Baron Hermann von Soden (16 August 1852 – 15 January 1914) was a German

Biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

, minister, professor of divinity, and textual theorist.

Life

Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, on August 16, 1852, Soden was educated at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In 1881 he was appointed as the minister at

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

- Striesen and in 1887 he became minister of the Jerusalem Church in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1889 he also became a ''

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

'', a form of tutor, in the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, and four years later was appointed as an extraordinary professor of

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

. He fought for a more

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

and democratic constitution in the congregations of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. His grave is preserved in the

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 ...

''Friedhof II der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde'' (Cemetery No. II of the congregations of the

Jerusalem's Church Jerusalem Church () is one of the churches of the Prussian Union of Churches, Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt (under this name since 2001), a member of the Protestantism in Germany, Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Chu ...

and the New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of the

Hallesches Tor The Hallesches Tor was located in today's Berlin district Kreuzberg south of Mehringplatz. Today, as a historic monument listed Hallesches Tor (Berlin U-Bahn), underground station on the site of the former gate bears the name ''Hallesches Tor''. I ...

. Soden introduced a new notation of manuscripts and also developed a new theory of textual history. He believed that in the 4th century there were in existence three recensions of the text of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, which he distinguished as ''K'', ''H'' and ''I''. After establishing the text of ''I'', ''H'' and ''K'', Soden reconstructed a hypothetical text, ''I-H-K'', which he believed to have been their ancestor. He then tried to show that this text was known to all the writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Soden died in a railway accident in

on January 15, 1914. His descendant Wolfram von Soden became a noted Assyriologist.

Works

His most important book is ''Die Schriften des neuen Testaments, in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt / hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte'' (4 vols., Berlin: Glaue, 1902-1910); certainly the most important work on the text of the

which had been published since Westcott and Hort's '' The New Testament in the Original Greek''. Other works include: * ''Der Brief des Apostels Paulus an die Philipper'', Freiburg i. Br., 1880. * ''Hebräerbrief, Briefe des Petrus, Jakobus, Judas'', Freiburg i. Br., 1890. * ''Und was thut die evangelische Kirche? Erwogen angesichts der Reichstagswahlen, zumal in unseren Großstädten'', 3rd. ed., Berlin: Nauck, 1890 (a pamphlet written during the campaign for the Reichstag election) * ''Die Briefe an die Kolosser, Epheser, Philemon; die Pastoralbriefe'', Freiburg i. Br., 1891. * "Untersuchungen über neutestamentliche Schriften" in ''Protestantisches Jahrbuch für theologische Studien und Schriftkommentar'', 1895–1897.
''Palästina und seine Geschichte, sechs volkstümliche Vorträge''
Leipzig, 1899. * ''Die wichtigsten Fragen im Leben Jesu'', Ferienkurs-Vorträge Berlin, 1904. * ''Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte''. 4 volumes, Berlin, 1902–1913. * ''Urchristliche Literaturgeschichte, die Schriften des Neuen Testaments'', Berlin: Duncker, 1905. * ''Hat Jesus gelebt? Aus den geschichtlichen Urkunden beantwortet von Hermann von Soden'', Berlin, 1910. He contributed to the 1903 ''

Encyclopaedia Biblica ''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encycloped ...

'' and to the "Hand-Commentar zum Neuen Testament", several editions, started in 1855 by Heinrich Julius Holtzmann and Hans von Soden

References

External links

*
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 1
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 1
at the CSNTM.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 2
at the

.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 2
at the CSNTM.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 3
at the

.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 3
at the CSNTM.
Die Schriften des Neuen Testaments in ihrer ältesten erreichbaren Textgestalt hergestellt auf Grund ihrer Textgeschichte Vol. 4
at the CSNTM. {{DEFAULTSORT:Soden, Hermann, Freiherr von 1852 births 1914 deaths Educators from Cincinnati 19th-century German scholars 19th-century German Protestant theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians German biblical scholars New Testament scholars Religious leaders from Ohio German male non-fiction writers German barons 19th-century German male writers Railway accident deaths in Germany