Abstract
Abstract This article begins with an analysis of Adolf von Harnack’s research on biblical and patristic sources in regard to the development of the authoritative church. I provide a close textual analysis of Harnack’s The Origin of the New Testament and the Most Important Consequences of the New Creation (1914). This analysis shows that Harnack regarded biblical and patristic sources as extremely meaningful, as they provide a trustworthy account of the origins of Christianity, but they were also open to critical analysis. I continue this investigation with a close textual reading of Harnack’s correspondence with Karl Barth from 1923, in which the two theologians discussed, among other topics, the possibility of talking about God. I argue that we should place Harnack’s analysis of the biblical and patristic sources within a broader epistemological reflection on the possibilities of human knowledge, to which Harnack dedicated a great deal of attention, even if he did not develop it systematically in his vast literary production.
Highlights
In this article, I analyze Adolf von Harnack’s (1851–1930) view of the authority of the Bible and the Church Fathers by focusing on his presentation of the origins and the development of the New Testament
I provide a close textual analysis of Harnack’s The Origin of the New Testament and the Most Important Consequences of the New Creation (1914). This analysis shows that Harnack regarded biblical and patristic sources as extremely meaningful, as they provide a trustworthy account of the origins of Christianity, but they were open to critical analysis
“ came a moment after which the collection of sacred books could only, so to speak, itself create or, rather, extend itself – namely the moment when the conviction arose that every work that was Apostolic and Catholic belonged to an authoritative group.”41 Harnack’s analysis follows a trajectory that began with the “simple” preaching of Jesus, developed into the fixing of the New Testament, which in turn led to new literature, among which we find exegeses that may explain the more controversial and difficult passages of the Canon
Summary
I analyze Adolf von Harnack’s (1851–1930) view of the authority of the Bible and the Church Fathers by focusing on his presentation of the origins and the development of the New Testament. With a close textual reading of selected passages, I hope to show that Harnack regarded the biblical and patristic sources as providing a precise account of the origins of Christianity, and the patristic exegetical literature a necessary explanation of the difficult passages in the Canon. This point is important if we consider that the debate on the validity of biblical sources got heated during the nineteenth century in Germany, especially through the famous work of Harnack’s senior colleague David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874), Das Leben Jesu (1835)..
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