Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette

Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette (12 January 1780 – 16 June 1849), was a German theologian and biblical scholar.

Life and Education

He was born at Ulla, near Weimar, where his father was pastor. He was sent to the gymnasium at Weimar, then at the height of its literary fame. Here he was much influenced by Johann Gottfried von Herder, who frequently examined at the school. In 1799 he entered on his theological studies at Jena, his principal teachers being J. J. Griesbach and H. E. G. Paulus; from the latter he derived his tendency to free critical inquiry. In addition, by the time he submitted his dissertation in 1804 (September), he was in regular contact at Jena with Jakob Friedrich Fries and Karl David Ilgen, who perhaps led him to his contact with Johann Severin Vater, a scholar whose work he both admired and, in some respects, duplicated independently. Both in methods and in results, however, he occupied an almost solitary position among German theologians.