Claus Westermann (7 October 1909 – 11 June 2000) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Old Testament scholar.Luther Seminar

Word & World (1/2) 1981 He taught at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

from 1958 to 1978.

Biography

Born to African missionaries, he began his theological studies in Germany as Hitler rose to power. He finished his studies in 1933 and became a pastor, aligning with the

Confessing Church The Confessing Church (, ) was a movement within German Protestantism in Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all of the Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German Evangelical Church. See dro ...

rather than the (pro-Nazi)

German Christians Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from ...

. During his theological studies he started studying the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, and became particularly interested in the content of the Psalms. He was jailed a number of times due to not supporting the

and was eventually drafted into the German army during the Nazi regime. He served in the German army for five years where he was a translator on the Russian front. After Germany’s defeat he was sent to a Russian prison camp where he endured very harsh conditions. In this prison camp, with only a copy of Luther’s German translation of the New Testament and Psalms for reference, he laid the groundwork for what would become “The Praise of God in the Psalms”. After the war Westermann started preaching again and also went to teach Old Testament at Heidelberg, where he would continue to teach for twenty years with colleagues such as

Gerhard von Rad Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German academic, Old Testament scholar, Lutheran theologian, exegete, and professor at the University of Heidelberg. Early life, education, career Gerhard von Rad was born in Nu ...

, Hans Walter Wolff, and

Rolf Rendtorff Rolf Rendtorff (1925–2014) was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg from 1963 to 1990. He was one of the more significant German Old Testament scholars from the latter half of the twentieth-century and published extensive ...

., Westermann is considered one of the premier Old Testament scholars of the twentieth century. Particularly notable among his scholarship is his lengthy and comprehensive commentary on the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, especially the volume covering Genesis 1-11.

Select Publications of Westermann

; Some works that have been translated into English * ''A Thousand Years and a Day: Our Time in the Old Testament'' German orig. 1957 (English translation, 1962) * ''Basic Forms of Prophetic Speech'', German orig. 1960 (English translation by Hugh Clayton White, 1967) * ''The Praise of God in the Psalms'', German orig. 1961 (English translation by Keith R. Crim, 1965) * * ''Handbook to the Old Testament'' German orig. (English translation by Robert Boyd, 1969) * ''Creation'' German orig. 1971 (English translation by John J. Scullion, 1974) * ''The Psalms: Structure, Content and Message'' German orig. 1967 (English translation by Ralph D. Gehrke, 1980), Augsburg Publishing House * ''Elements of Old Testament Theology'' German orig. (English translation, 1982) * ''Genesis 1 - 11'', German orig. 1972 (English translation by John J. Scullion, 1984) * ''Genesis 12 - 36'', German orig. 1981 (English translation by John J. Scullion, 1985) * ''Genesis 37 - 50'', German orig. 1982 (English translation by John J. Scullion, 1986) * ''The Living Psalms'' German orig. (English translation by J. R. Porter, 1989) * ''The Gospel of John: In the Light of the Old Testament'', German orig. 1994 (English translation by Siegfried S. Schatzmann, 1998)

Biography

Select Publications of Westermann

References

Further reading