Johann Lange Rejected a Controversial New Theology
Johann Peter Lange after a lifetime defending the Bible and Christ.
JOHANN PETER LANGE was a farm boy who became an internationally famous Bible scholar. He was born on this day, 10 April 1802, near the town of Elberfield, Prussia. His father, a farmer and wagon driver, taught his son these trades, expecting him to help out. However, the younger Lange loved reading. His father understood his passion and allowed him to indulge his inclination as much as business allowed.
When Lange attended school, he so impressed his Latin teacher with his abilities that the man urged him to study for the ministry. So it was that shortly after his nineteenth birthday, Lange entered a college at Düsseldorf. The following year he moved on to the University of Bonn where he studied under the evangelically-minded Dr. K. I. Nitzsch. In spite of the general tendency of German theological scholarship to discredit the Bible, Lange remained fully committed to its validity.
While serving as a pastor, he gained recognition as a theologian when he rebutted D. F. Strauss’s skeptical Life of Jesus in 1836. Liberals at the University of Zurich invited Strauss to become professor of theology there but, before he could fill the appointment, the city underwent a spiritual and political revolution. Lange was called in place of Strauss. He served Zurich for thirteen years and wrote his own three volumes on the life of Christ before he moved back to his alma mater, the University of Bonn.
Lange wrote many other books. The most popular has been a twenty-five-volume commentary of the whole Bible. Philip Schaff translated this into English and it became well-known among evangelicals in English-speaking countries. Lange also wrote hymns, such as “The Lord of Life Is Risen.”
The Lord of life is risen,
And love no longer grieves;
In ruin lies death’s prison,
Sing, heralds, Jesus lives!
We hear the blessed greeting;
Salvation’s work is done!
We worship Thee, repeating,
Life for the dead is won!
Lange remained at the University of Bonn the rest of his life. He lectured until five days before his death in 1884.
—Dan Graves
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Lange rejected attempts to lessen Christ, attempts that have been too common as we can see in Jesus: "Who Do Men Say That I Am?"
(Jesus: "Who Do Men Say That I Am?" can be purchased at Vision Video)
Jesus the New Way features a modern scholar who also exalts the Lord.
Jesus the New Way can be purchased at Vision Video.