How a Liberal Theologian Found Jesus

Notable figures in recent history are easily forgotten. You may never have heard of Eta Linnemann, but her story is worth remembering.

A student of the famous theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) in the 1950s, she inherited his skepticism about the Bible and events such as Christ’s bodily resurrection. She taught these skeptical views to her students at a German university. But when she reached middle age in the 1970s, she abandoned this unbelieving heritage and professed her faith in Christ. For the last 30 years of her life, she taught and proclaimed the truth of the Bible and its gospel message. She spoke to students and churches in Germany, Scandinavia, Indonesia, the United States, and elsewhere. Her books still sell and circulate today.

Before examining his faith, let us see how the skeptical phase of his life unfolded.

Pilgrimage in disbelief

As a child in northern Germany, Linnemann attended church sporadically. She remembers young assistant pastors teaching her Lutheran youth group, but they would teach only briefly and then move on. During her confirmation classes (in her early teens), she concluded that the pastor “was not born again and that everything she was learning gave her no connection to the Lord.” She viewed the Gospels as “just different biographies of Jesus.” What she was learning had no lasting effect.

After the war, in search of meaning, she attended a ten-day retreat. The scheduled speaker canceled because of the flu. A last-minute replacement proved to be an improvement. In Linnemann’s words,

There was something special about him: he truly believed in Christ. I would say he was a born-again Christian; at that time, I had never heard of being born again. One day, this pastor dared to tell us that we were sinners and needed a Savior: Jesus Christ. Out of about twenty students, six or seven of us agreed with him and accepted Christ. A day full of joy followed our decision, and then everyone had to go home.

This faith seems to have been stillborn. A few months later, she began her university studies in Marburg, Germany. She was taught that the resurrection of Jesus was not a historical fact, but simply an idea shared by his disciples. This set the tone for her entire theological education. She learned that despite the predictions of Christ’s return in Scripture, the Second Coming would never take place. She learned that the Bible is not really “the word of God”; at most, one can feel impressions of God when reading it.

Overall, Linnemann recalls, “we were taught that when we read something in the Bible, we have to understand that it could never have happened.”

Because of her diligence as a student and her talent as a scholar, Linnemann eventually followed her teachers (Bultmann, Gerhard Ebeling, Ernst Fuchs, and others) into teaching. She became a member of the society of scholars who teach university students (many of whom have gone on to church leadership) that the Bible and Christian belief must be radically reinterpreted to keep up with the times. As a New Testament scholar, she has written publications (including Gleichnisse Jesu – Inführung und Auslegung) which were among the first critically acclaimed studies by a woman in a male-dominated guild.

Looking back, Linnemann confessed that God had forgiven her for her critical views and the way she had inflicted them on a generation of college students. What happened to give her a living faith in Jesus Christ?

From Criticism to Christ

As she taught her students about disbelief in the Bible, Linnemann felt skepticism creeping in. “The Lord helped me hear the true gospel,” she recalls. It happened over several years through seemingly unlikely means.

Looking back, Linnemann admitted that God had forgiven her for her critical views and the way she had inflicted them on a generation of university students.

While evaluating a dissertation, she discovered well-attested reports of miracles occurring in African churches. She told students about them, who were shocked that a university professor would admit the possibility that miracles were real. The students began praying for her, as did their families. It would be a miracle to have a theology professor who believed that at least some of the miracles recorded in the Bible could have happened.

Sensing an opening, the students began inviting Linnemann to their monthly prayer meetings. She resisted for months. Finally, she showed up. For a year, she observed the students’ love, their affirmation of salvation through faith in Christ, and the prayers they shared, many of which were visibly answered. It fascinated Linnemann.

Then, a month later, a speaker challenged the students: “Is there anyone who wants to believe in Christ?” Linnemann says her first response was, “Oh, that’s not for me because I already believe in Christ.” But looking back, she reflects:

That’s the problem with theologians: they think they’re believers. But he repeated it, asking who was willing to give their life to Christ. Then I knew it was for me. I raised my arm, the Lord saw my heart, and my life was transformed.

I first heard about Eta Linnemann in the early 1980s. Her new life in Christ had just begun. I was a doctoral student in Scotland. Two of my fellow students were German and they told me about her change of attitude.

I began to come across publications reflecting her new vision. Over time, I met her personally and translated three of her books, all still in print: the first was Historical criticism of the Bible: methodology or ideology? She then wrote a book that challenged the consensus that the authors of the Synoptic Gospels primarily copied from each other: Is There a Synoptic Problem? Rethinking the Literary Dependence of the First Three Gospels. She subsequently published an anthology of critical essays covering various subjects: Biblical Criticism on Trial: How Scientific is Scientific Theology? At least two of them are still in print in Germany.

Among his other publications was an article examining the evidence for the alleged source of the Gospel called Q. An amusing story highlights Linnemann’s sometimes brutal ways: the famous editor of Biblical Archaeology ReviewHershel Shanks undertook to translate the German version of this article. He sent his work to Linnemann to see if she would consent to its publication in the magazine. Upon reading his translation, Linnemann thundered: “This is not a translation! It is a fake!” She did not find the translation accurate.

Shanks was hardened enough not to be offended. He invited her to find a translator to her liking, which she did. He then published the result.

Linnemann’s Legacy: Pros and Cons

This exchange with Shanks reveals one aspect of Linnemann’s legacy: she was not always diplomatic in her dealings with others. She believed that evangelical scholars had to fight against the “historical-critical theology” (as she called it) that dominated Western biblical studies. She was sometimes unfair to fellow evangelicals (especially Germans) who were not on the same wavelength as her on this issue.

But in other respects, I think we can look favorably on her work. A few years ago, I assessed the critiques of her somewhat dissident work on the synoptic problem. Then as now, I believe she made valid points, offering a genuinely critical perspective on a subject where too many people take too much for granted… and where consensus on how to solve this “problem” still eludes the guild.

In the age of “ex-evangelicals,” it is sobering to contemplate Linnemann’s direct critique of the generally liberal theology that nearly killed her—and which some disaffected evangelicals seem eager to affirm at least in part.

It is especially comforting to recall the work of God’s grace that led Linnemann out of the darkness of skepticism she had learned to inflict on her students. The opening of her written testimony includes this:

I would like to share my testimony with you, beginning with a verse from God’s Word, 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This is very important. I was a theologian for decades, but I did not know the inspiration of Holy Scripture. It took me being born again to discover it.

Linnemann’s story is not unique. In 2011, Mary Schertz, a professor of New Testament at Anabaptist Mennonite Bible Seminary, published an account of a major shift in her outlook. She went from rejecting “the idea of ​​having a personal relationship with Jesus” to establishing that relationship.

It is sobering to contemplate Linnemann’s direct critique of the generally liberal theology that nearly killed her.

Of course, many theologians and Bible scholars profess faith in Christ. But among international scholars, they are a marked minority. The academic world is not sympathetic to the idea of ​​a truth-revealing Bible and the one true living God revealed in Jesus Christ.

We are therefore all the more grateful for stories like Linnemann and Schertz. God’s Word is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9), even though powerful institutions, mainstream academics, and society’s normative outlook deny even the existence of such a Word.