Birger Gerhardsson

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Birger Gerhardsson (born September 26, 1926 in Vännäs , Västerbotten County ; † December 25, 2013 ) was a Swedish theologian and professor at the Theological Faculty of Lund University , Sweden . His research focus is on the oral transmission of reports on the words and deeds of Jesus - which lead to the Gospels of the New Testament .

academic career

Gerhardsson earned a bachelor's degree in 1952 and was ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1953. He taught at the Fjellstedtska School in Uppsala (from 1953–58 and 1961–64). At the same time he continued his studies in theology (graduated with a licentiate in 1956), received his doctorate in theology in 1961 and was appointed an extraordinary professor of New Testament exegesis at Uppsala University . From 1965 he was a university professor for exegesis in Lund .

Gerhardsson was President of the SNTS ( Society for New Testament Studies ). He is a member of the Nathan Söderblom Society and the Royal Humanistic and Scientific Society of Lund (“Kungliga Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Lund”).

Researching the Gospels

Gerhardsson's main scientific focus was the transmission and development of oral transmission of the Gospel texts. Like his teacher, the Swede Harald Riesenfeld , he emphasized the imprinting of Jesus' words in analogy to the teaching of the rabbis ; in the following years research spoke of the "Scandinavian approach".

A particular focus of New Testament research was the synoptic problem : How can the great similarities, but also the differences, between the first three Gospels be explained? According to the two basic forms of interpersonal communication (oral and written), there are basically two ways of answering the synoptic problem, as well as the combination of both. The majority of New Testament scholars concentrate on “ literary ” solutions, whereby the emphasis on “written” concerns both the form of transmission and the preservation of information on a carrier (e.g. parchment ). The “ oral ” solution - also preferred by Gerhardsson - includes oral transmission and human memory as a storage medium. According to the so-called “traditional hypothesis”, the Gospels according to Matthew , Mark and Luke are the result of an oral process of transmission based on human memory.

Gerhardsson's doctoral thesis ( Memory and Manuscript ) already dealt with the importance of memory in the transmission of the words and deeds of Jesus finally recorded in the Gospels . In it he took up memorization ( learning by heart ), which is important in the teaching of rabbis, and referred to similarities in the teaching of Jesus. He also emphasized the tradition-preserving function of the circle of twelve . Against the idea of ​​memorizing, the differences between the synoptics were pointed out above all.

Gerhardsson was said to have introduced the category of memory into gospel research. This “Scandinavian approach” encouraged Rainer Riesner , among others , to write the doctoral thesis Jesus as a teacher (1981). Samuel Byrskog, a student of Gerhardsson's, examined the interaction of oral and written tradition in ancient times with regard to the words of Jesus in the Gospels, each based on the reports of eyewitnesses. The emphasis on the factor “memory”, in connection with the oral transmission, was most recently worked out by Armin Daniel Baum with the inclusion of comparative material from learning psychology and folklore. The “imprint” emphasized by Gerhardsson is now being seriously considered in New Testament research. Ulrich Wilckens , for example, points out that “people at that time had an astonishing memory ability”, as is known “from the many learning processes in the synagogues and rabbinical schools”. Wilckens assumes that "even during Jesus' lifetime his disciples memorized his preaching and teaching for themselves and for newcomers". This applies not only to Jesus' words, but also to his actions: "Even narratives of the miracles of Jesus were probably handed down in relatively fixed formulations in the pre-Easter period".

Gerhardsson wrote his theological publications mainly in English, e. But partly also in German, French and in his Swedish mother tongue.

Works (selection)

German:

  • The beginnings of the gospel tradition . R. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1977 (reprint of four lectures given in 1976; with a foreword by Klaus Haacker and Otto Michel ).
  • The way of the Gospel tradition . In: Peter Stuhlmacher (Ed.): The Gospel and the Gospels (= scientific investigations into the New Testament; 28). Mohr, Tübingen 1983, pp. 79-102.

English:

  • Memory and Manuscript. Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity (= Acta Seminarii Neotestamentici Upsaliensis; 22). Uppsala 1961 (dissertation), 2nd edition 1964.
  • Tradition and Transmission in Early Christianity (= Coniectanea Neotestamentica. 20). CWK Gleerup, Lund 1964.
  • The Parable of the Sower and its Interpretation . In: New Testament Studies 14 (1967/68) pp. 165-193.
  • The Origins of the Gospel Traditions. Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1979.
  • The Shema in the New Testament. Deut 6: 4-5 in significant passages. Novapress, Lund 1996 (anthology with 17 earlier articles).
  • The Reliability of the Gospel Tradition. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody (Mass.) 2001.
  • The Secret of the Transmission of the Unwritten Jesus Tradition. In: New Testament Studies. 51, 2005, pp. 1-18.

French:

  • Jésus livré et abandonné d'après la passion selon Saint Matthieu. In: Revue Biblique. 76, 1969, pp. 206-227.

Swedish:

  • Ur Matteusevangeliet [Commentary on Matthew 1–2, 5–7, 26–28]. In: Lars Hartman (ed.): Ur Nya Testamentet . Lund 1970, pp. 113-206.
  • 2000 år senare. Om den genuina Kristustron , 1972
  • Evangeliernas förhistoria . 1977
  • Med hela ditt hjärta. Om Bibles ethos, 1979
  • Kristenmänniskosyn , 1982
  • Jesu maktgärningar i Matteusevangeliet , 1991
  • Tillbakablick [= autobiographical review]. Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift 1992, s. 97-108.
  • Fridrichsen, Odeberg, Aulén, Nygren. Fyra theologer , 1994
  • Jesu liknelser , 1999
  • Kristi uppståndelse , 2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerhardsson, Birger . In: Sten Lagerström, Elvan Sölvén (ed.): Vem är det. Svensk biografisk handbok 1969 . 29th year PA Norstedt & Söners Förlag, 1968, ISSN  0347-3341 , p. 308 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  2. ↑ Harald Riesenfeld: The Gospel Tradition and its Beginnings (= texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature, volume 73). Berlin 1959, pp. 43-65.
  3. ^ William David Davies: Reflections on a Scandinavian Approach to the Gospel Tradition. In: Festschrift for Oscar Cullmann. Leiden 1962, pp. 14-34.
  4. ↑ Explained by Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer in: European Journal of Theology . 19, 2010, pp. 97-99.
  5. ↑ Craig Blomberg : The Historical Reliability of the Gospels . VTR, Nuremberg 1998, p. 44 f.
  6. ^ Blomberg: The historical reliability '. P. 45.
  7. ^ So Werner H. Kelber: The Works of Memory: Christian Origin as MnemoHistory - A Response. In: Alan K. Kirk, Tom Thatcher (Eds.): Memory, Tradition and Text. Uses of the Past in Early Christianity (= SBL Semeia Studies. 52). SBL, Atlanta 2005, pp. 229-248, there pp. 231-235.
  8. ↑ Samuel Byrskog: Story as History - History as Story. The Gospel Tradition in the Context of Ancient Oral History (= WUNT 123). Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2000.
  9. ↑ Armin Daniel Baum: The oral factor and its meaning for the synoptic question. 2008.
  10. ↑ Ulrich Wilckens: Critique of the Biblical Criticism. How the Bible can become Holy Scripture again. Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2012, p. 164.
  11. ↑ Important reviews of his dissertation are listed in Gerhardsson: Beginnings. P. 66.
personal data
SURNAME Gerhardsson, Birger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish theologian, professor in the Theological Faculty of Lund University, Sweden
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Vännäs , Province of Västerbotten County
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 2013