{"id":257,"date":"2013-01-03T11:00:19","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joecarter\/?p=257"},"modified":"2012-12-31T05:30:37","modified_gmt":"2012-12-31T05:30:37","slug":"worst-theologian-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joecarter\/2013\/01\/worst-theologian-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Worst Theologian Ever?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I have a particular fondness for strong opinions, Best\/Worst lists, and theology. You don\u2019t often find all three in the same place but Fred Sander\u2019s hits that trifecta in his post \u201cKarl Bahrdt, Worst Theologian Ever<\/a>.\u201d (No, not Karl\u00a0Barth<\/em>, Karl\u00a0Bahrdt<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

A Lutheran preacher\u2019s kid, Bahrdt started studying theology in 1757 in Leipzig, at age sixteen. He became famous for \u201cpranks,\u201d one of which included using Faust\u2019s magic symbols to try to summon demons. . . . These shenanigans led somebody to appoint him as a lecturer on the Bible by age 20. And he kept climbing the academic ladder: a doctorate from Erlangen, a post at Erfurt, a move to Giessen. He had mistresses, saw prostitutes, fathered and abandoned numerous illegitimate children, left his wife, and had creditors always at his heels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that\u2019s just the beginning of his antics. Barhdt sounds like a crazy mix of Albert Schweitzer, Anton Lavey, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Marquis de Sade, and Dan Brown.<\/p>\n

I had never heard of Barhdt before (and probably won\u2019t again) but its useful to have a reference point in the category of \u201cworst theologian.\u201d If Bardht is the worst, who should be considered the runner up for the title of worst theologian ever?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a particular fondness for strong opinions, Best\/Worst lists, and theology. You don\u2019t often find all three in the same place but Fred Sander\u2019s hits that trifecta in his post \u201cKarl Bahrdt, Worst Theologian Ever.\u201d (No, not Karl\u00a0Barth, Karl\u00a0Bahrdt.) A Lutheran preacher\u2019s kid, Bahrdt started studying theology in 1757 in Leipzig, at age sixteen. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nWorst Theologian Ever?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have a particular fondness for strong opinions, Best\/Worst lists, and theology. 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