Christian Origins and Theology: Leipzig Conference

I’m off to the University of Leipzig on Sunday for an invitational conference on “Theology and History-of-Religion Studies:  Assessing the matter One Hundred Years after Georg Heinrici” (my translation).  Heinrici was a prominent scholar in Leipzig and a leading figure in the emergence of the historical approach to the origins of Christianity in the late 19th century.  But, unlike some others, he did not disdain theological questions.

I’m looking forward to the other presentations by a galaxy of prominent colleagues including Heikki Räisänen, Geurt Henk van Kooten, Udo Schnelle, Cilliers Breytenbach, Annette Weissenrieder, Peter Gemeinhardt, Veronika Janssen, Karl Friedrich Ulrichs, John Fitzgerald (whose paper on the influence of Heinrici on English-language scholarship should prove particularly informative for me), Marco Frenschkowski, Mattias Helmer, Manfred Lang, and Martin Hünegurg.

I’ve been asked to pose possible theological implications arising from the sort of work that I’ve been involved in over many years focused on origins of devotion to Jesus in the context of ancient Jewish concern about the uniqueness of the one God.  It’s a bit of a shift for me, as I’ve tended to focus on historical issues.

Also, other that the papers by Räisänen, van Kooten, and Fitzgerald, all the other papers (aside from mine) will be in German.  So, I’ll have to focus hard to keep up with the conversation!  Perhaps I’ll report more on the conference after my return.