The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Pfleiderer, Otto

PFLEIDERER, pflī'dĕr-ĕr, Otto, German Protestant theologian: b Stetten, Würtemberg, Germany, 1 Sept. 1839; d. Berlin, 20 July 1908. He was educated at Tübingen, and later in England and Scotland, and entered the ministry, serving at Tübingen and Heilbronn. In 1870 he became chief pastor and superintendent at Jena, and later was made professor of theology there. In 1875 he became professor of systematic theology at the University of Berlin, a post which he held till his death. He became widely known as a writer and lecturer, his inclinations being toward a liberal theology. His lectures in London in 1858 and in Edinburgh in 1894 were published in English. Among his works are ‘Die Religion, ihr Wesen und ihre Geschichte’ (2 vols., 1869-78); ‘Religionsphilosophie auf geschichtlicher Grundlage’ (1878-93); ‘Geschichte der Religionsphilosophie von Spinoza bis auf die Gegenwart’ (1893); ‘Evolution and Theology’ (English, 1900); ‘The Early Christian Conception of Christ’ (1905); ‘Religion und Religionem’ (1906); ‘Christian Origins’ (Huebach's translation appeared in 1906); and ‘The Development of Christianity’ (by the same translator, in 1910).