Norbert Lohfink Explained

Norbert Lohfink
Birth Date:28 July 1928
Birth Place:Frankfurt am Main, Prussia, German Republic
Death Place:Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Module:
Child:yes
Church:Catholic Church
Ordained:1956

Norbert Lohfink SJ (28 July 1928 – 23 September 2024) was a German Catholic priest, theologian and member of the Jesuit Order. He was professor of exegesis of the Old Testament at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt. He also taught at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, for four years in the 1960s and repeatedly for guest semesters. His works were translated into several languages. He worked on international and ecumenical projects, such as the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.

Life and career

Lohfink was born in Frankfurt am Main, the eldest of four siblings in a workers' family; his father was a train driver. He grew up in the in Bockenheim and in the Gallus quarter. He learned a sensibility for the quality of literature early, for example reading in watch shifts as a Luftwaffenhelfer. During the last school year, he had a Brentano scholar for a teacher who taught latest developments in literary studies.

He joined the Jesuits shortly after completing school with the Abitur, as a novice at in 1947. He studied philosophy at the Berchmanskolleg in Pullach near Munich from 1947 to 1953. During this time he studied also Rilke's Duino Elegies for a year, and Henri de Lubac's Exégèse médiévale. He then did theology at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt to 1957. He further studied exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome where he achieved the doctorate in 1962.

Lohfink was ordained a priest in 1956 at the Frankfurt Cathedral. He taught at Sankt Georgen from 1962, then from 1966 at the Pontifical Biblical Institute for four years, and finally at Sankt Georgen again until 1996. He returned to Rome occasionally for guest semesters. Lohfink became an internationally respected expert, and a teacher who was able to fascinate his audience.

Lohfink's main areas of research were Deuteronomy, Qoheleth and the Psalms; his scientific works in those areas are regarded as milestones in research history.[1] His books were translated into many languages.

Lohfink was the founder or co-founder of the series "Stuttgarter Bibelstudien"[2] and "Stuttgarter Biblische Aufsatzbände", and a co-editor of the "Yearbook for Biblical Theology" and the "Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtsgeschichte". He translated two books of the Bible for the ecumenical Einheitsübersetzung, and worked for ten years for the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project of the United Bible Societies. He worked over many years in the international liturgy commission of German-speaking countries (IAG) and collaborated with on a Deuteronomy commentary for the Hermeneia series of Fortress Press.

Lohfink worked towards understanding, dialogue and collaboration of Christians and Jews who share the same texts. In a 1987 collection, Das Jüdische am Christentum. Die verlorene Dimension., he pointed at the Jewish Welthaftigkeit, an openness towards the world which is specific to the Old Testament: faith as origin of wanting to transform the world.

Personal life

Lohfink was the brother of Gerhard Lohfink. He and his brother belonged to the Catholic Integrated Community. He moved to the Pedro Arrupe community for seniors in Unterhaching in 2021.

Lohfink died in Munich on 23 September 2024, at the age of 96.

Honorary doctorates

Writings

Dissertation

In German

Lohfink's bibliography was published by the Sankt Georgen University.

In English

Other languages

Further reading

Obituaries

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Levinson, Bernard M. . Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel . 2008 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-51344-9 . Cambridge . 129–32 . 10.1017/cbo9780511499029.
  2. Web site: Wir über uns . Bibelwerk Verlag . de . 25 September 2024.
  3. Web site: Norbert Lohfink, SJ . 650 plus Universität Wien . 7 February 2017 . 26 September 2024.

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