Professor Martin Hengel, who died on July 2 aged 82, was
professor of New Testament studies at the German university
of Tübingen between 1972 and 1992, and one of the greatest
biblical scholars of his time.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/581166...

Although Hengel enjoyed an international reputation, the
early years of his academic career were seriously hampered
by his father's insistence that he should be involved in the
family textile business. He was obliged to manage a factory
in Leicester for several years.

None the less he made a unique contribution to the
understanding of the New Testament and Christian origins by
combining his work in this field with no less expertise in
the fields of Judaism and early church history. Thus his
magnum opus Judaism and Hellenism (1969) broke new ground
and changed the course of New Testament studies by
demonstrating that the Judaism out of which Christianity
evolved was one deeply influenced by Hellenism.

He argued also for the existence in Jerusalem of a sizeable
community of Greek-speaking Jews (possibly 15 per cent of
the population) which had its own synagogue and schools, and
from which a group converted to Christianity. This group, he
believed, continued to worship in Greek.

Hengel's work also indicated that the pagan influences
detected in some of the later New Testament writings were
due to Christianity's Hellenistic Jewish origins, rather
than to direct encounter with paganism, as had previously
been thought. The validity of his findings won wide
acceptance by other scholars.

He was a prolific writer in all his fields of study and most
of his many books, 10 of which extend over 500 pages, were
skillfully translated into English by John Bowden and
closely studied in British and American universities. His
Institute for Ancient Judaism and Hellenistic Religion
attracted scholars from all parts of the world, including
Israel, and the Philip Melanchthon Foundation, which he
created, brought young scholars close to the world of Greek
and Roman antiquity.

He always lamented the decline of classical studies
throughout Europe, and believed that a return to barbarism
now threatened.

Yet although Hengel was responsible for a radically
different approach to the New Testament, his conclusions
were always comparatively conservative and reassuring to
evangelicals and others seeking confirmation of their
Christian beliefs. His criticism of those attempting to
apply modern methods of literary criticism to the Bible were
often scathing, and he remained firmly in the faith of
Lutheran pietism.

Martin Hengel was born on December 14 1926 at Reutlingen,
near Stuttgart, but was brought up in nearby Aalen. While
still at school he was conscripted into the wartime German
army, but, following the disintegration of his unit after
heavy defeat in France in 1945, he laid down his arms,
changed into civilian clothes and walked back to his home.

When the war ended he returned to school and towards the end
of 1947 began his theological studies in Tübingen, moving to
the University of Heidelberg in 1949. Two years later he
qualified as a Lutheran parish minister, but his father was
always strongly opposed to this and in 1954 insisted that he
join the family business.

For a time, however, he was also able to lecture at a
theological college, and serve as an assistant to Professor
Otto Michel in Tübingen, but this ended in 1957 when he was
required to manage the Leicester factory. But in spite of
this he completed a dissertation for his doctorate in 1959,
and in 1967 completed a thesis on Judaism and Hellenism
which qualified him to be a university teacher.

Twelve months later he managed to get clear of his father
and became a professor at the University of Erlangen in
Bavaria, and in 1972 returned to Tübingen to succeed
Professor Michel. His many doctoral students regarded him
with a mixture of awe and affection. Hengel was a demanding
teaching who expected the highest standards of scholarship,
but advised his pupils to be modest about their conclusions
since "New Testament study is a science of conjecture".

Many turned to him for advice about their careers. He was
also generous in finding money from his own resources to
support students with financial problems and always welcomed
visiting scholars to his home.

Hengel's lectures and seminars at American and British
universities attracted large audiences and he enjoyed a
strong relationship with Cambridge, where he was always a
welcome visitor and was given an honorary doctorate. Martin
Hengel is survived by his wife, Marianne, whom he married in
1957.

Published July 13 2009