Wilhelm Martin Leberecht De Wette (1780-1849), scholar
Wilhelm Martin Leberecht De Wette (1780-1849) was a German scholar.
Biography
A student of Johann Jakob Griesbach and Heinrich Paulus at the University of Jena, was professor at the University of Heidelberg. Renowned for his groundbreaking studies on the origins of the Pentateuch, gave an important contribution also to New Testament studies. Distinguished three theological strands in the New Testament: the Jewish-Christian (in the Synoptic Gospels, most of Acts, the letters of James, Peter and Jude, and the Apocalypse), the Alexandrian (in Hebrews and the Johannine Gospel and letters) and the Pauline. These represent three separate lines along which the message of Jesus was interpreted and developed.