BECK, CHRISTIAN DANIEL. - Lutheran theologian and philologist, b. at Leipzig on 22 Jan. 1757, d. there on 13 Dec. 1832. He studied ancient philology, theology, and history, and in 1785 became ordinary professor of « graecarum et latinarum litterarum ». Of most extensive learning, he taught daily for four to five hours: New Testament, dogmatics, history of dogmas and of the Church, Greek and Latin literature, archaeology. He was librarian of the University of Leipzig and served as its rector twelve times. He united philology with theology, and was the last to conceive philology as polyhistory.
He published more than 2,000 works on the classics and theology, translations from French and English, as well as many occasional writings. Several of his works remained unfinished. His theological works are: Institutio historico religionis christianae (1793 and 1811); Commentarii historici decretorum religionis christianae et homiliae Lutheranae (1801); Monogrammata Hermeneuticae librorum Novi Poederis (Leipzig 1803), an important work, although it remained at the first part.