SCIENTIST DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 996, 12 June 1930, Page 11

SCIENTIST DEAD

PROFESSOR VON HARNACK, MODERNIST, THEOLOGIAN GREAT WORK IN GERMANY LONDON, Wednesday. The death has occurred at Heidelberg of Professor Adolf von Harnack, modernist, theologian and historian, aged 79. As a theologian Professor von I-lar-nack was the leader of the modernist group originated by Ritschl which, on the basis of a critical investigation of historical sources, has sought to reconcile Christianity with the discoveries of natural science. His chief work is a history in three volumes of the Christian dogmas. His books on the history of Christendom, “The Essence of Christianity,” “Luther” and “St. Augustine,” and his “Speeches and Essays,” are monumental works. He gradually developed from a theologian into an historian and an historical philosopher. By the orthodox theologians he was engaged in bitter controversies. He was born at Dorpat, then a part of Russia, and during his professorship at Berlin was given the honour of being raised to the nobility. Von Harnack married a granddaughter of the famous chemist Liebig. His son Ernst, who occupies a high legal post in Berlin, joined the Socialists after the revolution.