Johann Gottfried Eichhorn

1752-1827. German biblical scholar. Born at Dörrenzimmern, he became professor at Jena (1775) and at Göttingen (1788). He dismissed as spurious many of the OT books and was a pioneer of “Higher Criticism.”* His three-volumed introduction to the OT was influential for many years after its publication in 1780-83. Though purportedly based upon scientific study, the accuracy of some of his work has been questioned by scholars. He was one of the early advocates of the so-called primitive gospel hypothesis, which holds that all three synoptic gospels* are based on a lost Aramaic gospel.