JOHANN KARL WILHELM

VATKE (1806-IS82)  , German Protestant theologian, was born at Behndorf, near Magdeburg, on the r4th of March 1806 . After acting as Privatdozent in Berlin, he was appointed in 1837 professor extraordinarius . Vatke was one of the f3unders of the newer Hexateuch criticism . In the same year in which David Strauss published his Life of Jesus, Vatke issued his book, Die Religion des Allen Testaments Hack den kanonischen Ditcher's entwickelt, which containedthe seeds of a revolution in the ideas held about the Old Testament . Since, however, his book was too philosophical to be popular, the author's theories were practically unnoticed for a generation, and the new ideas are now associated especially with the names of A . Kuenen and J . Wellhausen (qq.v.) . He died on the 18th of April 188e . His other works include: Die menschliche Freiheit in ihrem Verheiltniss zur Siinde and zur gottlichen Gnade (1841), Historischkritische Einleitung in das Alte Testament (1886), and Religionsphilosophie (1888) . See O . Pfleiderer, Development of Theology (189o), and T . K .

Cheyne, Founders of Old Testament Criticism (1893) .