JOHANN

CHRISTIAN WILHELM

See also:

• JOHANN CHRISTIAN WILHELM AUGUSTI (1772-1841)

AUGUSTI (1772-1841)  , German theologian, born at Eschenberga, near Gotha, was of Jewish descent, his grandfather having been a converted rabbi . He was educated at the gymnasium at Gotha and the university of Jena . At Jena he studied oriental languages, of which he became professor there in 18o3 . Subsequently he became ordinary professor of theology (1812), and for a time rector, at Breslau . In 1819 he was transferred to the university of Bonn, where he was made professor primarius . In 1828 he was appointed chief member of the consistorial council at Coblenz . Here he was afterwards made director of the consistory . He died at Coblenz in 1841 . Augusti had little sympathy with the modern philosophical interpretations of dogma, and although he took up a position of free criticism with regard to the Biblical narratives, he held fast to the traditional faith . His works on theology (Dogmengeschichte, 18os; 4th ed., 1835) are simple statements of fact; they do not attempt a speculative treatment of their subjects . In 1809 he published in conjunction with W . M .

L. de Wette a new

translation of the Old Testament . Mention should also be made of his Grundriss einer historischkritischen Einleitung ins Alte Testament (1806), his Exegetisches Handbuch des Allen Testaments (1797-1800), and his edition of Die Apokryphen des A . T . (1804) . In addition to these, his most important writings are the Denku-iirdigkeiten aus der Christlichen Archaologie, 12 vols . (1817-1831), a partially digested mass of materials, and the Handbuch der Christ . Archaologie, 3 vols . (1836-1837), which gives the substance of the larger work in a more compact and systematic form .