Gottlieb Christoph Adolph von Harless

1806-1879. German Lutheran theologian. Born in Nuremberg, he studied philology and law at Erlangen and Halle, where he was influenced by F.A.G. Tholuck* toward theology and particularly Luther's doctrine of justification. He was professor of NT exegesis and university preacher at Erlangen (1829-45), where he considerably raised the standard of theological teaching and founded the Zeitschrift für Protestantismus und Kirche (1838-76). He was professor at Leipzig (1845-50) and court preacher at Dresden (1850). Called to Munich (1852) to become president of the supreme consistory of Bavaria, he reorganized the Lutheran state church and gave it a new hymnbook and a new order of services. He was one of the most influential representatives of Lutheran orthodoxy of his generation. Among his writings was Christliche Ethik (1842), translated as System of Christian Ethics (1865).