After studies intheology,philosophy andarchaeology atBielefeld andGöttingen (Germany) andRome (Italy) he received hisPh.D. and hisDr. habil. at theUniversity of Bern in Switzerland with works about the social history of the early Christians in the city of Rome in the first two centuries and about the concept of unity and community in the Pauline letters. Scholarships of theGerman Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung) supported his university education and PhD studies. From 1981 on he taught at the University of Bern as assistant professor ("Wissenschaftlicher Assistent") until he was called to a chair of New Testament Studies atUnion Theological Seminary in Virginia, USA, in 1986. In 1992, he took the chair of History and Archaeology of Early Christianity and Its Environment at theUniversity of Kiel in Germany, where he also served as dean of the school of theology. In 1999, he accepted a call to a chair at theUniversity of Heidelberg.
In 2005, he co-founded theResearch Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology (FIIT) at the University of Heidelberg, and in 1997 he founded theSocietas Theologicum Adiuvantium in Kiel. He has been on the editorial board of international scholarly journals[1] and book series.[2] He is aK.St.J. (Germany), a member ofPEN America/PEN International,[3] the internationalStudiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS),[4] theWissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Theologie (WGTH),[5] and theSociety of Biblical Literature (SBL).[6] He is an ordained Lutheran minister and has been married to Margaret Birdsong, having two children, Daniel and Jessica.
His works focus on thesocial history of early Christianity (groundbreaking studies on, for example, early Christianity in Rome in the 1st/2nd centuries, and on Paul's correspondence with Philemon; his work also contributed decisively to the paradigm shift toward a more contextual reading of theLetter to the Romans);[7] on theHellenistic background of early Christianity; onPauline studies (includingrhetorical studies); on early Christianarchaeology andepigraphy; as well as on methodological and hermeneutical questions. He pioneered applyingconstructivist categories to New Testament exegesis and hermeneutics.[8] Furthermore, he was one of the first to explore the potential ofpsychological interpretation in his field.[9]
From 2001 to 2008, he directed annual archaeological campaigns inPhrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are the best candidates in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancientMontanism,Pepouza andTymion. Historians such as W. Weiss, T. Gnoli, S. Destephen, M. Ritter, C.M. Robeck, T.D. Barnes, M. Mazza,[10] and the renown classical historian and epigrapher Stephen Mitchell (2023) affirm that Lampe and his team can “claim credit for identifying the location of the Montanist centres Pepuza and Tymion".[11] Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century. The Montanist patriarch resided at Pepouza, and the Montanists expected theheavenly Jerusalem to descend to earth atPepouza andTymion. In late antiquity, both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire.
Eschatologie und Friedenshandeln: Exegetische Beiträge zur Frage christlicher Friedensverantwortung (together with U. Luz et al.; Stuttgarter Bibelstudien, vol. 101) Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk 1981, 2nd edition 1989, ISBN 978-3-460-04011-3.
Die Anfänge des Christentums: Alte Welt und neue Hoffnung (together with J. Becker et al.) Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1987, ISBN 978-3-17-001902-7.
1987 + 1989:Die stadtrömischen Christen in den ersten beiden Jahrhunderten: Untersuchungen zur Sozialgeschichte, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/18 (Mohr-Siebeck: Tübingen 1987; 2nd, revised and enlarged edition 1989)ISBN3-16-145048-5, ISSN 0340-9570,ISBN3-16-145422-7, ISSN 0340-9570.
Christian Beginnings: Word and Community from Jesus to Post-Apostolic Times (together with J. Becker et al.) Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press 1993, ISBN 978-1-56338-264-2. Translation of the 1987Die Anfänge des Christentums: Alte Welt und neue Hoffnung.
1995:Pocahontas: Die Indianer-Prinzessin am Englischen Hof (Diederichs: München 1995)ISBN3-424-01325-0
1998:Die Briefe an die Philipper, Thessalonicher und an Philemon, NTD 8/2 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Göttingen 1998) (together with N. Walter and E. Reinmuth)ISBN3-525-51381-X,ISBN978-3-525-51381-1
2004:Felsen im Fluss: Schriftworte in provokativer Auslegung zu Themen der Zeit (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2004)ISBN3-7975-0071-8
2005:Wortglassplitter (a book of poetry; Athena: Oberhausen, 2005)ISBN3-89896-225-3
2006:Die Wirklichkeit als Bild: Das Neue Testament als ein Grunddokument abendländischer Kultur im Lichte konstruktivistischer Epistemologie und Wissenssoziologie (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2006)ISBN3-7887-1624-X.
