Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus

Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus (1761–1851) studied at the Tübinger Stift, became professor of oriental languages in 1789, and in 1793 professor of Protestant theology in Jena, later in Heidelberg.

He belonged to the older generation of Tübingen scholars who welcomed Hegel in Jena. In Heidelberg this relationship turned into a conflict: Paulus explained the miracles of the Gospels naturally — as misunderstood events — while Hegel sought to grasp the religious content conceptually. Both paths led away from orthodoxy, but in different directions.