author
Ernst von Dobschütz
1870–1934
A careful New Testament scholar and textual critic, his work helped shape modern study of early Christian writings. He taught at major German universities and wrote widely on the history, meaning, and cultural afterlife of the New Testament.
1 Audiobook
The Influence of the Bible on Civilisation
by Ernst von Dobschütz
About the author
Born in Halle on October 9, 1870, Ernst von Dobschütz became a leading German theologian, church historian, and textual critic. He studied theology in Leipzig, Halle, and Berlin, and later taught at the universities of Jena, Strasbourg, Breslau, and Halle.
His scholarship centered on the New Testament: both the recovery of its text from manuscripts and the wider history of its interpretation and influence. Reference works describe him as deeply shaped by teachers such as Martin Kähler and Adolf von Harnack, and as a scholar interested not only in textual detail but also in how Christian tradition continued to echo in culture and art.
Alongside his university career, he lectured beyond Germany, including in the United States and Sweden, and published numerous books. He died in Halle on May 20, 1934, leaving a body of work still remembered in the history of biblical scholarship.