Gerd Lüdemann
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Gerd Lüdemann (July 5, 1946–May 23, 2021) was a German
biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
and
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
. He taught first
Jewish Christianity Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus a ...
and
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 ...
at
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
, Canada (1977–1979) and then
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 Christ ...
at
Vanderbilt Divinity School The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion (usually Vanderbilt Divinity School) is an interdenominational divinity school at Vanderbilt University, a major research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of o ...
, U.S.A. (1979–1982). In 1983, he was appointed to the chair in New Testament Studies in the Evangelical Theological Faculty at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
(Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), Germany, and taught New Testament until 1999. In the same year, his chair in “New Testament” was renamed “History and Literature of
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 Institute for Special Research (Institut für Spezialforschungen) at the University. Thus, he was removed from the professorship to train future Protestant pastors and stayed in the new department until his retirement in 2011. Lüdemann, Gerd. 1999/G1998. ''The Great Deception: And What Jesus Really Said and Did.'' Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1999.


Early life and education

Gerd Lüdemann was born on July 5, 1946, in
Visselhövede Visselhövede () is a town in the district of Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are Bremen, Hanover and Hamburg. Visselhövede b ...
, a town in the district of
Rotenburg an der Wümme Rotenburg an der Wümme (also known as ''Rotenburg (Wümme)''; ''Rotenburg in Hannover'' until May 1969; Northern Low Saxon: ''Rodenborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Rotenburg. Geography Rotenburg ...
in
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, Germany. His parents were not poor but they lived modestly; his mother was religious and a devout churchgoer. Lüdemann was a born again Christian by conversion at a “tent mission” of his home town, Visselhövede, in May 1963, but eventually he lost his faith. After high school, he enrolled in the University of Göttingen (1996–1971) and passed the first exam of theology. In the graduate study of the University (1971–1974), he completed his doctoral (D. theol.) dissertation, ''Untersuchungen zur simonianischen Gnosis / Investigations into Simonian Gnosis'' (Göttingen 1974). In 1974–1975, he spent in the United States as a post-doctoral fellow at
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
, U.S.A., under Professor
W.D. Davies William David Davies (1911–2001), often cited as W. D. Davies, was a Welsh Congregationalist minister, theologian, author and professor of religion in England and the United States. Life Davies was born in 1911 in Glanamman, Carmart ...
. After returning to the University of Göttingen in 1975, while he served as academic assistant of New Testament to Georg Strecker (1975–1977), 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 ...
thesis, ''Paulus, der Heidenapostel Band I. Studien zur Chronologie,'' was accepted (D. habil.) by the University of Göttingen in 1977.


Career

Academic assistant of New Testament to Georg Strecker (1975–1977) was the first academic career of Lüdemann. He concurrently (1976–1977) taught, as lecturer, at the ''Volkshochschule'' (adult public school), Göttingen, which sponsors public seminars held by university professors. After the habilitation work (1977), he went to North America again: At first he taught Jewish Christianity and Gnosticism at McMaster University Department of Religion, Canada, as visiting assistant professor (1977–1979), and then he moved to Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., to teach New Testament as assistant professor (1979) and then as associate professor (1980). Lüdemann was awarded Heisenberg-Scholarship of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (1980–1983), and the scholarship enabled him free intensive research without teaching obligation. In 1983, as the successor to
Ulrich Luz Ulrich Luz (23 February 1938 – 13 October 2019) was a Swiss citizen, Swiss theologian and professor emeritus at the University of Bern. Early life He was born on 23 February 1938 in Männedorf. He studied Protestant theology in Zurich, Götting ...
, Lüdemann was appointed to the head of New Testament in the Evangelical Theological Faculty at the University of Göttingen. In 1999, he was reassigned to the Early Christian Studies Department of the Institute for Special Research (Institut für Spezialforschungen) at the University and taught “History and Literature of Early Christianity” until his retirement in 2011.


Theological and historical views

In 1999, Lüdemann published ''Der große Betrug: Und was Jesus wirklich sagte und tat'' (The Great Deception: And What Jesus Really Said and Did), in which he claimed that only about five per cent of the sayings attributed to Jesus are genuine and the historical evidence does not support the arguments of traditional Christianity. Even though Lüdemann explicitly rejected the mission of the school which was the "preparation of the students seeking to become ministers of the Church", Lüdemann refused to step down even though he did not acknowledge or support the department's mission. As Lüdemann put it, 'the person of Jesus himself becomes insufficient as a foundation of faith once most of the New Testament statements about him have proved to be later interpretations by the community'. The
Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony The Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony is the union of the five regional Protestant churches located in the Lower Saxony. The confederation meets only tasks assigned to it by the national churches. It represents the interests of ...
called for his dismissal from the Chair of New Testament Studies, because he did not agree with their mission. His dismissal was rejected by the state government of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
and as a result, a search for a new Chair of New Testament Studies was instituted, and Lüdemann was retained and appointed Chair of History and Literature of
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 ...
. All his courses were thereafter "explicitly identified as 'outside of the programs of study required for the training of future ministers of the Church'." Lüdemann complained and wrote the article "The Decline of Academic Theology at Göttingen" where he put the school on blast, complaining that 'most of my colleagues have long since left the principles of the Church behind them yet still seek to attach themselves to this tradition by symbolic interpretation and by other interpretative skills'.


Later life

Being a member of the
Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 2004) ...
, he debated
William Lane Craig William Lane Craig (born August 23, 1949) is an American analytic philosopher, Christian apologist, author and Wesleyan theologian who upholds the view of Molinism and neo-Apollinarianism. He is Professor of Philosophy at Houston Baptist Univ ...
in 1997 and in 2002 over Jesus' resurrection. Since 2011, after his retirement from the University of Göttingen, Lüdemann was Visiting Scholar at
Vanderbilt University Divinity School The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion (usually Vanderbilt Divinity School) is an interdenominational divinity school at Vanderbilt University, a major research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of o ...
,
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, as a resident alien of the United States. He died on May 23, 2021, after five years of serious illness.


Selected works in English

''For German versions and other publications, see the external link below to Library of Congress''. * * * (German original published in 1996) * (German original published in 1998) *


References


External links


Gerd Lüdemann Homepage (German/English)Gerd Lüdemann's books in Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludemann, Gerd 1946 births Living people People from Rotenburg (district) German biblical scholars German agnostics Former Protestants Members of the Jesus Seminar