Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und antikes Judentum Probleme – Wahrnehmungen – Perspektiven

This article – an inaugural lecture for a chair in New Testament studies with special focus on Ancient Judaism and hermeneutics – demonstrates in referring to the Qumran discoveries why New Testament scholarship is fundamentally in need of a thorough study of Second Temple Judaism and its related disciplines. It is based on the observation that the earliest Christian movement was in itself a Jewish movement, so that in its early documents Christianity inevitably includes a Jewish seed. However in Christian exegesis the study of the Jewish elements has often been carried out polemically, employing patterns of contrast, or with the intention to neutralize the Jewishness. The central part of the article shows how the Qumran discoveries in particular have changed our image of Judaism at the turn of the era and what we can learn from them regarding the figure of Jesus, the reconstruction of the origins of Christology and the Jewish roots of Pauline thought. The concluding part outlines some aspects of the hermeneutical task of New Testament scholarship dealing with Jewish elements at the roots of Christianity. Such a perception of Judaism is necessary for theological reasons and also relevant for contemporary society.