Friedrich Bleek

Background

Friedrich Bleek was born on the 4th of July 1793, at Ahrensbok, in Holstein, a village near Lubeck, Germany.

Education

His father sent him in his sixteenth year to the gymnasium at Liibeck, where he became so much interested in ancient languages that he abandoned his idea of a legal career and resolved to devote himself to the study of theology. After spending some time at the university of Kiel, he went to Berlin, where, from 1814 to 1817, he studied under De Wette, Neander and Schleiermacher.

Career

In 1818 after Bleek had passed the examinations for entering the ministry he was recalled to Berlin as Repetent or tutorial fellow in theology, a temporary post which the theological faculty had obtained for him. Besides discharging his duties in the theological seminary, he published two dissertations in Schleiermacher's and G. C. F. Lucke's Journal (1819 - 1820, 1822), one on the origin and composition of the Sibylline Oracles "Uber die Entstehung und Zusammensetzung der Sibyllinischen Orakel, " and another on the authorship and design of the Book of Daniel, "Uber Verfasser und Zweck des Buches Daniel. " These articles attracted much attention, and were distinguished by those qualities of solid learning, thorough investigation and candour of judgment which characterized all his writings.

Bleek's merits as a rising scholar were recognized by the minister of public instruction, who continued his stipend as Repetent for a third year, and promised further advancement in due time. But the attitude of the political authority underwent a change. De Wette was dismissed from his professorship in 1819, and Bleek, a favourite pupil, incurred the suspicion of the government as an extreme democrat. Not only was his stipend as Repetent discontinued, but his nomination to the office of professor extraordinarius, which had already been signed by the minister Karl Altenstein, was withheld. At length it was found that Bleek had been confounded with a certain Baueleven Blech, and in 1823 he received the appointment.

During the six years that Bleek remained at Berlin, he twice declined a call to the office of professor ordinarius of theology, once to Greifswald and once to Konigsberg. In 1829, however, he was induced to accept Lucke's chair in the recently-founded university of Bonn, and entered upon his duties there in the summer of the same year. For thirty years he laboured with ever-increasing success, due not to any attractions of manner or to the enunciation of novel or bizarre opinions, but to the soundness of his investigations, the impartiality of his judgments, and the clearness of his method. In 1843 he was raised to the office of consistorial councillor, and was selected by the university to hold the office of rector, a distinction which has not since been conferred upon any theologian of the Reformed Church. He died suddenly of apoplexy on the 27th of February 1859.

Bleek's works belong entirely to the departments of Biblical criticism and exegesis. His views on questions of Old Testament criticism were "advanced" in his own day; for on all the disputed points concerning the unity and authorship of the books of the Old Covenant he was opposed to received opinion. But with respect to the New Testament his position was conservative. An opponent of the Tubingen school, his defence of the genuineness and authenticity of the gospel of St John is among the ablest that have been written; and although on some minor points his views did not altogether coincide with those of the traditional school, his critical labours on the New Testament must nevertheless be regarded as among the most important contributions to the maintenance of orthodox opinions.

His commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews was abridged by Bleek for his college lectures, and was published in that condensed form in 1868. In 1846 he published his contributions to the criticism of the gospels (Beitrage zur Evangelien Kritik), which contained his defence of St John's gospel, and arose out of a review of J. H. A. Ebrard's 'Wissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelischen Geschichte' (1842).

Achievements

• His greatest work, his commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews (Brief an die Hebraer erlautert durch Einleitung, Ubersetzung, und fortlaufenden Commentar, in three parts, 1828, 1836 and 1840) won the highest praise from men like De Wette and Fr. Delitzsch.

Works

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  • An Introduction to the New Testament, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Galatians were a people of Gallic orG ermanic origin, who...)

  • Manual Of Historico-critical Introduction To The Canonical Scriptures Of The Old Testament, Volume 1

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • Friedrich Bleek's Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse (German Edition)

    (Friedrich Bleek's Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse ist ein...)

  • An introduction to the Old Testament

    (This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

  • Der Brief An Die Hebräer: Einleitung, Volume 1... (German Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Der Brief an die Hebräer, Zweite Abtheilung. (German Edition)

    ( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)

  • Synoptische Erklärung Der Drei Ersten Evangelien, Volume 1... (German Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Ueber Verfasser Und Zweck Des Buches Daniel: Revision Der In Neuerer Zeit Darüber Geführten Untersuchungen... (German Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Einleitung in die Heilige Schrift, von Friedrich Bleek, Erster Theil (German Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)