- pressing deep abhorrence at the crime, lin, Call to he still cleared Sand's motives of sus Basel. picion on the ground that the deed was prompted by pure patriotism. For this bold defense he was summarily dismissed from the university by the king (Oct. 2, 1819). He betook himself to Weimar, and there employed his enforced leisure in preparing the first complete edition of Luther's Briefe (1825-28, 5 vols., sup plemental volume by Seidemann, 1856), by which, had he done nothing else, he would have proved himself a scholar. In 1822 he issued his first romance, Theodor, oder des Zweiflers Weihe (1822, 2d ed., 1828; Eng. transl. by J. F. Clarke, Theodore, or the Skeptic's Conversion, 2 vols., Boston, 1849), to which Tholuck replied in Die wahre Weihe des Zweiflers (Hamburg, 1823); and his second, Heinrich Metcbthat, in 1829, 2 vols. In 1822, quite unexpectedly, he was called to Basel,

where he passed the rest of his days. He did excellent service in advancing the university, and won the hearts of many who had bitterly opposed his coming. There he composed his Vorlesungen über die Sittertlehre (Berlin, 1823-24, 2 vols.), and Ueber die Religion, ihr Wesen, ihre Erscheinungsformen und ihren Einfluss auf dHS Leben (1827). He also preached to a highly appreciative audience, and published five collections of sermons (Basel, 1825-29). Another series was published after his death (1849). In 1846 he issued the first part of his unfinished Biblische Geschichte, and in 1836 he began, and in 1848 he finished, his Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch zum Neuen Testament (3 vols., Leipsic), a work marked by brevity and precision and accurate scholarship.

The numerous works already mentioned make up only a partial list of De Wette's writings. Reviews, criticisms, essays, encyclope-

Varied Ac- dia and newspaper articles, sermons, tivities. addresses, pamphlets, works upon art (Berlin, 1846), even a drama Die Ent sagung (Berlin, 1823), and poems, came from his gifted pen. He was fond of society; and hospita bly inclined; and, although deemed a rationalist and "heretic," he took a leading part in philan thropic movements. He founded (1825) a society in Basel to help the Greeks in their struggle against Turkish tyranny, to send missionaries to Greece, and to educate their children, and adopted a little Greek boy into his own family. He also founded the Basel branch of the Gustav-Adolf Verein (q.v.).

The theism of the Kantian criticism forms the basis of De Wette's doctrinal system; but he leans visibly toward Jacobi's theory of religion as feeling. He makes a sharp distinction between knowledge and faith. The former has to do only with finite things; while the infinite must be grasped by faith under the form of feeling. The infinite is revealed by the finite in a symbolical manner.

His Phi- The whole historical revelation is a losophy and symbol in which eternal and super-

Theology. sensuous ideas have found their ex pression. The miracle is a cross to the understanding, but as a symbol it shows its meaning. The dogma is inaccessible to the understanding, but opens itself to the intuition; for intuition is the only means of conception, when the object is a symbol. All religious conception is consequently esthetic, and this esthetic elevation above the mere ly intelligible is to De Wette the only tenable form of supernaturalism. De Wette closely connected dogma with ethics, made ethical considerations de cisive in judging other systems, and held fast to the personality of Christ.

(G. Frank†.)

Bibliography: K. R. Hagenbach, Lei:chenrede, Basel, 1849; idem, Akademische Gedachtniasrede' Leipsic, 1850; I): Schenkel, W. M. L. 'de Wette und die Bedeutung seiner Theologie far unaere Zeit, Schaffhausen, 1849; F. Lücke, W. Df. L. de Wette, Hamburg, 1850; A. Wiegand, IV. M. L. de Wette, Erfurt, 1879; R. Stahelin, W. M. L. de Wette reach seiner theologischen Wirkaamkeit and Bedeutung, Basel, 1880.