TUBINGEN SCHOOL, in Church his tory, the name given to two schools of theology whose chief representatives were connected with the University of Tiibingen, either as professors or stu dents.
The Old was essentially orthodox. Its founder was Gottlob Chris tian Storr (1746-1805), appointed Pro fessor of Philosophy at Tiibingen in 1775 and Professor of Theology two years later. He accepted unreservedly the di vine authority of the Scriptures, and sought by grammatical and historical exegesis to build up a system of theol ogy, and laid especial emphasis on the evidential value of miracles. He came into conflict with Kant, and criticized his "Religion Within the Limits of Pure Reason" somewhat severely. Storr's theological system is contained in his "Theory of Christian Doctrine Drawn from the Scriptures" (1793). Among his immediate followers were the brothers Johann Friedrich (1759-1821) and Karl Christian Platt (1772-1843), Friedrich Gottlieb Silsskind (1767-1829), and Ernst Gottlieb Bengel (1769-1826), a grandson of the great commentator.
The Modern principles of this school, founded by Ferdinand Chris tian Baur (1792-1860), also Professor of Theology at Tiibingen, were in direct op position to those of Storr. In 1835 Baur published his book on the pastoral epistles, in which he attempted to prove that they were the work of the 2d cen tury; and in 1845 he denied the authen ticity of all the epistles attributed to Paul, except that to the Galatians, I and II Corinthians, and Romans (with the exception of the last two chapters, the genuineness of which he called in ques tion). He considered that Peter and John were Jewish in their views, tinly distinguished from their brethren by their faith in Christ as the promised Messiah. Paul maintained a doctrine that the crucifixion made Christ the Sa viour of the world, and elaborated a theory of justification which to them was strange, and of religious freedom which to them was abhorrent. For the sake of peace they were for a while si lent, but the animosity broke out in the Apocalypse, which referred to St. Paul
and his teachings when denouncing the Nicolaitanes. In 1844, in the "The ological Yearbook" (the organ of the school), and in a book on the Gospels, in 1847, Baur attempted to show that the fourth Gospel was not genuine. He mainn• tained that it was written for the pur pose of reconciling Judaistic and Paul ine Christianity, and consequently be longed to the 2d century. Among the al lies and followers of Baur were Zeller, who edited the "Theological Yearbook"; Schwegler, "Post - Apostolic Age"; Ritschl, "Gospel of Marcion and Gospel of Luke"; Kostlin, "Doctrinal System of John"; Hilgenfeld, and Holsten. As Baur grew older he modified his views greatly, and his "Christianity of the First Three Centuries" (1853) is a more conservative work than his previous writings. He asserts the pure morality of Christianity, while he denies its mir acles. Since the death of Baur some of the Tilbingen school have admitted the possibility of miracles as a necessary de duction from Theism, and the judgment concerning the fourth Gospel has been modified, and in some respect reversed. The "Life of Jesus" of Strauss (1832) was the outcome of the teachings of the new Tubingen school. The object of the book is to show that the Gospel narrative concerning Jesus is a philosophic myth— the expression of an idea in the form of an imaginary biography. But in the "New Life of Jesus," he says, "I have, mainly in consequence of Baur's hints, allowed more room than before to the hy pothesis of conscious and intentional fic tion." According to Prof. H. Schmidt, of Breslau, the historical and critical studies of Baur, though they led him to unsound conclusions, prepared the way for the brilliant achievements in the de partments of Church history and doc trine of the present generation, and must ever be a starting point for the history of early Christianity.