Neander, Johann August Wilhelm (yōˈhän ouˈgŏst vĭlˈhĕlm nāänˈdər) [key], 1789–1850, German theologian and church historian. Of Jewish parentage, he became a Lutheran (1806), changing his name from David Mendel. In 1813 he became professor of church history at the Univ. of Berlin. A disciple of Friedrich Schleiermacher, he was one of the leaders in the attempt to mediate between the rationalists and the extreme orthodox Lutheran theologians. He wrote many books, of which the best known is Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Religion und Kirche (11 vol., 1825–52; tr. General History of the Christian Religion and Church, 9 vol., 1847–55).
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