Erhard S. Gerstenberger

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Erhard Gerstenberger, January 2014

Erhard S. Gerstenberger (born June 20, 1932 in Hochemmerich ) is a German Protestant theologian and Old Testament scholar.

Life

Gerstenberger grew up in Rheinhausen as the son of a miner's family. From 1946 he got involved with the YMCA . From 1952 to 1957 he studied Protestant theology in Marburg , Tübingen , Bonn and Wuppertal . Between 1957 and 1959 Gerstenberger was vicar and at the same time scientific assistant at the Church University of Wuppertal.

1959-1964 followed a study with teaching activity at the Divinity School in Yale . In 1960 Gerstenberger received his master's degree . In 1961 he was in Bonn with a thesis on the nature and origin of the "apodictic law" in the subject Old Testament doctorate . Doctoral fathers were Martin Noth and Otto Plöger . 1965–1975 Gerstenberger worked as a parish priest in Essen-Frohnhausen . 1969–1970 he completed his habilitation in Heidelberg with Hans Walter Wolff .

From 1975 to 1981 Gerstenberger was a lecturer in the Old Testament at the Theological College in São Leopoldo ( Brazil ), where he came into contact with liberation theology . Back in Germany, Gerstenberger taught from 1981 to 1997 as a professor for the Old Testament in Giessen and Marburg. He tried to stimulate the intellectual confrontation with liberation theology in German theology and organized a student exchange with São Leopoldo. After his retirement in 1997 he continued to campaign for the reception of liberation theology, including a. as co-initiator of a liberation theological reading group at the University of Marburg.

Erhard Gerstenberger is married and has three grown children. He lives in Giessen .

theology

General

Gerstenberger's research interests are the psalms , theology and hermeneutics of the Old Testament , theology of liberation and feminist theology . He wrote commentaries on the Psalms and the Book of Leviticus . He translated the book of Exodus for the Bible in righteous language . Together with Wanda Deifelt , Irmtraud Fischer and Milton Schwantes , he publishes the series Exegese in our time , which deals with biblical exposition from a socio-historical , feminist and liberation theological perspective.

Positions and contributions on individual topics

Image (loss)

In his theology of the Old Testament, Gerstenberger takes the following position on the subject of image (lack of) : images of God in the Old Testament - as in general - are in principle contextual and therefore only binding and limited in time (p. 10).

Images of God in the sense of concrete figures (carved / cast images, iconographic symbols) are frowned upon on the one hand: Yahweh is a god without images. This aniconical trait of the ancient Israelite religion is not a unique cultural feature. On the other hand, there are numerous images of deities in Israel. In addition, not only figures or images are to be assessed as images of God, but also ideas (mental, non-material images of God, p. 45). Archaeologically, mainly female figures have been found in the family area, often made of terracotta or bone, more rarely made of stone or metal. Altars, incense holders, amulets and seals were also found. Theological decisive factor is the multitude and variability of the images of God. The species can vary from anthropomorphic to symbolically abstract. Until 1550 BC The erotic, naked goddess, who stands for vitality and blessings, dominated. In the late Bronze Age up to 1150 there was a change to a "clothed mistress" (p. 46). In the Iron Age I to 1000, aristocratic motifs came to the fore. In the Iron Age IIA to 925 there was a tendency towards abstraction, in the Iron Age IIA to 700 a "solarization", in the Iron Age IIC to 587 the return of the goddess.

Ajrud

Theologically it can be said that in the family area of ​​ancient Israel there was the worship of goddesses as guarantors of fertility as well as the worship of male gods who carry weapons, tame animals, hurl lightning and looked like a bull or sun (p. 47 ). As an example, Ishtar is mentioned in the wreath of stars, which Gerstenberger connects with the queen of heaven from Jer 44,17f. The gods Bes and Beset, who come from Egypt, take on protective functions for pregnant women and children. Gerstenberger indicates that Yahweh and his Asherah could have been represented in the form of Bes and Beset because of their similar functions. This would lead to the controversial thesis that the Pithos A by Kuntillet Ajrud is an image of Yahweh and Asherah (p. 49).

The archaeological finds can also be confirmed biblically. The Deuteronomic condemnations of various religious practices (2 Kings 23:24; Deut 18.10f) suggest the conflict between the official state cult and private family religion (p. 50). Ex 6,3 and Jos 24,2 also know that the ancestors worshiped other gods. Judges 6:25 explicitly names Baal and Asherah. Isa 65 indicates private services in gardens and on roofs, especially sacrifices are made to Gad and Meni (Isa 65:11). And the women bake cakes for Ishtar, the queen of heaven (Jer 44: 15-19). The worship of different deities was thus the norm of family religion from pre-exile, even if it could have monolatric features within a family. Gerstenberger classifies the Deuteronomic (Stic) image, foreign gods and name abuse prohibitions of the Decalogue according to exilic (p. 63)

