Bruno Steimer (born July 5, 1959) is a German historian of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, especially
early Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
in the Roman era.
Biography
Bruno Steimer was born July 5, 1959, in
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. He graduated high school from . He studied
Catholic theology
Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on canonical scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by the magisterium of the Catholic ...
and history, obtaining his degree in 1986. In 1991, Steimer received his doctorate from the
University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
. His advisor was . After graduation, Steimer has worked at
Verlag Herder
Verlag Herder is a publishing company started by the Herders, a German family. The company focuses primarily on Catholic topics of ecclesiology, Christian mysticism, women's studies, and the development of younger Catholic theologians.
History
...
and its American imprint Crossroad Publishing Company, a book publishing company that focuses on Catholic literature. Notably, he was editor of the third edition of ''
Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche
''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche'' (''Lexicon of Theology and the Church''; commonly abbreviated ''LThK'') is a German-language Catholic theological encyclopedia. Three editions have appeared so far, all published by Herder-Verlag in Freibur ...
'' from 1994–2001, working with
Walter Kasper
Walter Kasper (born 5 March 1933) is a German Catholic cardinal and theologian. He is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, having served as its president from 2001 to 2010.
Early life
Born in Heidenheim ...
.
Work
Steimer's most significant scholarly work was his doctoral dissertation, ''Vertex traditionis: die Gattung der altchristlichen Kirchenordnungen''. It examines the
ancient church orders, a series of
pseudepigraphic
Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...
works purportedly written by Jesus's apostles but actually written centuries later, that laid down strictures and guidelines for the organization of the
early Christian church
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...
.
''Vertex traditionis'' received some scholarly debate. wrote a journal article, ''Der Abfassungszweck der frühen Kirchenordnungen. Anmerkungen zu den Thesen Bruno Steimers'', quibbling with some of Steimer's conclusions. In particular, Steimer writes that many of the early ancient church orders were clarifying and systemizing what was already common practice within the community, and thus their strictures are useful as a direct guide to early Christian practices. For the ''
Didache
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...
'', ''
Didascalia Apostolorum
''Didascalia Apostolorum'', or just ''Didascalia'', is a Christian legal treatise which belongs to the genre of the Church Orders. It presents itself as being written by the Twelve Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem; however, scho ...
'', and ''
Apostolic Tradition
The ''Apostolic Tradition'' (or ''Egyptian Church Order'') is an early Christian treatise which belongs to the genre of the ancient Church Orders. It has been described to be of "incomparable importance as a source of information about church lif ...
'', Schöllgen argues that if they were truly descriptive of the normal state of Christian communities, there would be no need to use the forged authority of the apostles as claimed authors. The works already describe a church that should be very deferential to its bishops, so why not simply state its teachings according to the authority of these known leaders? Rather, to Schöllgen, these earlier church orders were prescriptive, outlining how the author felt the church should be organized, but apparently was not organized as such at the time.
[Schöllgen, Georg (1997). ''Der Abfassungszweck der frühen Kirchenordnungen. Anmerkungen zu den Thesen Bruno Steimers''. In: ''Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum'' 40, 1997, , S. 55–77. ] Bart Ehrman
Bart Denton Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including t ...
also commented on the debate, and favored Schöllgen's stance over Steimer's.
[.]
References
External links
Bruno Steimerworks listed at the
German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steimer, Bruno
1959 births
University of Regensburg alumni
Historians of Christianity
German Roman Catholics
Living people