Paul Wernle (1872–1939) Evangelischer Theologe

Paul Wernle (1 May 1872 – 11 April 1939) was a Swiss

theologian 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 ...

, born in Hottingen, today part of the city of

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

. He studied at the Universities of

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

. At

he was a student of

Bernhard Duhm Bernhard Lauardus Duhm (October 10, 1847 – November 1, 1928) was a German Lutheran theologian, born in Bingum, today part of Leer, East Frisia. He was a member of the history of religions school. Early life and education Duhm studied theolo ...

(1847-1928), and in

was influenced by

Wilhelm Bousset Wilhelm Bousset (3 September 1865, Lübeck – 8 March 1920, Gießen) was a German theologian and New Testament scholar. He was of Huguenot ancestry and a native of Lübeck. His most influential work was ''Kyrios Christos'', an attempt to explain ...

(1865-1920). In 1900 he became an associate professor at Basel, where in 1905 he was appointed a full professor of

New Testament Studies ''New Testament Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. The scope of the journal are short studies and articles on issues pertaining to th ...

. During the course of his career he also taught classes in dogmatics and

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...

. Wernle was a representative of the ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'' (

history of religions school The history of religions school (German: ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'') is a term applied to a group of German Protestant theologians associated with the University of Göttingen in the 1890s. Ideas The ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'' use ...

). His expertise was in the field of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

analysis, and he is largely remembered for his work involving Synoptic and Pauline research. He died in Basel.

Selected publications

* ''Paulus als Heidenmissionar'' (Paul as Missionary to the Gentiles), 1899 * ''Die Anfänge unserer Religion'' (Beginnings of Our Religion), 1901 * ''Die Quellen des Lebens Jesu. Mohr'' (The Sources of the Life of Jesus), 1906 * ''Lessing und das Christentum'' ( Lessing and Christianity), 1912 * ''Der schweizerische Protestantismus im 18. Jahrhundert'', 1923-1925 * ''Der schweizerische Protestantismus in der Zeit der Helvetik 1798-1803'' (Swiss

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

in the Years 1798-1803), 1938–42

References

* Hermann Goebel (ed.): ''Mitgliederverzeichnis des Schwarzburgbundes''. 8th ed., Frankfurt am Main 1930, p. 148 No. 3482. Swiss Protestant theologians People from Zürich Academic staff of the University of Basel 1872 births 1939 deaths History of religions school {{Switzerland-theologian-stub