Milan Balabán

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Milan Balabán (2010)

Milan Balabán (born September 3, 1929 in Boratyn , Poland ; † January 4, 2019 ) was a Czech professor of religion and the Old Testament .

Life

The son of the evangelical clergyman Antonín Balabán graduated from the secondary school in Zábřeh na Moravě and then studied theology at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Prague from 1948 to 1952 . After completing his studies, he took the position of vicar and later pastor of the Evangelical Church of the Bohemian Brethren in Havířov , Strmilov , Semtěš near Čáslav and in Prague - Radotín . In 1969 he studied postgraduate at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey . From 1974 to 1990, when he was banned from pastoral work by the state, he worked as a simple worker and technical employee. He signed the Manifest Charter 77 , participated as a dissident in the opposition movement and published in samizdat . From 1987 to 1993, Balabán worked with the Local Examinations Syndicate for Religious Studies , which offered distance learning theology to Czech students. In 1990 he received his doctorate and the position of specialist assistant for religion at the University of Prague and at the same time a position at the chair of Old Testament and religion at the Evangelical Theological Faculty. In 1993 Balabán completed his habilitation; from 1995 he was a full professor for religion at the Charles University in Prague.

Teaching

In his theological dissertation, Balabán focused primarily on the Old Testament and Judaic Studies . At the Komenský Faculty he submitted his dissertation in the subject of the Old Testament: "Ch-R-Sch in the Old Testament. Psychological and cultic aspects of the root Chrsch". He was only allowed to do his doctorate after the Velvet Revolution in 1990. His work was strongly influenced by the experience he had gained in his active work for Charter 77 , as well as his tutorial work as part of a distance learning course at Cambridge University . In addition to his teaching activities, he took part in many lectures and international conferences. His scientific activity was determined by the endeavor to interpret the Old Testament in a variety of ways - not only historically and critically, but also philosophically and psychologically. He mainly dealt with questions of the apparitions and the history of Israel. He paid great attention to the interpretation of myths and their relationship to history. In his work on magic, he tried to highlight the positive aspects of early magic in Israel. He assumed that magic was a method of dialogue between humans and God.

poetry

Milan Balabán was also one of the lesser known but important Czech poets of his generation. His poetry was lyrically oriented and organically linked to his biblical and religious work, from which it was also significantly influenced. For example, he took over the translation of the Song of Solomon in the new Czech translation of the Bible.

Memberships

Balabán was a member of the Old Testament translation circle, deputy chairman of the Society for the Study of Faith in Brno , member of the editorial boards of Religio , Reflexe , Komunikace and other periodicals.

Publications

Balabán was a co-author of the Czech Bible translation and its commentary (1968–1985) as well as being involved in the writing and editing of various textbooks. In addition to specialist books, he also published religious poems.

Works written in German

  • The Kralitz short commentary on the Hohenlied, Bonn 1994
  • The Bible and Religious Studies. Magic and Annunciation, The Bible in * Cultural Context, 1994
  • European Christianity: A Landscape of Churches and Denominations, 6th * Leuther-Heider Forum, Paul-Kleinewefers-Stiftung, Krefeld 1994
  • Home and homelessness in the Old Testament, land giving. Festschrift for Jan Heller, 1995
  • Faith and general religiosity in the post-communist society of the Czech Republic, Rostocker Forum I, Rostock 1997
  • Proto-Nahum and the philosophy of history, Communio viatorum (CV) 1962
  • Cosmic Dimension of Miracle in Gibeon, CV 1969
  • Czech queries. About the so-called Prague School, Debharim (Kampen) 1986

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Death report radio.cz, accessed on January 23, 2019
personal data
SURNAME Balaban, Milan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech theologian, professor of theology and poet
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Boratyn , Poland
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 2019