Kurt Rudolph (3 April 1929
University of Leipzig – 13 May 2020) was a German researcher of

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people ...

and

Mandaeism Mandaeism (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ ; Arabic: المندائيّة ), sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, S ...

Education

Born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Rudolph studied

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and Semitology at the universities of

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in the years 1948 to 1953. Subsequently, for six years, he was

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

while he worked in parallel towards doctorates in theology and religious history. In 1961, he received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in religious history and

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

Career

During his work at universities in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

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 ...

and Santa Barbara, he acquired an international reputation as an expert in Gnosticism and Mandaeism. He also occupied himself with

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and methodological questions in religious studies. His priority was the creation of a religious studies discipline that was independent of theology. Rudolph stressed that religious studies must be a rational science and be subjected to

methodological atheism Sociological and anthropological theories about religion generally attempt to explain the origin and function of religion. These theories define what they present as universal characteristics of religious belief and practice. History From pre ...

. This theory, which was initially fiercely contested in German religious studies, is now largely a matter of consensus. After his retirement in 1994, Rudolph received honorary doctorates in

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

and Leipzig. In his past years he lived in

Works

* ''Die Mandäer I - Das Mandäerproblem'' Vandenhoek 1960 * ''Die Mandäer II - Der Kult'' Vandenhoek 1961 * ''Theogonie, Kosmogonie und Anthropogonie in den mandäischen Schriften'' Vandenhoeck 1965, * ''Die Gnosis - Wesen und Geschichte einer spätantiken Religion'' Leipzig 1977, (4th edition. Vandenhoeck 2005), * ''Gnosis und Spätantike Religionsgeschichte'', (collected essays, Brill 1997)

References

External links

*
Institute of Religious Studies, University of Leipzig

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolph, Kurt 1929 births 2020 deaths Writers from Dresden German historians of religion 20th-century German Protestant theologians University of Greifswald alumni Leipzig University alumni Leipzig University faculty University of Chicago faculty University of Marburg faculty University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Aarhus University faculty Historians of Gnosticism German male non-fiction writers Scholars of Mandaeism Translators from Mandaic