Hans-Josef Klauck | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Klauck in 2011 | |
| Born | (1946-06-04)4 June 1946 |
| Died | 27 March 2025(2025-03-27) (aged 78) Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Title | Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christian Literature |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
| Thesis | (1977) |
| Doctoral advisor | Joachim Gnilka |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | |
| Institutions | University of Chicago Divinity School |
Hans-Josef KlauckOFM (4 June 1946 – 27 March 2025) was a German theologian,Franciscanpriest, and historian. After teachingNew Testament as professor at the universitiesof Bonn,Würzburg andMunich, he was Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at theUniversity of Chicago Divinity School from 2001 to 2016.
Klauck was born inHermeskeil on 4 June 1946.[1] The first child of his mother, Anna-Maria Meier, he grew up with two younger half-brothers.[2] He attended the boarding school of theFranciscan Cologne region in Exaten nearRoermond from 1960 where he achieved theAbitur in 1966. He then joined the FranciscanRietberg Abbey [de] on 21 April 1966.[2] He made hisvows on 5 October 1970.[1][2] Klauck studied philosophy and theology inMünster andBonn. He was consecrated as apriest on 15 July 1972 by BishopHeinrich Tenhumberg [de] in Münster.[1][2]
Klauck worked in theSt. Pankratius [de] parish inBuldern and studied further in Münster, focused on Bible andJewish studies.[3] He worked as an assistant toJoachim Gnilka at theLudwig Maximilian University of Munich and achieved the doctorate of theology in 1977; his dissertation was titled "Allegorie und Allegorese in synoptischen Gleichnistexten".[1] He washabilitated in 1980,[2][3] writing about "Herrenmahl und hellenistischer Kult. Eine religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zum ersten Korintherbrief".[1]
Klauck was appointed professor in Bonn in 1981. He received an offer from theUniversity of Würzburg the following year to succeedRudolf Schnackenburg.[1] In 1994 he lectured in South Africa for several weeks. He served as dean of the faculty in Würzburg from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, he moved to the faculty of Catholic theology in Munich,[1] succeeding his former teacher Gnilka.[2][3]
Klauck received an offer to teach New Testament at theUniversity of Chicago Divinity School in 2001,[2][3] a private institution independent of denominations and churches.[2] Klauck was president of theStudiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 2003/04.[4] He received anhonorary doctorate from theUniversity of Zurich in 2008, for his studies ofEarly Christianity.[1][5] He retired from the Divinity School in Summer 2016 as emeritus.[2][3]
Klauck returned to Germany in 2022 and settled in a convent in Munich.[1][2]
Klauck died in Munich on 27 March 2025, at the age of 78.[1][2]
Hans-Josef Klauck was a prolific New Testament scholar of his time[1] who worked on topics such as theparables of Jesus, Paul'sEpistles to the Corinthians, and theJohannine epistles. He also focused on the social and religious history of theGreco-Roman world for context.[1][3] He explored theapocrypha of the New Testament, writing introductions in several languages, and collected essays and articles inmonographies.[1]
Klauck was the editor ofHerders Biblische Studien[6] andStuttgarter Biblische Studien;[7] coeditor ofHermeneia, Evangelische-Katholische Kommentar zum Neuen Testament[8] andWissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament;[9] New Testament area editor for the new edition ofDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart;[10] and the main New Testament editor of theEncyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception.[11]
Klauck authored over thirty books and over 250 articles. His books, several of them in English, include:[3]
