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[German Version] (Dec 3, 1914, Bali, Cameroon – Dec 23, 1977, Bonn), Protestant New Testament scholar. He received his doctorate from Heidelberg in 1939 and his habilitation from Göttingen in 1950; in 1951 he was appointed full professor at Bonn. As a student of M. Dibelius, he combined form-critical and history-of-religions approaches in incisive textual analy-¶ ses. He wa…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Representations of the Apostles I. New Testament 1. The term. The verbal adjective ἀπόστολος/ apóstolos (from apostéllein), as a term for being sent was also used in Greek substantivally, but was not a terminus technicus. Outside political contexts, it occurs rarely in philosophical texts. The roots of the NT concept lie in the OT and Judaism, where the verb שׁלח/ šalaḥ plays an important role; the participle is rare, the noun is late and may not yet be presumed as a precursor to NT usage. The substantival use corresponds to Greek linguistic tradition. 2. Backgrounds. OT-Jewish tradition had a legal concept according to which a person's emissary represented the person in every respect (cf. m. Ber. 5.5). This is true also of statements concerning the sending of the disciples in Luke 10:16, etc. (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). While, as a rule, authorization is limited in time and in substance, שׁלח is understood in prophetic callings as a lifelong commission (Isa 6:8, etc.). Correspondingly, the NT speaks of the sending of the prophets …

[German Version] See also Heavenly voice, Memra, Revelation. I. Religious Studies Humans experience messages from the deity or divine beings (Inspiration/Theopneusty, Revelation) in the form of speech. Formally we must distinguish (a) the word of the deity himself, as recorded in sacred scripture after a phase of oral transmission (Torah, Qurʾān, Vedas, Avesta); (b) words communicated by individuals specially chosen and called by God (the word that calls); (c) words spoken by elect individuals having a spe…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Church History – III. Dogmatics – IV. Liturgical History – V. Practical Theology – VI. Missiology I. New Testament 1. Background Sacred meals are common to all religions. Before examining them in the context of the NT, it is necessary first to inquire into their background in the OT and in Judaism, whereupon it becomes evident that sacrificial meals play no role in them. Only the dai…