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1. The OT Canon 1.1. Presuppositions and Preparatory Stages Long before the OT writings became canonical in any strict sense (measuring up to a kanōn, i.e., a standard or rule), many of them claimed and received an authority that was already related to canonicity and that logically prepared the way for it. Priests, prophets, and wise men spoke with great, if not final, authority. Many of their sayings were remembered and gave instruction and direction to later generations, even if in changed or supplemented form. The …

Overview One may rightly ask whether Jews and Christians really have an ethics per se. For them the law of the Lord is perfect, “reviving the soul” and “making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7; see also Psalm 119). The Jews carefully expound and specify this law in the Talmud, while Christians see it fulfilled in the risen Lord and find in it an offer of comprehensive freedom and direction. Theologians have made this point, especially when criticizing systems of ethics. Yet believers in every age have theorized about their conduct and fo…

[German Version] (May 17, 1832, Karlsruhe – Aug 4, 1910, Baden [-Baden]). Holtzmann obtained his Habilitation in 1858 in Heidelberg, initially with a specialization in the history of dogma, became associate professor there in 1861 and professor in 1865 (based on his major work, Die synoptischen Evangelien …, 1863) before going to Strasbourg in 1874 (his call there was hampered by Holtzmann's position as a “liberal” in politics and church policy [Liberal theology]). Holtzmann established the methodological basis for the two-source hypothesis …

[German Version] (Jan 10, 1800, Gotha – Jun 21, 1873, Hanover). After studying theology for five semesters in Jena and passing his theological exams (1821/1822), Meyer became private tutor in Gronze and pastor in Osthausen, Thuringia, and in 1830 pastor in Harste near Göttingen. He was superintendent in Hoya from 1837 to 1841, and from 1841 also in Hanover, where he was also pastor (5,000 congregation members); in the same year, he was also appointed councilor of the consistory (senior councilor i…

[German Version] (May 10, 1858, Bücken – Nov 23, 1906, Breslau [Wrocław]) received his habilitation at Göttingen in 1892; in 1893 he was appointed associate professor of New Testament at Breslau and was promoted to full professor in 1895. A member of the History of Religions school and influenced theologically by K.A. Eichhorn, he attacked problems of NT studies still on the agenda today from a radically critical perspective. He published a “NT theology” with a purely historical approach as a “his…

[German Version] (Feb 5, 1891, Frankfurt am Main – Jan 10, Basel), professor of New Testament 1921 in Giessen, 1925 in Jena, 1929 in Bonn, dismissed in 1933, 1935 in Basel. Schmidt’s major work was his Der Rahmen der Geschichte Jesu (1919, repr. 1964, 1969); he also published studies on lexicography, Jesus, and primitive Christianity (some reprinted in his Neues Testament, Judentum, Kirche, ed G. Sauter, 1981, with bibl.). Schmidt was the editor of the Theologische Blätter from 1922 to 1937 and the Theologische Zeitschrift from 1945 to 1952. Otto Merk Bibliography A. Mühling, Karl Ludwig…

[German Version] (Apr 9, 1867, Heiligengrabe, Ostprignitz – Feb 21, 1938, Berlin). In 1892 Lütgert ¶ became Privatdozent at Greifswald; in 1895 he was appointed full professor. In 1901 he moved to Halle an der Saale, where he became professor of New Testament in 1902 and professor of systematic theology in 1912, succeeding M. Kähler. In 1929 he went to Berlin, where he was dismissed for political reasons in 1935. His New Testament studies explore the occasion of the Pauline Epistles and, like his Die Religion des deutschen Idealismus und ihr Ende (1923–1930), examine the causes of dec…

[German Version] (Mar 14, 1844, Karklė (Ger. Karkeln), Lithuania – Sep 29, 1915, Leipzig). ¶ Heinrici became Privatdozent in Berlin in 1871, adjunct professor, then full professor of New Testament (partly also for Christian archaeology) at Marburg (1873, and 1874 respectively) and in 1892 at Leipzig. Heinrici methodically established the religious and social relationship between the Greco-Hellenistic world and primitive Christianity, which did not succumb to syncretistic assimilation. He identified Hellenistic a…

[German Version] (Sep 14, 1883, Dresden – Nov 11, 1947, Heidelberg), a Protestant scholar in New Testament studies. He received his Dr.Phil. from Tübingen in ¶ 1906, his licentiate in theology from Berlin in 1908, and his habilitation in NT studies from the same university in 1910. He was appointed full professor in Heidelberg in 1915 and turned down appointments in Bonn (1928) and Berlin (1946). As a theologian, he was active in the ecumenical movement and participated in the public life of his time as a convinced democrat. The emphasis of his work as a NT scholar lay on three areas ( RWGS V, 35…

[German Version] (Jun 2, 1823, Stappenbeck, near Salzwedel – Jan 12, 1907, Jena). Hilgenfeld completed his habilitation in New Testament studies at the University of Jena in 1847. In 1850 he was appointed associate professor, in 1869 honorary professor, and in 1890 professor. A critically moderate representative of the Tübingen (I) School, he specialized in early Jewish apocalypticism, the non-canonical writings, and the history of heresy in the Early Church. As editor of the Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie, he called for a “literary history of primitive Chri…

