Den kjende bibelforskaren Martin Hengel døydde 2. juli 2009. Her er eit utdrag frå ein nekrolog (The Telegraph 12.07.09) som seier noko om hans tankegang omkring jødedom, hellenisme og den tidlege kristne kyrkja:
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.
(…)
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.
(Les meir)
