Scholten, JAN HENDRIK, the chief of the modern school of Dutch critical theologians, was born at Vleuter near Utrecht, August 17, 1811. He studied at Utrecht, and became in 1840 professor of Theology at Franeker, in 1843 extraordinary, and in 1845 ordinary professor at Leyden, where he died 10th April 1885, four years after his retirement. His writings were either in Dutch or Latin, but French and German translations carried them far beyond their country. The chief were Principles of the Theology of the Reformed Church (2 vols. 1848-50), Historical and Critical Introduction to the New Testament (1853), A Critical Study of the Gospel of John (1864), The Oldest Witnesses to the Writings of the New Testament (1866), The Oldest Gospel (1868), and The Pauline Gospel (1870). The school of which he was the most conspicuous leader eliminates the supernatural element from Christianity, evolving the religion from the religious consciousness of Jesus.
Scholten gave an interesting sketch of his own religious development in his Afscheidsrede bij het Neerleggen van het Hoogkerarsambt (1881). See also Kuenen's Levensbericht, with a complete list of his writings (1885).