In 1809, Bruno Bauer was born in Germany. Educated at Berlin University, the biblical critic was appointed a teacher of theology. He became professor at Bonn in 1839 but lost his chair in 1842 because of his rationalist views. "In his numerous historical and Scriptural works Bauer rejects all supernatural religion, and represents Christianity as a natural product of the mingling of the Stoic and Alexandrian philosophies," wrote freethought historian Joseph McCabe (A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists.) D. 1882.