Ernst Käsemann

Ernst Käsemann (12 July 1906 – 17 February 1998) was a Lutheran theologian and
Ernst Käsemann
professor of New Testament in Mainz (1946–1951), Göttingen (1951–1959) and
Tübingen (1959–1971). Born 12 July 1906
Bochum
Died 17 February 1998
(aged 91)
Contents Tübingen
Nationality German
Study and work
Books by Ernst Käsemann (in English) Occupation Professor of New
Literature about Ernst Käsemann
Testament

See also Known for New Quest for the

References Historical Jesus

External links Academic background

Alma mater University of Marburg
(PhD)
Study and work Doctoral Rudolf Bultmann
Käsemann was born in Bochum. He obtained his PhD in New Testament at the advisor
University of Marburg in 1931, having written a dissertation on Pauline Academic work
ecclesiology, with Rudolf Bultmann as his doctoral supervisor. Käsemann was one
Discipline Biblical studies and
of Bultmann's more well-known politically left-of-centre 'pupils'.
theology
Käsemann joined the Confessing Church movement in 1933; in the same year, he Sub- New Testament
was appointed pastor in Gelsenkirchen, in a district populated mainly by miners. discipline
During the autumn of 1937 he spent a few weeks in Gestapo detention for publicly Institutions Mainz
supporting communist miners. Göttingen
Tübingen
During 1939, he completed his habilitation, which qualified him to teach at German
universities; his dissertation was on the New T
estament Epistle to the Hebrews. Notable commentary on the
works Epistle to the Romans
Käsemann was later drafted as a soldier. He returned to his theological work in 1946
Notable double criterion of
after several years in the army and as a prisoner of war
.
ideas difference on the
Käsemann was involved with what is known as the 'New Quest for the historical reliability of the
Jesus', a new phase of scholarly interest in working out what could possibly be synoptic gospels
ascertained historically about Jesus. Käsemann ef
fectively started this phase when he
published his famous article "The Problem of the Historical Jesus" during 1954, originally his inaugural lecture as Professor in
Göttingen in 1951.[1]

Käsemann developed what became known as the double criterion of difference in evaluating the historical reliability of the synoptic
gospels. Put simply, what is historically reliable about Jesus can be deduced from material about Jesus which is neither plausible in a
first-century Jewish nor an early Christian context. In addition to this, he proposed additional criteria, such as multiple attestation
(does a particular story or saying of Jesus appear in independent traditions?) and coherence with other material already found to be
reliable historical traditions about Jesus. Only the recent 'third quest' for the historical Jesus, which began in the later 1980s, began to
question the absolute validity of these criteria.
Käsemann also began to take Jewish apocalypticism more seriously than most of his contemporary colleagues and thought it to be of
vital significance for a reading of Paul. Indeed, he famously described apocalypticism as "the mother of Christian theology".
Käsemann's commentary on Paul'sEpistle to the Romans, first published in 1973, became a standard work for that generation.

His daughter, Elisabeth Käsemann, was abducted by security forces in Argentina during the military dictatorship and subsequently
'disappeared'. It is thought that she was murdered around 24 May 1977.[2][3] Ernst Käsemann's subsequent theological writings
.[4][5]
acquired a more radical, often bitter edge after his daughter's murder

Ernst Käsemann received honorary doctorates from the universities ofMarburg, Durham, Edinburgh, Oslo and Yale.

He died on 17 February 1998 inTübingen.

Books by Ernst Käsemann (in English)

Essays on New Testament themes. London, SCM, 1964.
New Testament questions of today. London, SCM, 1969.
Jesus means freedom: a polemical survey of the New eTstament. London, SCM, 1969.
Perspectives on Paul. London, SCM, 1971.
Commentary on Romans. London, SCM, 1980.
The Wandering People of God. Minneapolis, Augsburg, 1984.

Literature about Ernst Käsemann

Way, D V 1991. The Lordship of Christ: Ernst Käsemann's Interpretation of Paul's Theology . Oxford.
Zahl, Paul F M 1996. Die Rechtfertigungslehre Ernst Käsemanns. Calwer Verlag.
Osborn, E F 1999. Käsemann, Ernst. In: Hayes, J H (ed)Dictionary of Biblical InterpretationVol. 2, Nashville:
Abingdon, pages 14–16.
Harrisville, R A & Sundberg, W. Käsemann, Ernst. In: The Bible in Modern Culture: Theology and Historical Critical
Method from Spinoza to Käsemann. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, pages 238–261.

See also
Rudolf Bultmann
Günther Bornkamm
Michael Lattke
On the Kairos Document

References
1. The Modern Search for the Historical Jesus, by Robert B Strimple, page 136.
2. Cited in Martin Hengel's work "Crucifixion", where he references Elisabeth in his book dedication
3. Folteropfer Elisabeth Käsemann: Argentinische Militärs müssen lebenslang in Haft
(http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausl
and/folteropfer-elisabeth-kaesemann-argentinische-militaers-muessen-lebenslang-in-haft-a-774569.html)
. Spiegel
Oline, 15 July 2011 (German)
4. Kirchliche Konflikte, Band 1, S. 243 (German)
5. Dietrich Strothniann: Der Fall Ernst Käsemann – Partisan unter Protestanten(http://www.zeit.de/1977/48/partisan-un
ter-protestanten). Die Zeit, 25 November 1977 (German)

External links
Sermon drawing on Käsemann's life and work
Magazine article on Käsemann and the Nazis
Article/obituary in Anglican Theological Review
 Information about the murder of Elisabeth Käsemann (in German)
Video- The Case of Elisabeth Käsemann: The Trial Begins

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