Willibald Beyschlag

Johann Heinrich Christoph Willibald Beyschlag (5 September 1823 – 25 November 1900) was a German Protestant theologian.

Biography He studied theology at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin, afterwards serving as an assistant pastor in Koblenz (1849), then as a pastor in Trier (1850). During the following year, Beyschlag began working as a religious instructor in Mainz. In 1856 he became a court preacher in Karlsruhe, and four years later, he was appointed a professor of practical theology and New Testament exegesis at the University of Halle.

Beyschlag was the leader of the Kirchenpartei called Mittelpartei ("Middle Party"), and in 1876, with Albrecht Wolters, founded the Deutsch-evangelische Blätter (a publication of the Mittelpartei in the Kirche der Altpreußischen Union). Because of the combative nature of the magazine, he was once sued for libel. Also, he was a primary catalyst in the founding of the (Protestant Confederation).

He was a leading supporter of the and was opposed to Chalcedonian Christology. Beyschlag was viewed as an antagonist of the Roman Catholic Church and a sharp critic of Ultramontanism.