Abraham Kuenen

Abraham Kuenen

, North Holland.

On his father's death it became necessary for him to leave school and take a humble place in the business. By the generosity of friends he was educated at the gymnasium at Haarlem and afterwards at the university of Leiden. He studied theology, and won his doctor's degree by an edition of thirty-four chapters of Genesis from the Arabic version of the Samaritan Pentateuch. In 1853 he became professor extraordinarius of theology at Leiden, and in 1855 full professor. He married a daughter of W. Muurling, one of the founders of the Groningen school, which made the first pronounced breach with Calvinistic theology in the Reformed Church of the Netherlands.

Kuenen himself soon became one of the main supports of the modern theology, of which JH Scholten and Karel Willem Opzoomer (b. 1821) were the chief founders, and of which Leiden became the headquarters. His first great work, an historico-critical introduction to the Old Testament, "Historisch-Kritisch Onderzoek naar het onstaand en de verzameling van de Boeken des Ouden Verbonds" (3 vols., 1861-1865; 2nd ed., 1885-1893; German by T Weber and CT Müller, 1885-1894), followed the lines of ths dominant school of Heinrich Ewald.

But before long he came under the influence of JW Colenso, and learned to regard the prophetic narrative of Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers as older than what was by the Germans denominated "Grundschrift" ("Book of Origins"). In 1869-1870 he published his book on the religion of Israel, "De Godsdienst tot den ondergang van den Joodschen staat" (Eng. trans., 1874-1875).

This was followed in 1875 by a study of Hebrew prophecy, "De profeten en de profetie onder Israel" (Eng. trans., 1877), largely polemical in its scope, and specially directed against those who rest theological dogmas on the fulfilment of prophecy. In 1882 Kuenen went to England to deliver a course of Hibbert lectures, "National Religions and Universal Religion"; in the following year he presided at the congress of Orientalists held at Leiden. In 1886 his volume on the Hexateuch was published in England. He died at Leiden on the 10th of December 1891.

Kuenen was also the author of many articles, papers and reviews; a series on the Hexateuch, which appeared in the "Theologisch Tijdschrift", of which in 1866 he became joint editor, is one of the finest products of modern criticism. His collected works were translated into German and published by Karl Budde in 1854. Several of his works have been translated into English by Philip Wicksteed. See the article in Herzog-Hauck, "Realencyklopädie".

References

*1911


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Abraham Kuenen — Naissance 16 septembre 1828 Haarlem …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abraham Kuenen — (* 16. September 1828 in Haarlem; † 10. Dezember 1891 in Leiden) war ein niederländischer protestantischer Theologe. Kuenen war ab 1853 außerordentlicher Professor für Theologie an der Universität Leiden und ab 1855 ordentlicher Professor dort …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • KUENEN, ABRAHAM — (1828–1891), Netherlands theologian and biblical critic. Although julius wellhausen is generally acclaimed as the chief exponent of the so called literary critical school, earliest scientific espousal of its essential theses must be ascribed to… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kuenen — ist der Name folgender Personen: Abraham Kuenen (1828–1891), protestantischer Theologe Philip Henry Kuenen (1902–1976), holländischer Geologe Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit demselben Wort …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kuenen — Kuenen, Abraham, niederländ. Theolog, geb. 16. Sept. 1828 in Haarlem, gest. 9. Dez. 1891 in Leiden, studierte in Leiden, wo er 1853 außerordentlicher, 1855 ordentlicher Professor der Theologie wurde. Seine hauptsächlichsten Werke sind:… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Kuenen — Kuenen, Abraham, niederländ. reform. Theolog, geb. 16. Sept, 1828 zu Haarlem, seit 1853 Prof. in Leiden, gest. das. 10. Dez. 1891; schrieb: »Entstehung und Sammlung der Bücher des A. T.« (2. Aufl. 1885 89; deutsch 1885 94), »Die Religion Israels… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • KUENEN, ABRAHAM —    a Dutch Biblical critic, born at Haarlem; studied at Leyden, and became professor there; distinguished for his researches on the lines of the so called higher criticism bearing upon the literary history of the books of the Old Testament,… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Kue — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 5 Bücher Mose — Pentateuch (griechisch Πεντάτευχος „Fünfgefäß“, hebräisch Chumasch von chamesch „fünf“) ist ein griechischer Ausdruck für die fünf Bücher Moses. Er stammt von den Krügen, in denen Schriftrollen aufbewahrt wurden. Deren Umfang bestimmte auch seine …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chumasch — Pentateuch (griechisch Πεντάτευχος „Fünfgefäß“, hebräisch Chumasch von chamesch „fünf“) ist ein griechischer Ausdruck für die fünf Bücher Moses. Er stammt von den Krügen, in denen Schriftrollen aufbewahrt wurden. Deren Umfang bestimmte auch seine …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”