The Organization of Diversity in the Ecclesiastical Space of Antiquity

a) Topics and Objectives. The objective of our project is to describe with greater precision than previously the expansion of antique Christianity against the background of two orienting categories, namely »space« and »knowledge«. To this end, the members and Fellows of our group analyze epigraphic and literary materials, but also findings pertaining to the archaeology, religious geography, and biogeography of selected regions of the Roman Empire and evaluate these in terms of a range of concepts of space. b) Methods. Data collection and historical-critical analyses of epigraphic and literary materials; incorporationof findings pertaining to the archaeology, religious geography, and biogeography of the respective regions; pluralism regarding conceptions of space. Noteworthy in particular in this context is the fundamental research of PD Dr. Ulrich Huttner, who has developed a databank of early Christian inscriptions from Asia Minor which draws upon a continuously growing collection of data. c) Current state of the discussion within the research group. No attempt is being made to coordinate our respective findings in terms of a single metatheory vis-à-vis space. Instead, physical, historico-political, social, and post-structural concepts of space are juxtaposed and contrasted with one another and deployed depending upon the respective point of departure

Carl Schmidt und kein Ende

This article presents the life and work of the Berlin coptologist Carl Schmidt (1868-1938) in the light of new sources, among them the correspondence between Schmidt and his mentor Adolf Harnack. Due to Carl Schmidt's continuous purchase of newly discovered texts and their preparation for critical editions changed the image of Ancient Christianity, partly in a radical sense. This is especially the case for the Manichaean and other Gnostic texts, but even for some apocrypha he discovered during his numerous expeditions to Egypt. The efforts of preparing critical editions of these newly found documents last until today. Thus first as an assistant of the “Berliner Kirchenväteredition”, then as an initially adjunct professor of Church History, who also gave lectures at the Berlin Faculty of Theology, Carl Schmidt gave support to his lifetime mentor Harnack

Interreligiöses Lernen in Jerusalem

Der Artikel stellt zwei Studienprogramme unterschiedlichen thematischen und organisatorischen Zuschnitts vor, die jeweils seit ca. 40 Jahren deutschsprachigen Theologiestudierenden einen Studienaufenthalt in Jerusalem ermöglichen. Das eine akzentuiert mit einem dichten Lehrangebot von Professoren deutschsprachiger, aber auch israelischer und palästinensischer Hochschulen die Vertiefung v. a. in Exegese und Ökumene, das andere ermöglicht – auf der Basis profunder Kenntnisse der neuhebräischen Sprache – das Studium an der Hebräischen Universität Jerusalem und die alltägliche wie theologische Begegnung v. a. mit Jüdinnen und Juden. Mit ihren Gemeinsamkeiten wie Unterschieden sind sie damit ein anschauliches Fallbeispiel für transnationale Perspektiven in der Religions- und Bildungsforschung