Ferdinand Christian Bur, a German theologian, born at Schmiden, Wurteinberg, June 21, 1792, died in Tubingen, Dec. 2, 1860. He was educated at Tubingen, became a clergyman and afterward a private tutor, and in 1817 was appointed professor at the seminary of Blaubeuern. He was at that period a follower of Neander and Schleiermacher, and published Symbolik und Mythologie, oder die Naturreligion des Alterthums (3 vols., Stuttgart, 1824-'5), which won for him in 1826 the chair of evangelical theology in the university of Tubingen, which he occupied during the rest of his life. He became the founder of the new Tubingen school of theology (see his letter to Hase of Jena, 1855, and his Die Tubinger Schule, 1859), which further developed his system of applying critical tests to the canonical writings. He denied the authenticity of the Gospel of St. John, and all the Pauline epistles except those to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Romans. He drew many inferences from Hegel without altogether identifying himself with the Hegelian system of philosophy, and was charged by his adversaries with having converted He-gelianism into pantheism, and positive Christian faith into Gnostic idealism, and with the subversion of the fundamental doctrines of orthodox Christianity. His followers, however, regard him as the greatest master mind in theology since the death of Schleiermacher. His works relating to the New Testament, include Die Christuspartei in der korinthischen Ge-rneinde, der Gegensatz des paulinischen und petrinischen Christenthums (in the Tubingen Zeitschriftfur Theologie, 1835); Die sogenann-ten Pastoralbriefe des Aposteds Paulus (Stuttgart, 1835; 2d ed., 1866-7); and Paulus, der Apostel Jesu Christi, sein Leben und Wirken, seine Briefe und seine Lehre (1845). The last named work contains the general result of all his investigations relating to St. Paul, and his Kritische Untersuchungen uber die kanonischen Evangelien, ihr Verhaltniss zu einander, ihren Ursprung und Charakter (Tubingen, 1847), gives his researches relating to St. John, St. Luke (which two had been previously published in 1844 and 1846 respectively), St. Mark, and St. Matthew. His works on dogma, based on historical treatment, comprise Das Mani-chdische Beligionssystem (1831); Die christliche Gnosis, oder die christliche Beligionsphilo-sophie (1835), from the 2d to the 19th century; Die christliche Lehre von der Versdhnung (1838); Die christliche Lehre von der Drei-einigkeit und Menschwerdung Gottes (3 vols., 1841-'3); and Lehrbuch der christlichen Dog-mengeschichte (Stuttgart, 1847; 3d ed., 1867). Against the symbolism of Mohler he published Erwiderung gegen Mdhler's neueste Polemik (1834), Gegensatz des Katholicismus und Pro-testantismus (2d ed., 1836), and other writings.

Among his last and most extensive historico-ecclesiastical productions are Epochen der kirchlichen Geschichtschreibung (1852), and a history of the Christian church to the 19th century (5 vols., 1853-'63), the last two volumes of which, left nearly completed, were edited by his son, Professor Ferdinand Fried-rich Baur, and by E. Zeller. Other posthumous works edited by his son are Vorlesun-gen uber neutestamentliche Theologie (Leipsic, 1864), and Vorlesungen uber die christliche Dogmengeschichte (1865 et seq.).