Great German theologian, born at Breslau; brought up among the Moravians, his mind revolted against the narrow orthodoxy of their creed, which was confirmed by his study of Plato and the philosophy of the school of Kant, as it for him culminated in Schelling, though the religious feeling he inherited never left him; under these influences he addressed himself to the task of elaborating a theology in which justice should be done to the claims of the intellect and the emotions of the heart, and he began by translating Plato; soon he formed a school, which included among its members men such as Neander and others, distinguished at once for their learning and their piety, and to which all the schools of theology in Germany since have been more or less affiliated; his great merit lay in the importance he attached to the religious consciousness as derived from that of Christ, and the development therefrom in the life and history of the Church of Christ; it was to the religious interest he dedicated his life and consecrated all his learning, which was immense (1768-1834).