PLANCK, GOTTLIEB JAKOB. - Lutheran theologian, born on 15 Nov. 1751 at Nürtingen in Württemberg, died at Göttingen on 31 Aug. 1833.
He was an eminent figure both in his territorial church (where he served for over twenty years as general superintendent) and in theology, succeeding C. W. F. Walch in the chair of ecclesiastical history and symbolics. His approach, which may be described as "rational supernaturalism," represents a transition from strict Lutheranism to an Enlightenment position. He formulated his system in substantial works on the history of theology and the Church, and in comparative expositions of the dogmatic methods of Christian churches ("symbolics"), which were also valued by Catholics of the period, e.g., by J. A. Möhler.
His principal work is the *Geschichte der Entstehung, der Veränderungen und der Bildung unseres protest. Lehrbegriff* (6 vols., Leipzig 1781–1800).