Aus der Werkstatt Harnacks

Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte first began publication in 1925 and can claim to be one of the most tradition-rich historical book series. It presents research on the history of Christian churches and dogmas through the ages but also publishes papers on related disciplines such as archeology, history of art and literary studies. One of the series' leading features is its consistent striving to combine historical-methodical precision with systematic contextualization of each examined topic. In recent years the series has increasingly publishedstudies on themes relating to the history of Christian culture and ideas, viewed within a methodically open perspective on the history of Christianity.

Only recently three notebooks by Hans von Soden (1881-1945) were found in which he recorded four seminars Adolf Harnack taught between the summer of 1904 and early 1906. The seminars were devoted to the following subjects: Justin's Apologies, Gnosticism, Augustin's Confessions (Books 1 to 6), and the Works of Sulpicius Severus. These records with their detailed accounts provide a precise insight not only into patristic research a hundred years ago, but also into the teaching in a department of the Berlin University at that time. Harnack's scholarly interests in the very varied patristic topics from the 1st to 5th centuries are clearly expressed, as too is his strong theological interest in education, which becomes apparent through his polemics.

Autorentext

Wolfgang Wischmeyer ist Ordinarius für Kirchengeschichte, Christliche Archäologie und Kirchliche Kunst an der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien.

Zusammenfassung

"Es ist Wischmeyers Verdienst, diese für die Geschichte der Patristik in Berlin jener Jahre unschätzbaren Hefte ans Licht gezogen zu haben. [...] Es bleibt noch die Aufgabe, ein Wort über die Edition zu sagen. Sie ist mustergültig."
Kurt Niederwimmer in: Amt und Gemeinde 55/2004