Johann Georg Walch

1693-1775. Protestant theologian. Born at Jena and inclined to Pietism in his youth, he taught at Jena all his life, as professor of philosophy (1718), poetry (1721), and theology (1734). He attacked the ideas of Wolff in the name of Lutheran orthodoxy, though his heavy dependence on natural theology reveals his indebtedness to the Enlightenment.* He treated of Lutheranism in two massive works, one historical (5 vols., 1733-36), and one doctrinal (5 vols., 1730-39). He also edited Luther's works in twenty-four volumes (1740-52) with valuable introductions and critical apparatus. From 1754 he was ecclesiastical councillor for Saxe-Weimar. His sons Johann (1725-78) and Christian (1726-84) were also noted Lutheran theologians.