2007:Küsste Jesus Magdalenen mitten auf den Mund?: Provokationen, Einsprüche, Klarstellungen (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2007)ISBN978-3-7975-0142-4
2008:Pepouza and Tymion: The Discovery and Archaeological Exploration of a Lost Ancient City and an Imperial Estate (deGruyter: Berlin/New York, 2008; together with W. Tabbernee)ISBN978-3-11-019455-5 undISBN978-3-11-020859-7
2008:Neutestamentliche Exegese im Dialog: Hermeneutik – Wirkungsgeschichte – Matthäusevangelium (Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008) (ed. together with M. Mayordomo, M. Sato)ISBN978-3-7887-2283-8
2010:Neutestamentliche Grenzgänge: Symposium zur kritischen Rezeption der Arbeiten Gerd Theißens (Göttingen: Vandenhoek and Ruprecht 2010) (ed. together with H. Schwier)ISBN978-3-525-53393-2
2010:Paul and Rhetoric (New York/London: Clark 2010) (together with J.P. Sampley)ISBN978-0-567-02704-7
2012:New Testament Theology in a Secular World: A Constructivist Work in Philosophical Epistemology and Christian Apologetics (translated by Robert L. Brawley from the 2006 German edition with substantial subsequent revisions and augmentations by the author; London & New York: T&T Clark/Bloemsbury, 2012)ISBN978-0-567-32417-7
2019:Ad ecclesiae unitatem: Eine exegetisch-theologische und sozialpsychologische Paulusstudie (437 pp; Habilitationsschrift; Bern: Universität Bern, 1989) online: Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2019, DOI: 10.11588/diglit.48669;https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/lampe1989
2023:Los primeros cristianos en Roma: De Pablo a Valentín (603 pp; Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme, 2023)ISBN978-84-301-2150-2
2024: 'Montanism' in the Roman World: The New Prophecy Movement from Historical, Sociological, and Ecclesiological Perspectives (FS William Tabbernee; NTOA 132; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht/Brill, 2024) (ed. together with H.E. Mader)ISBN978-3-525-50104-7
In 2003, Lampe received the GermanEcumenical Preaching Award (Bonn, Germany). In 2008, he was madehonorary professor at theUniversity of the Free State in South Africa. In 1987, in the United States his German bookDie stadtrömischen Christen was awarded the distinction ofScholar’s Choice (significant current theological literature from abroad). National merit scholarships of theGerman Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung). To mark his 65th birthday, scholars from five continents co-authored a two-volume festschrift in his honour.[12]
Ute E. Eisen &Heidrun E. Mader, eds.,Talking God in Society: Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Festschrift for Peter Lampe, vol. I: Theories and Applications (807 pp.) & vol. II: Hermeneuein in Global Contexts: Past and Present (532 pp.), NTOA 120/1+2, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht/Göttingen: 2020 (vol. I: ISBN Print: 9783525573174, ISBN E-Book: 9783647573175; vol. II: ISBN Print: 9783525573181, ISBN E-Book: 9783647573182); especially vol. I, pp. 9-13 (about Lampe's oeuvre) & vol. II, pp. 495-521 (Lampe's bibliography)
^Cristianesimo nella storia (Bologna) until 2008;Interpretation (Richmond, VA, USA; English and Japanese) until 1992;Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (Berlin);Archivum Historiae Pontificiae (Rom: Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana).
^Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus/ Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments (Göttingen);Bellerophon: Studien zur Antiken und Christlichen Kultur- und Religionsgeschichte (Möhnesee).
^See, e.g., H. Chadwick inJournal of Theological Studies (1990) 228-229; W.H.C. Frend inJournal of Ecclesiastical History (1990) 278-279; R. Jewett inInterpretation 43 (1989) 296-298; J. H. Elliott inCBQ 51 (1989) 560-562; R. Brown inThe Heythrop Journal (1988) 359-360; M. Mueller inDansk Teologisk Tidsskrift (1991) 157; P. Grech inAugustinianum (1987) 641-643; P. Pillhofer inExegese und Methodendiskussion, Narr: Tuebingen 1998, 243; A. v.d. Hoek inHarvard Theological Review 90 (1997) 76; E. Fontana inSalesianum 53 (1991) 413-414; A. Segal inJournal of Biblical Literature 109/4 (1990) 733-735; J. Lieu inJournal of Jewish Studies 54 (2003) 153-154; Z.A. Crock inToronto Journal of Theology 20/2 (2004) 223-224; J. H. Ellens inJournal of Psychology and Christianity (2005/2006); E. Krentz inCurrents in Theology and Mission (2005) 213; T. J. Wellman inTheological Studies (2005) 856-858; H.-D. Betz inReviews; H.-U. Weidemann inBibel und Kirche (2010) 181f.
^See, e.g., G.Theißen/P.v.Gemuenden,Erkennen und Erleben, Guetersloher: Guetersloh 2007, 21; M. Gaertner inPfaelzisches Pfarrerblatt 10 (2007) 518-520.
^See, e.g., G.Theißen/P.v.Gemuenden,Erkennen und Erleben, Guetersloher: Guetersloh 2007, 20-22, 382-383.
^W. Weiss, “V. Hirschmann, Horrenda Secta,”HoSozKult 2006 (online):https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-7581?title=v-e-hirschmann-horrenda-secta&recno=1&q=horrenda&sort=newestPublished&fq=&total=1; T. Gnoli, “W. Tabbernee and P. Lampe, Pepouza and Tymion,”Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009, 1-5; S. Destephen, “P. McKechnie, Christianizing Asia Minor,”Revue de l’Histoire des Religions 1 (2022) 139; M. Ritter, “Zwanzig Jahre Alte Kirche in Forschung und Darstellung,”Theologische Rundschau 75.1 (2010) 57–58; C.M. Robeck, Jr., “Montanism and Present Day ‘Prophets’,”Pneuma 32 (2010) 413–429, on pp. 421–422; T.D. Barnes, “William Tabbernee and Montanism,”Cristianesimo nella storia 31 (2010) 945–956, on pp. 945–946; M. Mazza, "I coloni si lamentano: sottomissione e resistenza in alcune iscrizioni del III secolo dC",Studio Historica, Historia Antigua 25 (2007) 451–467, one p. 458 (“inoppugnabili”).
^Stephen Mitchell (The Christians of Phrygia from Rome to the Turkish Conquest, Leiden 2023, pp. XV, 419-422, n.364): They "can also claim credit for identifying the location of the Montanist centres Pepuza and Tymion" (p. XV).
^Talking God in Society: Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Festschrift for Peter Lampe, vol. I (807 pp.) & II (532 pp.), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht/Göttingen: 2020, ed. by Ute E. Eisen &Heidrun E. Mader.
