Krister Stendhal, 1921-2008, etc.

I learnt on Tuesday (from Inhabitatio Dei) that Krister Stendhal, famous New Testament scholar, professor emeritus of Harvard Divinity School, retired Bishop of Stockholm, just rested in peace that morning.  By virtue of his article 'Paul and the Introspective Consciousness of the West', he is in fact the earliest pioneer in the New Perspective on Paul.  Although apart from this I know very little about his stuff, in the Chinese notion I should consider Stendhal one of my 'academic grandparent' — he was in fact the advisor of my first major professor in theological study.

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星期二晚從Inhabitatio Dei那邊得知，哈佛神學院榮休新約教授、瑞典斯德哥爾摩退休主教Krister Stendhal，剛於當天早上離世。

Stendhal是活躍於上世紀下半期的重要聖經學者，可說是啟動了近二十年反轉新約研究界的 『保羅新觀』最早的先驅；他那篇影響深遠的文章 'Paul and the Introspective Consciousness of the West' ，質疑路德宗神學對保羅的理解 (他自己是瑞典路德宗牧師)，比E.P. Sanders後來的幾部經典還要早。(無知的人啊！我一直只知那是他那本Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (1976) 裡面其中一章，現在才知道原來原作出版於1963年！)

我雖然沒有認真/直接領教過Stendhal的東西，但認親認戚地說，他應該算是我的 「師公」呢 —— 他是我的神學啟蒙恩師早年兩位指導教授之一。記得當年恩師偶爾提到Krister Stendhal，雖然已經相隔廿年，還是娓娓道來。剛收到他回我的電郵，提到他老師的時候仍說，'He had a lot of influence upon me.'

是的，我恩師本來出身是個新約學者，卻跨科去搞社會倫理。我當年膽粗粗扮搞新約，大概也是受恩師的風範感染。如今繞了一個大圈，扮晒野做甚麼跨學科研究，原來都脫不掉恩師的legacy。

• 延伸：obituary from Harvard Divinity School