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416 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA Thessaloniea Thiersch tifications of others with the Theudas of Acts fail to convince. Blass conjectures a father or grand-, father of the Josephan Theudas and of the same name, relying upon ancient custom, but without any testimony to the fact. Again Blass conjectures that, while many regard Josephus as the basis of Luke in Acts, some one has inserted Theudas in the text of Josephus, basing his supposition in part upon a variant reading in Codex D. Some scholars like B. Weiss, Clemen, and Hilgenfeld suppose the ref erence to time in Acts is due to an editor whose chronology was wrong. Recently the passage is newly adduced to show Luke's dependence upon Josephus. Josephus fol lows his report of Theudas with one of the revolt of the sons of Judas under Quirinius. Moreover, there are verbal coincidences between the narra tive of Luke and that of Josephus; both also name Judas, though Josephus knows his origin; both speak of Quirinius' taxing. These lead to the con clusion of interdependence. On the other hand, Luke knows the number of the adherents of Theu das, Josephus speaks of " a great part of the people," though his narrative shows that a squadron of cavalry (about 500 men) broke up the combination; Luke has employed little of the detail of Josephus. In that ease Luke must have misunderstood Jo sephus, assumed the relative order in Josephus' narrative as historical, and transferred the events from Judas' sons to the father. Schmiedel supposes that Luke had made notes, meager, however, from Josephus, not noting the dates of the events, in deed reading hastily the account of Josephus, and so misplaced the events. But this is all conjecture. Acts does not show traces of such a method. While the notice of Judas goes back upon Ant., XVIIL, i. 1, other events mentioned by Luke come from other sources, and follow other traditions than those of Josephus. It is better to consider that in the case under consideration Luke was not dependent upon Jo sephus, that the coincidences of the two writers depend upon the common tradition of the period, that the two cases were connected in Luke's mind as those of revolts, and that the chronological coin cidence in order is accidental. (P. FEINE.) BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sonntag, TSK, 1837, pp. 622-852; K. T. Heim, A us dem Urchriateathum, i.1-27, Zurich, 1878; C. C. Clemen, Chronologie der Pauliniachen Briefs, pp. 88-89, Halls, 1893; M. Krenkel, Joseph= and Lucas, pp. 182 174, Leipsic, 1894; A. Hausrath, Neutestamentliche·Zeih peachichte, iv. 239-243, Heidelberg, 1877, Eng, transl., London, 1895; W. Dl. Ramsay, Was Christ born at Belhle hem, pp. 252-260, London, 1898; Cross, in Expository Times, 1899-1900. pp. 538-540; P. Feine, Theolopasehea Literaturblatt, 1900, pp. 80-81; DB, iv. 750; EB, iv. 5049-57; JE, xii. 140; and commentaries on the Acts. THIEME, time, KARL: German Protestant; b. at Spremberg (53 m. s.s.w. of Frankfort), Saxony, July 20, 1862. He was educated at the Univer sity of Leipsic (Ph.D., 1887; lie. theol., 1889), where he became privat-docent in 1890, and as sociate professor of systematic theology in 1894. In theology he is a moderate liberal, and has writ ten, Glauben and Wissen bei. Lotze (Leipsie, 1888) ; Die sittliche Triebkraft des Glaubens (1895); Eine katholische Beleuchtung der augsburgischen Kon- fession (1898); Lathers Testament wider Rom

(1900); Der 0ffenbarungsglaube im Streit caber Bibel and Babel (1903); Die christliche Demut (vol. i., 1906) ; Jesus and seine Predigt (Giessen, 1908) ; Die Theologie der Heilstatsachen and das Evangeliunt Jesus (1909); and Zu Wundts Religionspsychologie (Leipsic, 1910).

THIERSCH, tirsh, HEINRICH WILHELM JOSIAS: German Irvingite; b. at Munich Nov. 5, 1817; d. at Basel Dec. 3, 1885. He studied philology at Munich (1833-35; chiefly under his father; but also heard Schelling and Gorres), theology at Er langen (1835-37, where he heard Olshausen and Harless), and at Tubingen (1837-38); became rep etent at Erlangen (1839), privat-docent (1840) and professor of theology at Marburg (1843); mean while, as early as 1836 he had become interested in Irvingism, and received that faith (1847), and resigned his professorship in 1850 in order to labor in the interests of the Catholic Apostolic Church (q.v.) which was then being organized in Germany by " evangelists " from England. Among these the Apostle Carlyle exercised the deepest in fluence upon him. Thiersch received ordination from the Irvingites, and subsequently resided suc cessively in Marburg, Munich, Augsburg, and Basel, exercised a general ministry over the scattered Ir vingite congregations, was privat-docent at Mar burg (1853-58), but in general his university life was closed with his acceptance of Irvin gite prin ciples. During the later years of his life he cor responded frequently with Dollinger and other Old Catholic leaders.

Thiersch was a man of sincere and profound piety, of rare classical, theological, and general culture, an enthusiastic teacher, and might have become the successor of Neander in Berlin; but, in obedience to what he believed to be a divine call, he sacrificed a brilliant academic career to his religious convictions. He lived in poverty and isolation. He was lame; but had a very striking, highly intellectual and spiritual countenance, and an impressive voice and manner. He was the most distinguished German convert to Irvingism. He sincerely believed that the Lord had restored the apostolic office and the prophetic gifts of the Apostolic Church in the Irvingite community; and, notwithstanding the apparent failure of the movement, he adhered to it till his death.

His chief writings are: Versuch zur Herstellung des historisehen Standpunkts fur die Kritik der neutestamentlichen Schriften (Erlangen, 1845; against the Tubingen school of Baur, who answered in Der Kritiker and der Fanatiker, in der Person des Hewn H. IV. J. Thiersch. Zur Charakteristik der neuesten T heologie, Stuttgart, 1846); Vorlesungen caber Katholieismus and Protestantismus (2 vols., Erlangen, 1846; able, written in an irenic spirit, and in elegant style); Die Kirche im apostolischen Zeitalter (Frankfort, 1852; Eng. transl. by Carlyle the Irvingite, London, 1852); Ueber ehristliches Familienleben (1854); Dollinger's Auffassung des Urchristenthums beleuehtet (1861); Die Gleichnisse Christi (Frankfort, 1867); Die Bergpredigt Christi (Basel, 1867); Die StrafgeseEze in Bayern zum Schutz der Sittlichkeit (1868); Luther, Gustav Adolf