The lecture was addressed to members and friends of a newly founded Society for the Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages (SSBMA). It first reviews the development of the surge of interest in the history of biblical interpretation since 1955, then warns of three misconceptions and finally emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between…[Read more]

This presentation highlights some treasures of Princeton Seminary’s Wright Library: Manuscripts of a 12th century Greek Gospel Lectionary and of a lovely 16th century Schwenckfelder sermon collection, an early 1540 print of the Zurich Bible and a reprint of the 1534 Luther Bible owned by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a copy of the first printed edition o…[Read more]

This lecture traces the surprising history of the literal sense of Scripture in early and medieval times. Until Origen of Alexandria, “literal sense” had a negative connotation for Christians as the interpretation of what they called the “Old Testament” by unbelieving Jews. A positive evaluation began with the School of Antioch in the Fourth…[Read more]

This Essay presents and analyzes an unpublished essay of a controversial monastic author of the late Middle Ages who was a much appreaciated chronicler but also an inventor of literary fictions as it is reflected in the turbulent story of Trithemius scholarship. The treatise is transcribed from MS Trier, Bischöfliches Priesterseminar 84. It is a…[Read more]

Saint Paul lived on in his Epistles and in Christian hagiography. In terms of the latter, apart from being paired with Peter in the tradition of Rome, his veneration was surprisingly subdued compared with that of his supposed convert Thecla. On the other hand, the reception of his letters led to heated controversies in Early Christianity. In the…[Read more]

The essay endorses the efforts of the French Annalist school, especially the recent interest in the history of “mentalities.” In terms of medieval historiography, it urges, however, that much closer attention be given to the religious mentality of medieval people which was decisively shaped by the symbolism of the Bible and the history of its…[Read more]

The fascinating understanding of this the longest of the biblical “Ten Words” went from the prohibition of all figural art in Judaism and the early Christian Fathers, which was continued by a resurgence of iconoclasm in the 8th century AD and in parts of the Protestant Reformation, to a slow process of acceptance under the pressure of the…[Read more]

The interpretation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” had a surprising history in the Christian context. Originally being taken in the sense of a universal prohibition to which several groups of Reformation Christians seemed to revert, the imperative was progressively weakening. During the Middle Ages, the increasing prominence of the two…[Read more]

The problem signaled by the title is introduced by the description of the controversy over the organization of the Early Church between Adolf von Harnack and Rudolf Sohm in the early 20th century—organic development vs. regrettable deviation of a free-wheeling spiritual community to a legally constituted societal entity. If the nature of Law can b…[Read more]

Das Referat wurde am 13. Juni 1956 im Systematisch-Theologischen Seminar von Prof. Karl Barth in Basel gehalten. Semesterthema war die Römisch-katholische Ekklesiologie. Die Rolle des Apostels wird in dreifacher Hinsicht entfaltet: Petrus fundamentum, Petrus centrum, Petrus exemplum. Die Kritik richtet sich gegen die Ausrichtung der katholischen…[Read more]

Der Vortrag betont weniger die Gemeinsamkeiten als die großen Unterschiede der beiden Erziehungssysteme. Er beginnt mit persönlichen Erfahrungen und erörtert dann die historischen Wurzeln auf beiden Seiten, die auf ganz verschiedenen soziologischen Voraussetzungen und politischen Zielvorstellungen beruhen.