Willi Marxsen

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Willi Marxsen, around 1989, during the break of a New Testament partnership in the park of the Landheim "Haus Rothenberge" at the University of Münster
(private photo)

Willi Marxsen (born September 1, 1919 in Kiel , † February 18, 1993 in Münster , Westphalia ) was a German Protestant theologian and professor of New Testament introductory studies and theology at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster .

biography

Willi Marxsen studied Protestant theology at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel from 1945–1948 . For his doctorate in 1948 he wrote the dissertation The institution reports on the Last Supper . 1949–1953 he was first vicar and then pastor at the Church of St. Aegidien in Lübeck . 1953–1956 Marxsen was study inspector at the preacher's seminary in Preetz .

Willi Marxsen completed his habilitation in 1954 with the work The Evangelist Markus . Studies on the editorial history of the Gospel published in 1956. In 1956, Marxsen moved to the Bethel Church University , where he held a professorship for the New Testament and to which he returned for a guest semester for the winter semester 1984/85.

In 1961, Marxsen accepted a call to Münster at the Westphalian Wilhelms University. There Professor Marxsen held a chair for New Testament Introductory Studies and Theology until his retirement in 1984 .

In 1963 Marxsen was awarded an honorary doctorate from Christian Albrechts University in Kiel ("D. theol."), Dubuque University in Iowa , USA , and in 1987 he was awarded an honorary doctorate ("Doctor of Divinity, Honorary Degree").

Even after his retirement, Willi Marxsen devoted himself to teaching and research, held lectures and seminars , published and went on lecture tours.

theology

In 1956 Willi Marxsen published his habilitation thesis Der Evangelist Markus. Studies on the editorial history of the Gospel made the author, alongside Hans Conzelmann and Günther Bornkamm, the actual initiator of the editorial history method within German-speaking and international exegesis . The term editorial history goes back to Marxsen and is z. B. in English, French, Italian and Spanish scientific linguistic usage as a technical term not translated, but also referred to as editorial history. Marxsen's concern was to examine the existing New Testament writings for the work of editors who brought together texts or collections of texts with their own theological positions, edited them and thereby changed their statements. Marxsen saw the final versions of the New Testament writings as works composed by editors with their own theological interests.

Based on the question about the “historical Jesus” ( life-Jesus research ), which he viewed as extremely critical, Willi Marxsen particularly focused on the subject of the resurrection. Here he introduced the differentiation between the "Jesus kerygma " and the "Christ kerygma". In this position he differed from Rudolf Bultmann . Bultmann saw the beginning of Christianity only after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (Christ kerygma); for Marxsen there was an unbroken continuity between the faith evoked by the activity of the person Jesus during his lifetime and the post-Easter Christian faith (Jesus kerygma). In his lectures, Marxsen always formulated: "Easter means that the faith that 'failed' on the cross was dared anew", whereby he saw the content of the post-Easter faith as basically the same as those at the time of the life and work of Jesus. He described the resurrection of Jesus as an “experience of seeing” towards his disciples and as a “time-bound interpretament”.

Major works

  • The installation reports for the Last Supper , dissertation, voluntary disclosure took place in 1952, published in self-publishing, Kiel
  • Mark the Evangelist. Studies on the editorial history of the Gospel , Göttingen 1956
  • Exegesis and Annunciation. Two lectures. (= Theological existence today. New series. Issue 59.) Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Munich 1957.
  • "Early Catholicism" in the New Testament , Neukirchen-Vluyn 1958
  • Initial Problems of Christology , Gütersloh 1960
  • The Lord's Supper as a Christological Problem , Gütersloh 1963
  • Introduction to the New Testament. An introduction to their problems , Gütersloh 1963
  • The resurrection of Jesus as a historical and theological problem , Gütersloh 1964
  • The dispute over the Bible , Gladbeck 1965
  • The New Testament as a book of the church , Gütersloh 1966
  • The exegete as theologian. Lectures on the New Testament , Gütersloh 1968
  • The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth , Gütersloh 1968
  • Is it allowed to baptize young children? A wrong question , Gütersloh 1969
  • Sermons , Gütersloh 1969
  • The cause of Jesus continues , Gütersloh 1976
  • Christology - Practical , Gütersloh 1978
  • Introduction to the New Testament. An introduction to their problems , 4th, completely revised edition, Gütersloh 1978
  • The 1st Letter to Thessalonians , Zurich 1979
  • Sermons with New Testament texts , Gütersloh 1980
  • The 2nd Letter to Thessalonians , Zurich 1982
  • “Christian” and Christian ethics in the New Testament , Gütersloh 1989
  • Jesus and Easter. Did God Raise the Historical Jesus from the Dead? , Nashville, 1990
  • Jesus and the Church. The Beginnings of Christianity , Philadelphia 1992

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marxsen, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian, New Testament scholar
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1993
Place of death Muenster