Peter Lampe (born 28 January 1954) is a German

Protestant 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 ...

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 ...

and chaired

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of New Testament Studies/History of Early Christianity at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in Germany.

Life

After studies in

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 ...

, philosophy and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

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 ...

(Germany) and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(Italy) he received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

and his Dr. habil. at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

in Switzerland with works about the social history of the early Christians in the city of Rome in the first two centuries and about the concept of unity and community in the Pauline letters. Scholarships of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung) supported his university education and PhD studies. From 1981 on he taught at the University of Bern as assistant professor ("Wissenschaftlicher Assistent") until, in 1986, he was called to a chair of New Testament Studies at

Union Theological Seminary in Virginia Union Presbyterian Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Richmond, Virginia. It also has a non-residential campus in Charlotte, North Carolina and an online blended learning program. History As a result of efforts undertaken together by the S ...

, USA. In 1992, he took the chair of History and Archaeology of Early Christianity and Its Environment at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

in Germany, where he also served as dean of the school of theology. In 1999, he accepted a call to a chair at the

. In 2005, he co-founded the ''Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology'' (FIIT) at the University of Heidelberg, and in 1997 he founded the ''Societas Theologicum Adiuvantium'' in Kiel. He has been on the editorial board of international scholarly journals and book series. He is a K.St.J. (Germany), an ordained Lutheran minister, being married to Margaret Birdsong and having two children, Daniel and Jessica.

Work

His works focus on the social history of early Christianity (groundbreaking studies on, for example, early Christianity in Rome in the 1st/2nd centuries, and on Paul's correspondence with Philemon; his work also contributed decisively to the paradigm shift toward a more contextual reading of the

Letter to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jes ...

); on the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

background of early Christianity; on Pauline studies (including rhetorical studies); on early Christian

and epigraphy; as well as on methodological and hermeneutical questions. He pioneered applying constructivist categories to New Testament exegesis and hermeneutics. Furthermore, he was one of the first to explore the potential of psychological interpretation in his field.See, e.g., G.Theißen/P.v.Gemuenden, ''Erkennen und Erleben,'' Guetersloher: Guetersloh 2007, 20-22, 382-383. From 2001 to 2008, he directed annual archaeological campaigns in Phrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are the best candidates so far in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancient

Montanism Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simi ...

, Pepouza and

Tymion Tymion was an ancient town in Phrygia, Asia Minor (in today's Uşak Central District, Uşak Province, Aegean Region). Its site is located at the Turkish village of Şükraniye. From the middle of the 2nd century CE to the middle of the 6th century ...

. The Montanist patriarch resided at Pepouza, and the Montanists expected the

heavenly Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the c ...

to descend to earth at Pepouza and

. In late antiquity, both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire. Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century.

Books

* * * 1987 + 1989: ''Die stadtrömischen Christen in den ersten beiden Jahrhunderten: Untersuchungen zur Sozialgeschichte,'' Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/18 (Mohr-Siebeck: Tübingen 1987; 2nd, revised and enlarged edition 1989) , ISSN 0340-9570, , ISSN 0340-9570 * - translation of the 1987 ''Die Anfänge des Christentums: Alte Welt und neue Hoffnung'' * 1995: ''Pocahontas: Die Indianer-Prinzessin am Englischen Hof'' (Diederichs: München 1995) * 1998: ''Die Briefe an die Philipper, Thessalonicher und an Philemon,'' NTD 8/2 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 1998) (together with N. Walter and E. Reinmuth) , * 2003 ff: ''From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries'' (Fortress: Minneapolis/Continuum: London, 2003; 6th ed. 2010) , , , , E-book (2006) ED001856 * 2004: ''Felsen im Fluss: Schriftworte in provokativer Auslegung zu Themen der Zeit'' (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2004) * 2005: ''Wortglassplitter'' (a book of poetry; Athena: Oberhausen, 2005) * 2006: ''Die Wirklichkeit als Bild: Das Neue Testament als ein Grunddokument abendländischer Kultur im Lichte konstruktivistischer Epistemologie und Wissenssoziologie'' (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2006) . * 2007: ''Küsste Jesus Magdalenen mitten auf den Mund?: Provokationen, Einsprüche, Klarstellungen'' (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2007) * 2008: ''Pepouza and Tymion: The Discovery and Archaeological Exploration of a Lost Ancient City and an Imperial Estate'' (deGruyter: Berlin/New York, 2008; together with W. Tabbernee) und * 2008: ''Neutestamentliche Exegese im Dialog: Hermeneutik – Wirkungsgeschichte – Matthäusevangelium'' (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008) (ed. together with M. Mayordomo, M. Sato) * 2010: ''Neutestamentliche Grenzgänge: Symposium zur kritischen Rezeption der Arbeiten Gerd Theißens'' (Göttingen: Vandenhoek and Ruprecht 2010) (ed. together with H. Schwier) * 2010: ''Paul and Rhetoric'' (New York/London: Clark 2010) (together with J.P. Sampley) * 2012: ''New Testament Theology in a Secular World: A Constructivist Work in Philosophical Epistemology and Christian Apologetics'' (translated by Robert L. Brawley from the 2006 German edition with substantial subsequent revisions and augmentations by the author; London & New York: T&T Clark/Bloemsbury, 2012) * 2019: ''Ad ecclesiae unitatem: Eine exegetisch-theologische und sozialpsychologische Paulusstudie'' (437 pp; Habilitationsschrift; Universität Bern: Bern, 1989) online: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg: Heidelberg 2019, DOI: 10.11588/diglit.48669; https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/lampe1989

Awards

In 2003, Lampe received the German ''Ecumenical Preaching Award'' (Bonn, Germany). In 2008, he was made honorary professor at the

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

in South Africa. In 1987, in the United States his German book ''Die stadtrömischen Christen'' was awarded the distinction of ''Scholar’s Choice'' (''significant current theological literature from abroad''). National merit scholarships of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung).

About Peter Lampe

* E.-M. Becker, ed., ''Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft,'' UTB 2475, Tübingen – Basel: 2003, 167-175; http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/25282 * Gerd Theißen im Gespräch mit Peter Lampe, ''Jahresheft der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Heidelberg'' 9 (2013/14), 61-68; http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/archiv/25149 * Ute E. Eisen & Heidrun E. Mader, eds., ''Talking God in Society: Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Festschrift for Peter Lampe,'' vol. I: Theories and Applications (807 pp.) & vol. II: Hermeneuein in Global Contexts: Past and Present (532 pp.), NTOA 120/1+2, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht/Göttingen: 2020 (vol. I: ISBN Print: 9783525573174, ISBN E-Book: 9783647573175; vol. II: ISBN Print: 9783525573181, ISBN E-Book: 9783647573182); especially vol. I, pp. 9-13 (about Lampe's oeuvre) & vol. II, pp. 495-521 (Lampe's bibliography)

References

External links

Picture, cv and bibliography of Peter Lampe: Webpage of the University of Heidelberg

Who’s Who in the World
(2003 ff) an

(2003 ff) * Peter Lampe in German Wikipedia * German Ecumenical Preaching Award * Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology
Societas Theologicum Ordinem Adiuvantium

Portrait of Peter Lampe in DIE ZEIT
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampe, Peter 1954 births Living people German biblical scholars German Christian theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians 21st-century German Protestant theologians New Testament scholars University of Bern alumni Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty University of Kiel faculty Heidelberg University faculty German male non-fiction writers