# Protestant and Catholic Tübingen School

The Tübingen School is a scientific school of Protestant and Catholic theologians who developed the foundations for the historical-critical method of biblical research at the University of Tübingen in the 19th century.

## Protestant and Catholic Tübingen school

The Tübingen School emerged around 1826 in the circle of the Protestant theologian Ferdinand Christian Baur, who worked as Professor of Church and Dogmatic History from 1826 to 1860 and as Rector of the University of Tübingen in 1841 and 1842. Baur and his students laid the foundations for the historical-critical method of biblical research in the 19th century. Baur's students included, among others: David Friedrich Strauß, Johann Tobias Beck, Karl Reinhold von Köstlin and Baur's student Eduard Zeller. Beck, however, rejected Baur's speculative view and founded a more biblically based school, while Albert Schwegler switched from theology to philology in 1841 following conflicts with Württemberg church authorities.

### Catholic school

Catholic theologians with a similar line of research to Baur were Johann Sebastian von Drey (1777-1853), Johann Adam Möhler (1796-1838), Johann Baptist von Hirscher (1788-1865) as well as Franz Anton Staudenmaier (1800-1856) and Johannes von Kuhn (1806-1887). They engaged in controversial discussions with Baur and his students, which is why the Catholic Tübingen school can be clearly distinguished from the Protestant school. Inspired by the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, it also dealt with the issue of divine revelation vs. human reason. In doing so, it endeavored to unite historical and speculative theology.
The Protestant Tübingen school was involved in a long and fierce dispute with its Tübingen colleague Heinrich Ewald. Albrecht Ritschl, who strove to strike a balance between orthodox and liberal theology, ultimately parted ways with the Tübingen school.
Around 1860, the Anglican New Testament scholar and philologist Brooke Foss Westcott took up Baur's methods and developed a historically sharpened critical method of biblical research.

## Three Tübingen schools

Some historians even distinguish between three Tübingen schools:
* Older Tübingen school (Protestant), founded by Gottlob Christian Storr (1746-1805). It essentially represented Kant's supernaturalism, according to which divine revelation is above all human reason. Therefore, the formal authority of the Bible also has its place in research.
* Tübingen School (Catholic), founded around 1819 by J.S. Drey, further developed by Möhler and Hirscher.
* Younger Tübingen School (Protestant), founded around 1826 by F.C. Baur. In contrast to (1), it advocates a historical-critical theology free of dogmatic presuppositions.
In the 20th century, the latter schools also found numerous representatives among natural scientists and philosophers, such as Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.

## Literature

* Matthias Adrian/Rainer Kampling: Freiheit in Grenzen? Forschung und Konflikte neutestamentlicher Exegeten der „Katholischen Tübinger Schule“ im 19. Jahrhundert (= Contubernium. Band 89). Steiner, Tübingen 2021, ISBN 978-3-515-12892-6.
* Johannes Zachhuber: Zwischen Idealismus und Historismus. Theologie als Wissenschaft in der Tübinger Schule und in der Ritschlschule (= Arbeiten zur Kirchen- und Theologiegeschichte, Bd. 46). Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2015, ISBN 978-3-374-04156-5.
* Bauspiess, Martin/Landmesser, Christof/Lincicum, David (Hrsgg.): Ferdinand Christian Baur und die Geschichte des frühen Christentums. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament - 333. Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck 2014, 2014. ISBN 9783161508097.
* Michael Kessler, Ottmar Fuchs (Hrsg.): Theologie als Instanz der Moderne. Beiträge und Studien zu Johann Sebastian Drey und zur Katholischen Tübinger Schule (Tübinger Studien zur Theologie und Philosophie). 2005, ISBN 978-3-7720-8075-3.
* Matthias Blum/Rainer Kampling: Zwischen katholischer Aufklärung und Ultramontanismus. Neutestamentliche Exegeten der „Katholischen Tübinger Schule“ im 19. Jahrhundert und ihre Bedeutung für die katholische Bibelwissenschaft (= Contubernium Band 79). Steiner, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-515-10263-6.
* Stefan Warthmann: Die Katholische Tübinger Schule. Zur Geschichte ihrer Wahrnehmung (= Contubernium. Band 75). Steiner, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-515-09856-4
* Tübinger Schule in Meyers Konversationslexikon
* Josef Rupert Geiselmann: Die katholische Tübinger Schule: ihre theologische Eigenart. Herder, 1964.
* Josef Mader: Offenbarung als Selbstoffenbarung Gottes: Hegels Religionsverständnis als Anstoß für ein neues Offenbarungsverständnis in der katholischen Theologie des 19. Jahrhunderts. Lit, 2000, ISBN 978-3-8258-4309-0.
* Gerhard Müller: Theologische Realenzyklopädie. Band 35, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2003, ISBN 3-11-017781-1, S. 676.
* Ulrich Köpf (Hrsg.): Historisch-kritische Geschichtsbetrachtung: Ferdinand Christian Baur und seine Schüler. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1994, ISBN 978-3-7995-3234-1 (Online-Vorschau).
Template:SORTIERUNG:Tubinger Schule