The Section for the Study of the New Testament organizes an annual or biennial guest lecture in honour of Dr. Johannes Munck (1904–65), the first professor of New Testament exegesis at Aarhus University.
The Johannes Munck Lecture is a formal opportunity to celebrate the tradition of biblical scholarship at Aarhus University and an occasion for looking forward to new fields of scholarly interest.
Professor Munck was a prominent scholar of Early Christianity and is recognized in New Testament studies for having prepared the soil for the so-called “New Perspective on Paul.”
Two of his monographs became particularly influential in this respect: Paulus und die Heilsgeschichte (1954; English: Paul and the Salvation of Mankind, SCM, 1959) and Christus und Israel: Eine Auslegung von Röm 9–11 (1956; English: Christ and Israel: An Interpretation of Romans 9–11, Fortress, 1967).
Apart from being an international scholar, Professor Munck was one of the founders of the Faculty of Theology in Aarhus in 1942 and served as the university president (rektor) in 1943–45.
2023: Prof. Susanne Luther (Universität Göttingen), "'Written That You May Believe…': The Gospel of John – Literary Form, Historiographical Claim, and Theological Impetus" (Oct 20)
2022: Prof. Marianne Bjelland Kartzow (University of Oslo), "The Intersectional Turn: Implications for New Testament Studies and Theology" (Oct 12)
2020: Prof. Jörg Frey (Universität Zürich), "Not a Book with Seven Seals: Revelation - its Imagery, Intention, and Meaning." (Oct 7)
2019: Prof. Helen Bond (The University of Edinburgh), "The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark's Gospel." (Oct 2)
2018: Prof. Francis Watson (Durham University), ”What is a Gospel?” (May 2)
2016: Prof. Christoph Markschies (Humboldt University of Berlin), "Jewish Roots of Gnosticism? Or: What made Gnostics so Attractive in the First Centuries?" (May 17)
2015: Prof. Markus Vinzent (King's College), "The Non-Existence of Gentile Christianity: An Inspiring View by Johannes Munck." (Jan 30)
2013: Prof. John J. Collins (Yale), "Apocalypticism and the Transformation of Prophecy in the Second Temple Period." (Oct 9)
2012: Prof. Geurt Henk van Kooten (Groningen), "The Earthly and the Heavenly Adam (1 Cor 15) and the Three Types of Men (1 Cor 2-3): Some Comparative Notes on Philo, Paul and Plutarch." (Jan 19)
