Eck (or Egg), Johann (1486–1543)

German Catholic theologian and polemicist. He was an early and determined critic of Martin Luther, engaging in public disputations with Luther and other reformers. His attacks, including the claim that Luther was associated with Jan Huss, forced Luther to define his position concerning the authority of the Bible, the character of Christ's Church, and the papacy and church hierarchy.

Eck helped draw up the Confutatio declaring Emperor Charles V's total rejection of Protestant principles that was read at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. He was one of the three Catholic advocates in the debates at the Colloquy of Regensburg in 1541. In 1537 he published his German translation of the New Testament.

Born in Egg, in Swabia, he was professor of theology 1510–43 and then chancellor at the university of Ingolstadt in Bavaria. His attack on the reformers was initially launched against Luther's supporter, Andreas Carlstadt (c. 1480–1541), which led to a formal disputation at Leipzig in June and July 1519.