Gerhard von Rad's Struggle against the Nazification of the Old Testament
From 1933 through 1945, the Hebrew Bible was under attack in Nazi Germany. As both the universities and the Protestant Church sought to align themselves with Nazi ideology, the entire notion that Christianity had any connection to Judaism was denied, and the historic tradition of “Old Testament” stu...
| Summary: | From 1933 through 1945, the Hebrew Bible was under attack in Nazi Germany. As both the universities and the Protestant Church sought to align themselves with Nazi ideology, the entire notion that Christianity had any connection to Judaism was denied, and the historic tradition of “Old Testament” studies was compromised. L. provides an illuminating case study of Gerhard von Rad (1901–1971), one of the enduring giants of German Protestant biblical scholarship. Von Rad began his academic career at Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in 1934, a scant year after the Nazis rose to power. His university actively sought to position itself as the exemplary National Socialist university. Levinson shows how von Rad struggled against the Nazification of the curriculum by transforming biblical law into sermons preached orally by Levitical priests. L. examines the methodological and ethical difficulties of this approach. Extensive focus on the social and historical location of biblical scholarship. |
|---|---|
| ISBN: | 0253060796 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The betrayal of the humanities
|