monotheism

In his theology of the Old Testament, Gerstenberger advocates the thesis that strict, theoretical monotheism cannot exist. "We are and will remain born polytheists" (p. 218). The majority of power manifestations cannot be reconciled with a single God. The monotheism of the early Jewish community is accordingly a monolatry that arose in a confessional situation and therefore Yahweh gives the attribute of uniqueness (e.g. DtJes 46: 22-25). Gerstenberger questions the conventional distinction between polytheism and monotheism: The divine exercise of different functions can also be interpreted in a unified cult and is therefore not necessarily polytheistic, even if different names of God appear (p. 219). On the other hand, the claim that various effects, appearances, and activities are due to one God is not automatically monotheistic. Gerstenberger prefers the distinction between monism and dualism: In dualism, the fundamental division of the world is retained, with the hope of overcoming the "dark" side. The monism that shaped the Middle East before the Persian era would negate such ideas. Even if the pre-Persian religion is called "polytheistic", it is evidence of a "consistent monism" (p. 219).

Fonts (selection)

  • Nature and origin of "apodictic law". Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1965 ( Scientific monographs on the Old and New Testament. Volume 20).
  • with Wolfgang Schrage : suffering. Biblical confrontations. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1977, ISBN 3-17-002429-9 .
  • The supplicant. Bittritual and lament of the individual in the Old Testament. Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1980, ISBN 3-7887-0612-0 ( Scientific monographs on the Old and New Testament. Volume 51).
  • with Wolfgang Schrage: woman and man. Biblical confrontations. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1980, ISBN 3-17-005067-2 .
  • as editor: Deus no Antigo Testamento. Coletânea. Aste, São Paulo 1981.
  • Yahweh - a Patriarchal God? Traditional image of God and feminist theology. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, ISBN 3-17-009947-7 .
  • Psalms. Part 1 (Ps 1-60) with an Introduction to Cultic Poetry. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids 1988, ISBN 0-8028-0255-9 ( The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Volume 14).
  • The 3rd book of Moses - Leviticus. 6th, completely revised edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-51122-1 ( The Old Testament in German. Volume 6).
  • with Ulrich Schoenborn (ed.): Hermeneutics - social history. Contextuality in biblical studies from the point of view of (Latin) American and European exegetes. Lit-Verlag, Münster 1999, ISBN 3-8258-3139-6 ( Exegesis in our time. Volume 1).
  • Psalms. Part 2 (Ps 61-150) with Lamentations. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids 2001, ISBN 0-8028-0488-8 ( The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Volume 15).
  • Theologies in the Old Testament. Plurality and syncretism of Old Testament belief in God. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 2001, ISBN 3-17-015974-7 .
  • Israel in Persian times. 5th and 4th centuries BC Chr. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 2005, ISBN 3-17-012337-8 ( Biblical Encyclopedia. Volume 8).
  • Liberation Hermeneutics in Old Europe, Especially Germany. In: Alejandro F. Botta, Pablo R. Andiñach (eds.): The Bible and the Hermeneutics of Liberation. Brill, Atlanta 2009 ( Society of Biblical Literature. Volume 59).
  • with Ute E. Eisen (Ed.): Hermann Gunkel revisited. Studies in the history of literature and religion. Lit-Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8258-1523-3 ( Exegesis in our time. Volume 20).
  • Liberating Readings of the Bible. Contexts and Conditions. In: Frank Ritchel Ames, Charles William Miller (Eds.): Foster Biblical Scholarship. SBL Press, Atlanta 2010 (Festschrift for Kent Harold Richards), pp. 337–352.
  • “Liberating Theology” in times of democratization and global market economy. In: Holger M. Meding (Ed.): Brückenschlag. Hans-Jürgen Prien on his 75th birthday. Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Berlin 2011, pp. 43–58.
  • The Hebrew Bible as the Book of Liberation. Selected essays. Gießen Electronic Library, Gießen 2012, ISBN 978-3-9814298-5-5 ( online ).

literature

  • Rainer Kessler u. a. (Ed.): “All you peoples, clap your hands!” Festschrift for Erhard S. Gerstenberger on his 65th birthday. Lit-Verlag, Münster u. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8258-2937-5 ( Exegesis in our time. Volume 3).
  • Self-portrait in: Sebastian Grätz, Bernd U. Schipper (Hrsg.): Old Testament science in self-portrayals. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, pp. 141–152.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Liberation theological reading group Marburg . Website of the Liberation Theological Network project. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  2. ↑ Exegesis in our time . Lit-Verlag website. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b Erhard S. Gerstenberger: Theologies in the Old Testament. Plurality and syncretism of Old Testament belief in God . Kohlhammer, 2001.
personal data
SURNAME Gerstenberger, Erhard S.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and Old Testament scholar
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Hochemmerich