Eta Linnemann (October 19, 1926 in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

– 9 May 2009 in

Leer (Ostfriesland) Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

) was a German Protestant theologian. In her last years, she broke completely with the theology of her teacher

Rudolf Bultmann Rudolf Karl Bultmann (; 20 August 1884 – 30 July 1976) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of the New Testament at the University of Marburg. He was one of the major figures of early-20th-century biblical studies. A prominent critic ...

Life

Eta Linnemann studied Protestant theology in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

from October 1948 to July 1953. She passed her first and second state examinations in August 1953 and in August 1957, respectively. The

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (german: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of th ...

commissioned Linnemann to write interpretations of biblical texts for religious education. From this work arose her dissertation on the parables of Jesus - ''Gleichnisse Jesu, Einführung und Auslegung'' - with which she was promoted to a doctor of theology ''summa cum laude'' in July 1961 at the Church University Berlin-Zehlendorf. Between 1961 and 1966 she taught at the seminar for church service in

Berlin-Zehlendorf Zehlendorf () is a locality within the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Zehlendorf was a borough in its own right, consisting of the locality of Zehlendorf as well as Wannsee, Nikolassee and ...

, in 1967 she was appointed as Visiting Professor at

Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the No ...

. In February 1970, Eta Linnemann worked in

with Rudolf Bultmann and Ernst Fuchs on studies on the Passion story. On 10 August 1971, she was awarded an honorary professorship of New Testament at the Theological Faculty of the

Philipps-University Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

. The following year, the

appointed her to the chair of theology and methodology of religious education. Linnemann was a member of the international society Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. Following a conversion experience in 1977, Linnemann caused a stir in 1978 when she to renounced the

historical-critical method Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

in 1978 and asked readers to destroy her previous publications. From 1983, at the age of 60, she departed Germany for Indonesia to train pastors at the Theological University of the Indonesian Mission community in Batu. In 2007, she cited

Ernst Käsemann Ernst Käsemann (12 July 1906 – 17 February 1998) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz (1946–1951), Göttingen (1951–1959) and Tübingen (1959–1971). Study and work Käsemann was born in Bochum. He ob ...

and an unnamed ear witness, that Rudolf Bultmann on his death bed had recanted his critical views. Eta Linnemann lived her last years in the Loga district of Leer.

Influence

Linnemann rejected

Markan priority Marcan priority is the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first of the three synoptic gospels to be written, and was used as a source by the other two (Matthew and Luke). It is a central element in discussion of the synoptic problem; the q ...

and favored the Independence View of the synoptic gospels. One of Linnemann's views to find support among conservative English speaking scholarship, notably

F. David Farnell F. David Farnell (born 1958) is an American New Testament scholar, Christian minister, and is the new Pastor of Theological Training at Redeemer Bible Church in Phoenix, AZ. He was formerly professor of New Testament studies at The Master's Semi ...

, was her rejection of a Q (source) for the

synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

in favour of an explanation following the Jewish requirement of Deuteronomy 19:15 that "on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed".Robert L. Thomas ''Three views on the origins of the Synoptic Gospels'', 2002 p. 255, and p. 322 "Farnell 's third axiom notes, quoting Linnemann, that the reason for four independent Gospels stems from the legal principle of Deuteronomy 19:15b: " the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.""

Selected publications

* ''Bibel oder Bibelkritik?'' (The Bible or biblical criticism?), Nuremberg 2007 * ''Historical Criticism of the Bible: Methodology or Ideology? Reflections of a Bultmannian Turned Evangelical'', (translated by Robert W Yarbrough), Grand Rapids 2001, Kregel Publications, * ''Gibt es ein synoptisches Problem?'' (Is there a synoptic problem?), Nuremberg 1999, 4 revised edition. 3rd edition translated into English. * ''Wissenschaft oder Meinung?'' (Science or opinion?), Nuremberg 1999, 2 extended edition * ''Bibelkritik auf dem Prüfstand''. (Biblical criticism to the test), Nuremberg 1998, 1 Edition * ''Studien zur Passionsgeschichte''. (Studies on the Passion story), Göttingen, 1970 * ''Gleichnisse Jesu - Einführung und Auslegung''. (The Parables of Jesus - introduction and interpretation), Göttingen 1964, 3rd enlarged edition

References

External links

Literature of and about Eta Linnemann in the catalog of the German National Library
* Eta Linnemann
''Original oder Fälschung. Historisch-kritische Theologie im Licht der Bibel''
Bielefeld 1999 (''Original or fake. Historical-critical theology in the light of the Bible'', in German, PDF file, 531 kB) * Robert W. Yarbrough
Eta Linnemann - Friend or Foe of Scholarship
The Master's Seminary Journal 8 (1997), p. 163-189 (English, PDF file, 182 kB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Linnemann, Eta 20th-century German Protestant theologians Women Christian theologians 1926 births 2009 deaths