Forschungsprojekte Martin Stowasser
Passion and Resurrection of Jesus
The project addresses the central Kerygma of the New Testament message of death and resurrection of Jesus. At it’s foreground are the synchron and theological analyses especially of the passion- and easter traditions. The project findings shall be published as a monograph by the Project Supervisors.
Jesus‘ trial still raises many historical questions and researching on it is overshadowed by the antijudaism of early Christian sources. The four people that, according to the sources, questioned Jesus of Nazaret during the trial play an important role when it comes to Jesus’ Trial. The project asks who they were, if and if yes in which form Jesus stood across from them as well as which intention guided their actions. More aspects to these questions should bring an important detailed diagnosis to the overall issue.
Mission and Caritas
The expansion of early Christianity happened rapidly already during New Testament Times and is commonly summarised under the term mission. What exactly is meant by the term mission though usually remains as vague as the perception of the factors that played a role in it. The research question aims at reifying the term mission for New Testament times and wants to examine the special connection between the social aspect and the expansion of early Christianity. A special role in those matters falls to the Book of Acts by Luke.
God in the Revelation of John
Central to the research project are the figure and role of God in the Revelation of John. First God´s self-statements have to be examined, then central images and motives, which are applied directly or indirectly to God.
In the image of God designed by the author many informations about the book´s cultural backgrounds are compressed like in a focal point, allowing to cast new light on numerus, exegetical controversially discussed specific aspects of the entire work and also its pragmatics. How many traits of God´s image for example have a jewish-Old-Testament background, which rather show parallels to roman-hellenistic deities? How extensive have traditions been integrated or in what way changed during the author´s designing of his image of God? At the same time the analysis of this central figure of the work allows to better comprehend the intention behind the writing of the Revelation of John. Can the up till now dominant thesis of radical polemics against the Roman Empire and its deities as the sole determining factor remain kept up? Should only harassed christians in Asia Minor at the end of the 1th century AD be immunized and strengthened in their faith or does the integration of characteristics of pagan deities into the image of God also owe to a propagandistically recruiting intention?
From the theological point of view the question of God´s being God arises. Because of the transfer of nearly all godly attributes to Christ or the lamb is not only the relation of christology and theology in the last book of the christian Bible up to debate but appears also the problem of monotheism. Does an explanatory modell called „christological monotheism“ grasp the result satisfyingly? Where does the author fixate God´s proprium?
The Revelation of John has resulted in an impressive, diverse historical influence. The research project aims at a closer examination of a part of it by taking the reception in the german-language literature of the 20th and 21th century into account.