[German Version] (Aug 8, 1877, Königsberg – Nov 17, 1960, Göttingen) became assistant professor in Marburg (1903), associate professor in Breslau (1913) and in Göttingen (1916), and was professor there from 1919 to 1945. As a New Testament scholar, he combined liberal historical-critical research (Exegesis; Liberal theology) with a history of religions approach (History of religions). His method owed much to reconstruction. He recognized the significance of heresies in the Early Church. Individual studies flank his chief lexicographical work. Otto Merk Bibliography Works incl…

[German Version] (Oct 8, 1905, Görlitz – Feb 18, 1990, Heidelberg), Protestant New Testament scholar, who received his doctorate from Marburg (1930), was lecturer in Königsberg, Heidelberg (Lehrentzug), and Bethel (1934–1939), pastor (1939–1945, Münster, Dortmund), lecturer at Bethel (1945), extraordinary professor at Göttingen (1947), and professor at Heidelb…

[German Version] (May 2, 1844, Augsburg – Apr 30, 1910, Göttingen), received his Dr.phil. in 1868; in 1869 he received his Lic.theol. and habilitation in New Testament at Leipzig. In 1873 he was appointed associate professor at Leipzig, in 1878 full professor at Giessen, in 1890 at Kiel, and in 1895 at Göttingen. He wrote his major work, Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi (3rd and 4th eds., 1901–1909; publ. 1874 as Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Zeitgeschichte) as a moderate, independently liberal theologian. It was far from uncontroversial in its…

[German Version] (May 28, 1883, Elberfeld – Sep 7, 1948, Halle), New Testament scholar. Schniewind received his Lic.theol. from Halle in 1910; in 1914 he lectured there and in 1921 was appointed associate professor. In 1927 he was appointed full professor at Greifswald and in 1929 at Königsberg (Kaliningrad). For disciplinary reasons he was transferred in 1935 to Kiel and in 1936 to Halle. In 1937 he was put on administrative leave for political reasons, but he was permitted to teach once more in 1938. In 1945 he was restored to his full professorship and also appointed provost of ¶ Halle-Mers…

[German Version] (Oct 10, 1870, Halle – May 20, 1934, Halle), Protestant New Testament scholar; in 1893 Privatdozent in Jena, in 1899 associate professor there; in 1904 professor in Strasbourg, in 1910 in Breslau, in 1913 in Halle. Influenced in particular by A. v Harnack, he drew a strictly historically oriented picture of early Christianity that generally bore the traits of liberal theology, with emphasis on theological and religious commonalities. His work on text criticism, the Corpus Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (J.J. Wettstein), the history o…

[English Version] Schmidt, Karl Ludwig (5.2.1891 Frankfurt/M. – 10.1.1956 Basel), o. Prof. für NT 1921 Gießen, 1925 Jena, 1929 Bonn, 1933 entlassen, 1935 Basel. Sch.s Hauptwerk ist »Der Rahmen der Gesch. Jesu« (1919, Nachdr. 1964, 1969); Studien zur Lexikographie, zu Jesus und zum Urchristentum (z.T. in: Ders., NT – Judentum – Kirche, hg. von G. Sauter, 1981 [Bibliogr.]). Sch. war Hg. von den ThBl 1922–1937 und der ThZ 1945–1952. Otto Merk Bibliography A.Mühling, K.L. Sch., 1997 O. Merk (ZBKG 67, 1998, 264–267) A.Mühling (TRE 30, 1999, 231–233) (Lit.).

[English Version] , Friedrich Georg Eduard William (10.5.1859 Bücken – 23.11.1906 Breslau), 1892 Habil. in Göttingen, 1893 a.o., 1895 o. Prof. für NT in Breslau. Der Religionsgeschichtlichen Schule zugehörend, von A. Eichhorn theol. geprägt, wurden von W. problem- und wirkungsgesch. bis heute unerledigte Aufgaben ntl. Wiss. radikal krit. angegangen: Eine rein hist. eruierte »Ntl. Theol.« (Über Aufgabe und Methode der sog. ntl. Theol., 1897) als traditionsgesch., die Kanongrenze preisgebende »urchristl…

[English Version] Schürer, Emil Johannes (2.5.1844 Augsburg – 30.4.1910 Göttingen), 1868 Dr. phil., 1869 Lic. theol. und Habil. im Fach NT in Leipzig; 1873 a.o. Prof. in Leipzig, 1878 o. Prof. in Gießen, 1890 in Kiel, 1895 in Göttingen. Als gemäßigter, eigenständig liberaler Theologe schuf er sein Hauptwerk »Gesch. des jüd. Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi«, 3. und 4. Aufl. 1901–1909 (1874 als »Lehrbuch der ntl. Zeitgesch.«). Neben diesem zu seiner Zeit nicht unbestrittenen, aber durch engl. Neubea…

[English Version] Schniewind, Julius (28.5.1883 Elberfeld – 7.9.1948 Halle), Neutestamentler, 1910 Lic. theol., 1914 PD, 1921 a.o. Prof. Halle; 1927 o. Prof. Greifswald, 1929 Königsberg, 1935 strafversetzt Kiel, 1936 Halle, 1937 polit. bedingte Beurlaubung, 1938 Erlaubnis zur Lehre, 1945 volle Wiedereinsetzung als o. Prof., zugleich Propst von Halle-Merseburg. – In theol. Kritik bündelt er formgesch. Forschung gesamtbibl. bedacht in seinen Komm. zu Mk (1933) und Mt (1937) und in Untersuchungen zum Begriff ευ᾿αγγε´λιοn̆/euangélion (2 Bde., 1927, 1931). Nachwirken…