Christoph August Heumann

1681-1764. German Protestant theologian. He studied at Jena, where he taught philosophy for some years, was director of the theological seminary at Eisenach (1709-17), and then of the gymnasium at Göttingen (1717-34). When the latter became the new University of Göttingen, Heumann became professor of the history of literature and associate professor of theology (1734-45) and then full professor of theology (1745-58). Resigning in 1758 when he came to reject the Lutheran understanding of the Eucharist, he devoted the remainder of his life to writing. He wrote extensively in theology, philosophy, linguistics, history, and literary criticism. He translated the NT (1748), wrote a twelve-volume commentary on the whole NT (1750-63), and published numerous controversial papers on the Lord's Supper.