THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
NITZSCH, nich, FRIEDRICH AUGUST BER- THOLD: Son of the following; German Protesant theologian; b. at Bonn Feb. 19, 1832; d. at Eel Dec. 21, 1898. He studied at the Friedrich- Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin and at the universities of Berlin, Halle, and Bonn, being influenced finally by the work of Ritschl. After passing his theological examination, he taught for a year and a half, became a licentiate in 1858, the subject of his thesis being Quaestiones Raimundanoe, dealing with natural theology. In 1859 he became privatdocent at Berlin and was called as professor of systematic theology to Giessen in 1868 and in 1872 to Kiel, where he remained until his death. In his literary activity Nitzsch was occupied chiefly with works on the history of dogma. His System des Boethius und die ihm zugeschriebenen theologischen Schriften. Eine kritische Untersuchung (Berlin, 1860) characterizes the system of Boethius as eclectic and as a link between scholasticism and ancient philosophy, but as not in harmony with Christianity. Later works were Augustinus Lehre vom Wunder (1865) in which he treated Augustine's apologetics; and the mature fruit of his researches in the history of dogma, Grundriss der christlichen Dogmengeschichte; erster Teil: Die patristische Periode (Berlin, 1870). The unchangeable result of the development of dogma Nitzsch finds in the thesis that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and as such has provided for the salvation of the world. Thus the historical character of the kingdom of God is established once for all, the connection with Old-Testament revelation is ensured, and Jesus is proclaimed as the absolute principle of salvation and revelation. In the department of dogmatics Nitzsch wrote Lehrbuch der evangelischen Dogmatik (1889-92) in which, as well as in contributions to theological journals, he took the part of the so-called mediating theology, and so came into touch with Ritschl and Lipsius.
(A. Titius.)
Bibliography: O. Baumgarten, in Deutsch-evangelische Blatter, xxiv. 116-133.
NITZSCH, KARL IMMANUEL: German Protestant, one of the most distinguished representatives, in the nineteenth century, of the mediating theology; b. at Borna (16 m. s.s.e of Leipsic), Saxony, Sept. 21, 1787; d. in Berlin Aug. 21, 1868. His theological training was secured at Wittenberg, where his father, Karl Ludwig Nitzsch (q.v.), was professor; and he became docent in 1810 with the dissertation, De testamentis duodecim patriarcharum, and in 1811 was ordained as assistant pastor of the Schlosskirche. In 1817 he was appointed professor in the recently founded seminary at Wittenberg, and in 1822 accepted a call to the University of Bonn. In 1829 he published his System der christlichen Lehre (6th ed., Bonn, 1851; Eng. transl., Edinburgh, 1849). This work defined his position toward rationalism, supernaturalism, and Schleiermacher. He said himself that he had " learned more from his father, Daub, and Schleiermacher than from any other teachers, but had been obliged to draw back from them all more or less." He differed from Schleiermacher in the doctrine of God's relation to the world, the divine attributes, etc., and also substituted for Schleiermacher's " Christian consciousness " the
Word of God itself. Notwithstanding these differences, however, he was willing to be placed at the side of Twesten as the principal representative of Schleiermacher's theology; and he was never tired of magnifying that theologian's services in making a sharp distinction between metaphysics and theology. In this period, Nitzsch wrote his able reply to Mohler's work on symbolics (Eine protestantische Beantwortung der Symbolik Mohlers, Hamburg, 1835) and made valuable and frequent contributions to the TSK, under the editorial care of Ullmann and Umbreit. Most of these dissertations appeared, after the author's death, under the title Gesammelte Abhandlungen (2 vols., Gotha, 1870). During the Bonn period (1822-47) Nitzsch also acted as university preacher, and took a very active part in ecclesiastical affairs, such as the revision of the Liturgy, and the measures looking to the union of the Lutheran and Reformed communions. In the interest of the union he wrote, among other things, Urkundenbuch der evangelischen Union (Bonn, 1853) and Wilrdigung der von Dr. Kahnis gegen die evangelische Union und der en theologische Vertreter gerichteten Angriffe (Berlin, 1854).
Nitzsch was called in 1847 to the University of Berlin, where he continued to labor as professor till his death. He was also honored with a seat in the highest ecclesiastical council (Oberconsistorium, changed in 1852 to the Oberkirchenrath) , and was elected a representative to parliament in 1849. In 1854 he was appointed provost of the Nikolaikirche. The most important literary work of the Berlin period, and of his entire life, was his Praktische Theologie (3 vols., Bonn, 1847-67; 2d ed., 1859-68). The first book treats of the theory of church life; the second, of the practise at the present time. Besides these various works, volumes of sermons also appeared from his pen, a complete revised edition at Bonn in 1867. (F NiTZScHt-)
Bibliography: W. Beyschlag, Karl Immanuel Nitzsch,
eine Lichtgestalt der neueren deutsch-evangelischen Kirchen-
geschichte, Berlin, 1872.
NITZSCH, KARL LUDWIG: German Protestant; b. at Wittenberg Aug. 6, 1751; d. there Dec. 5, 1831. He studied theology at Wittenberg (1770- 1775), and, after acting as private tutor for several years at Brandis near Leipsic, became pastor at Beucha in 1781, pastor and superintendent at Borna in 1785, and cathedral superintendent and consistorial assessor at Zeitz in 1788. In 1790 he became pastor and professor of theology at Wittenberg. Proceeding from Kant, Nitzsch sought to mediate between rationalism and supernaturalism. Revelation, he held, is not the divine communication of a supernatural content foreign to the human spirit, but the promulgation of a divine content which is inherent in man in a latent manner, but suppressed by sensuality and egoism. While he did not deny the supernatural factor of revelation like the rationalists, he was no less opposed to the supernaturalists in regarding the essence of Christian revelation as moral and rational. A revelation that reveals anything not to be grasped by reason is for him no revelation at all. He attributed the character of revelation also to the old covenant, though he considered it only a revelatio nomothetica as op-