Hermann Detering

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Hermann Detering (* 1953 in Oldenburg ; † October 18, 2018 in Neukirchen ( Altmark )) was a German Protestant theologian and author. He advocated the thesis that all Paul’s letters were pseudepigraphs and that Jesus of Nazareth was not a historical figure, but a myth of Jesus that was subsequently historicized by Christians .

Live and act

After graduating from high school, Detering studied German , classical philology and Protestant theology in Berlin. From 1982 to 2009 he worked there as a pastor. In 1991 he did his doctorate under Walter Schmithals with a thesis on Dutch radical criticism .

In his works Paul’s letters without Paul? (1992) and The Fake Paul (1995) Detering adopted the theses of their main representatives Abraham Dirk Loman (1823-1897), Willem Christiaan van Manen (1842-1905) and Gustaaf Adolf van den Bergh van Eysinga (1874-1957): All Paul’s letters were only written in the 2nd century and thus only ascribed to Paul. The first Epistle of Clement and the Epistles of Ignatius , which some of Paul's epistles mention, are themselves later forgeries. An abridged version of the Pauline letters by Marcion (around 150), handed down only in the notes of some church fathers, is original. The major church expanded this template with text additions. Internal contradictions in Paul's letters can be traced back to these different authors. The figure of Paul is legendary. Simon Magus , whom the church has declared to be the archetype of Gnosis and all heretics , is the historical origin of the Paul figure.

Detering's theses are controversial in the scientific and theological discussion. The majority of New Testament scholars reject them. Jürgen Becker regards Detering's handling of the sources with regard to his identification of Paul with Simon Magus as “very imaginative”. Detering must deny the Acts of the Apostles of Luke any historical value. In addition, he had to declare the first letter of Clement and the letters of Ignatius to be forgeries because they testified to Paul's letters before Marcion. It was a "bizarre assumption" that the major church had revised the alleged Marcion products in order to include them in their NT canon. Matthias Klinghardt writes that there are indications that Marcion's 10-letter collection represents a pre- canonical transmission stage of the canonical Pauline letters, and advocates a further analysis of the Marcionite Pauline letters.

In another scientific study Detering saw the influence of the early Theravada - Buddhism on the Gnostics Basilides . He lists some parallels between Buddhism and the Therapeutae community as described by Philo of Alexandria . Detering found specific external features such as the general composition of a Buddhist order, such as men and women living separately, as well as the posture, clothing and ranking of the monks. Already at the time of the intercultural exchange (due to King Ashoka ) in this phase of Buddhism the orders ( Sangha ) had reached a high level of organization and a fixed protocol.

In his work Falsche Zeugen (2011) Detering denied the informative value of non-Christian ancient mentions of Jesus .

Hermann Detering died on October 18, 2018, leaving behind a wife and four children.

Publications

  • Paul's letters without Paul? The Pauline letters in the Dutch radical criticism. 1992.
  • The fake Paul. Early Christianity in the twilight. (1995) Patmos, Wuppertal 2012
    • English edition: Darrell J. Doughty (translator and editor): The Falsified Paul: Early Christianity in the Twilight. In: The Journal of Higher Criticism 10 / No. 2 (2003), pp. 2-199
  • False witnesses: non-Christian Jesus testimonies put to the test. 2011.
  • The lust of the world and the art of renunciation. 2013.
  • O dear Augustine - false confessions? 2014.
  • Turmel redivivus - The Ignatians as Marcionite pseudepigrapha. Berlin 2007 PDF; 616 kB, 54 pages on radikalkritik.de
  • The opponents of Paul - Judaist thesis 2nd century. July 4th, 2018 [2]
  • The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISDN 978-1-980-79605-3.
  • Traces of Indian philosophy in Basilides 1st part: Basilides lectures on Sāṃkhya 1 ( [3] on academia.edu)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ecclesiastical gazette of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz, year 2018, No. 11, p. 215
  2. ↑ hermann-detering.de: Vita
  3. ^ Reimund Bieringer: The Corinthian correspondence. Peeters, 1996, ISBN 90-6831-774-1 , p. 428.
  4. ^ Eduard Lohse: Paulus. A biography. 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-58584-5 , p. 279; Frank Holzbrecher: Paul and the historical Jesus: Presentation and analysis of the previous research history. A. Francke, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7720-8242-9 , p. 70.
  5. ↑ Jürgen Becker: The Apostle of the Nations Paul in the mirror of his newest interpreters. In: Theologische Literaturzeitung No. 11 / 122nd year, November 1997, column 977–978.
  6. ^ Matthias Klinghardt: The oldest gospel and the origin of the canonical gospels. Volume I: Investigation, Francke, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7720-8549-9 , pp. 373-374.
  7. ↑ Hermann Detering: Traces of Indian Philosophy with Basilides 1st part: Basilides lectures Sāṃkhya 1 ( [1] on academia.edu)
personal data
SURNAME Detering, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian and book author
DATE OF BIRTH 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 2018
Place of death Neukirchen