1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Schwegler, Albert

SCHWEGLER, ALBERT (1819-1857), German philosopher and theologian, was born at Michelbach in Württemberg on the 10th of February 1819, the son of a country pastor. He entered the university of Tübingen in 1836, and was one of the earliest pupils of F. C. Baur, under whose influence he devoted himself to church history. His first work was Der Montanismus u. die christliche Kirche des 2ten Jahrhunderts (1841), in which he pointed out for the first time that Montanism was much more than an isolated outbreak of eccentric fanaticism in the early church, though he himself introduced fresh misconceptions by connecting it with Ebionitism as he conceived the latter. This work, with other essays, brought him into conflict with the authorities of the church, in consequence of which he gave up theology as his professional study and chose that of philosophy. In 1843 he founded the Jahrbücher der Gegenwart, and became Privatdozent of philosophy and classical philology in Tübingen university. In 1848 he was made professor extraordinarius of Roman literature and archaeology, and soon afterwards professor ordinarius of history. He died on the 5th of January 1857.