ZOECKLER, tsuk'ler, OTTO: German Lutheran theologian; b. at Grünberg (12 In. ex.e. of Giessen) May 27, 1833; d. at Greifswald Feb. 9, 1906. His early life was spent at Laubach, only a few miles south of his birthplace; and in 1849 he entered the gymnasium at Marburg, going thence in 1851 to the University of Giessen; under the influence of Anton Lutterbeck and Leopold Schmid he developed the liking which strengthened during his life for treat ing the harmony of religion and secular science. The result was that his university course yielded larger philosophical than theological acquirements. This was more or leas corrected by later study at the universities of Erlangen, Berlin, Halle, and Göttingen. In 1857 he returned to Giessen and began to lecture there, dealing with the New Tes tament, advancing to church history, and treating also the history of doctrine, encyclopedia, patristics, and history of modern theology. His first book was the Theologia naturalis, Entwurf einer systematischen Naturtheologie vom o,$'enbarungsglitubigen Standpunkt am (vol. i., Frankfurt, 1860), in which his purpose was to give to natural theology its rights as a third discipline beside dogmatics and ethics, the aim being also essentially apologetic. The work was never extended beyond the first volume. A higher war rant than this for advancement in his professional career appeared in his Kritische Geschichte der Askese (1863), a work of learning and circumspection, which was completely worked over into the Askese and Monchtum, which appeared in 1897 and revealed in timately the author's personality. After 1863 his literary activity increased greatly, that year wit nessed also his advancement to the post of extraor dinary professor. The. year 1865 saw the issue of his Hieronymus. Sein Leben and Wirken (Goths), and also the founding of Beweis des Glaubens, with Zöckler as one of the editors and a chief contributor, later the sole editor. A new period began in the life of Zöckler with his call to Greifawald in 1866. That university pre sented at that time only seventeen students in theology in a total of about 400; but the united repu tations of Hermann Cremer (q.v.) and Zöckler brought the number up in a few years to about 380. The tatter's scholarship was rated very high, as was his authority as a theologian in the realm of natural science. His contributions of Chronicles, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song, and Daniel to Lange's commentary (5 vols., Bielefeld, 1866-74; Eng. transl., New York, 1870-77) showed that he stood among the positive theologians of his day. In 1869 he began his work as editor on Allgemeine litterarische Anzeiger f ur das evangelische Deutschland. Up to this time his lectures had been confined to the domain of history; but on the death of his colleague Vogt he took in the realm of dogmatics, and a result of this was his Augsburgische Confession (Frankfort, 1870). Apologetics assumed the chief place in his work -of the following years, and among the works produced were Geschichte der Beziehung zuischen Theologie and Naturtvissenschaft mit beaonderer Rucksicht auf die Schlipfungsgeschichte (2 vols., 1877-79), Gotteszeugen im Reiehe der Natur, Biographieen and Bekenntnisse aus alter and newer Zeit (1881; 4th ed., 1906), and perhaps his richest' book, Das Kreuz Christi (Gütersloh, 1875; Eng. transl., The Cross of Christ: Studies in the History of Religion and the °inner Life of the Church, London, 1877), which exhibited the reflections of the sufferings of Christ in art, theology, and mysticism. In 1882 the editorship of the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung added a new task, as did that of the Handbuch der theologischen Wissenschaft (3 vols., 3d ed., 4 vols., 1889), a considerable part of which came from Zöckler's own pen. In 1886 he began in cooperation with H. L. Strack the issue of Kurzgefasster Kommentar, to which he contributed the parts on the Old-Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the Acts of the Apostles, Thessalonians, and Galatians. His last three years of life witnessed the issue of two important works, Die Tugendlehre des Christentums, geschichtlich dargestellt in der Entureckelung ihrer Lehrformen (1904), and Die christliche Apologetik im 19. Jahrhundert. Lebensbilder and Charakteristiken deutscher evangelischer Glaubenszeugen aus der jiingsten Yergkagenheit (1904). He had projected what was intended to be the crown of his labors in apologetics, but death intervened, and only the first volume appeared, under the editorship of Hermann Jordan and Ernst Sehlapp, Geschichte der Apologie des Christentums (1907). Besides the above-mentioned works he wrote the Biblische and kirchenhistorische Studien (1893); and contributed to the second edition, of the Herzog Realencyklopeidie für protestantische Theologie, while of the third edition his articles are a notable feature.

The mere mention of the publications of this scholar reveal the broad and scientific interests which demanded his attention. In the center of these was history; even apologetics he dealt with from this standpoint, and the same is true of his ventures in the dogmatic sphere. Indeed, theology could not bound his activities, and he often went beyond it; an example of this is his Urgeschichte der Erde and des Menschen (Gütersloh, 1868). Work was to him the breath of life. Withal he was clear in his exposition, whether given in the professor's chair or through the medium of books. His conclusions were the result of profound consideration. In the life of the church of his day he was a considerable figure, representing the theological faculty in the general synod several times. He was also a supporter of both home and foreign missions. Students found in him an able advocate and friend. He was also with full consciousness an earnest advocate of Lutheranism, while in all his relations he exhibited the marks of a kindly and pious individuality. [His deafness doubtless led to the concentration of his energy upon the printed page. The range of his learning was extraordinary.]

(Victor Schultze.)

Bibliography: Otto 26ekier, Er%nneruugablBtter, Gütersloh, 1906. A careful index of ZSekier's writings are given in an appendix to the Geschichte der Apologie, ut sup.

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