ZAHN, THEODOR. - Protestant exegete and patrologist, b. at Mörs (Rhineland) on 10 Oct. 1838, d. at Erlangen on 15 Mar. 1933.
He studied theology at Basel (1855), then at Erlangen, where J. Christian Konrad Hofmann (1810–77) exercised a lasting influence upon him; he was subsequently a tutor at Göttingen (1865), a privatdocent (1868), and an extraordinary professor (1871). He succeeded Hofmann (1878) at Erlangen, and was later titular professor of the New Testament there, except for the years 1888–92, when he was ordinary professor at Leipzig. He retired in 1909 but continued working until the age of 95. His studies first turned to patristics, then to the investigation of the biblical canon, textual criticism, introductions, and commentaries on the New Testament.
Many of his works retain lasting value for their wealth of erudition, acuteness of research, and clarity of exposition. Z. appreciated the most ancient tradition of the Church, defended the full historical authenticity of every passage in the New Testament, and—more rarely—possessed a profound knowledge of the history of exegesis, qualities that render him valuable even to Catholics.
Yet from Hofmann, the true leader of the Erlangen school, Z. inherited a serious limitation. According to this school, all theology is grounded in the experience of spiritual rebirth, also called the “experience of salvation” (Heilserfahrung), a concept descending from Pietism, Schleiermacher, and ultimately from Luther. In this view, however, theological truth is not immediately given as supernatural truth according to its essential foundations, unlike Schleiermacher’s opinion; rather, a conclusion must be drawn, termed regressus. Hofmann compared this to the method physicists use to discover the laws of nature from natural phenomena. The regressus proceeds as follows: the experience of rebirth, which according to Lutheran dogma makes us absolutely certain of our salvation, is effected through the mediator Christ, who took upon Himself the hell we deserved and, filled with the Holy Spirit, makes us new creatures of the Father. Thus one arrives at a prehistory of the salvific experience within the Trinity. By rejecting this, one discovers through other conclusions that there is an entire history of salvation (Heilsgeschichte), lived by great figures through vivid religious experiences and so connected as to constitute a complex (Zusammenhang) of salvific tradition; it follows that the past up to the present is the presupposition of our salvific experience, and the future, up to the eschatological times, will be its fulfillment (Erfüllung). From this arose a certain method of theological work: the salvific tradition must be venerated and investigated by every means, while that which is its senseless hardening must be equally vigorously repudiated; each person must strive to elevate and broaden his theological knowledge to grasp the foundations of the history of salvation, and to do so must incorporate the history of exegesis into his biblical commentaries. If all this is good, a less favorable aspect emerges when Hofmann’s and Z.’s method is compared with the analytical method of Catholic fundamental theology. This too proceeds from an experience—that of the Catholic Church today in the believing person—and broadens the horizon to arrive at the miracle of the existence of this one and holy Church amid so many persecutions and defections; from this it draws its conclusions to arrive at Christ as the living God bound to the Church and to her living traditional magisterium. Yet here there is a supremely important difference: that magisterium instituted by Christ is not sporadic, with more vivid religious experiences according to individuals—an error already rejected by the Church in its struggle against Montanism (v.) and later revived by Protestants—but possesses the irresistible stability of a salvific institution. Thus the tradition of the Church is not to be divided by declaring, according to Luther’s objective but limited experience, which becomes the measure of all theological truths, one part living and another abusive hardening, as Z. does in his biblical commentaries, for example striving to prove that “the Mary” (he knows no more respectful expression than this article “the”) was not a virgin after childbirth and that she had other children from a normal marriage with Joseph (v. BRETHREN OF JESUS), while conceding that philological expressions might bear the sense defended by Catholics, yet deciding in favor of the contempt of that “hardened” tradition which is already found in St Justin the Martyr (v.). The same applies naturally to other passages of the New Testament that lend themselves to controversy with the Catholic Church. Z. is more moderate than other Protestants, but he always adopts the tradition that serves the Erigenean experience, not true tradition in itself. He was therefore in constant polemic with Catholics, as he was with the “critics.” Nor are there lacking in Z. somewhat artificial solutions to many biblical problems. His merits remain, however, outstanding for his defense of the authenticity of biblical writings and of undivided tradition, which are fundamental for the Catholic faith.
Works up to 1918 are listed in Zahn-Bibliographia (Leipzig 1918).
Patristic works: Marcellus von Ancyra (Gotha 1867); Der Hirt des Hermas (ibid. 1868); Ignatius von Antiochien (ibid. 1873); he was co-editor (with O. V. Gebhardt and A. Harnack) of the series Patrum apostolicorum opera (4 vols., Leipzig 1876–78; editio minor 1877; 6th ed. 1920), in which he published in critical edition Ignati et Polycarpi epist., martyria, fragmenta (Leipzig 1876); he conceived and published the important series Forschungen zur Gesch. des neutest. Kanons und der altkirchl. Liter. (Erlangen–Leipzig 1881–1929: 10 vols., mostly written by Z.); Das apost. Symbolum (ibid. 1893); Skizzen aus den Leben der alten Kirche (ibid. 1894; 3rd ed. 1908).
Exegetical works (including on apocrypha): Acta Iohannis (Erlangen 1880); Gesch. des neutest. Kanons (2 vols., ibid. 1888–92); Das Evangel. des Petrus (ibid. 1893); Einleitung in das Neue Testament (2 vols., Leipzig 1897–99; 3rd ed. ibid. 1906–07); Grundriss der Gesch. des neutest. Kanons (ibid. 1901; 2nd ed. ibid. 1904); he directed the Kommentar zum Neuen Testament (18 vols., Leipzig 1903), a series in which Z. contributed commentaries on Mt. (1903; 4th ed. 1922), Gal. (1905; 4th ed. 1922), Io. (1908; 6th ed. 1921), Rom. (1910; 3rd ed. 1925), L. (1913; 4th ed. 1920), Act. (2 vols., 1920–21; 4th ed. 1927), Apoc. (2 vols., 1927); Grundriss der Einleitung in das Neue Testament (Leipzig 1928); Grundriss der neutest. Theologie (ibid. 1928; 2nd ed. 1932); Grundriss der Gesch. des Leben Jesu (ibid. 1928).