Deissmann the Philologist

Abstract

2008 marks the century of the publication of a book still in print and still much admired: Adolf Deissmann's 'Licht vom Osten' (English version, 'Light from the ancient East'). With that work he achieved a rare feat - to write a 'popular' book without distorting the technical information that provided its substance. When Deissmann died in 1937 he was acknowledged as the German NT professor whose influence beyond his homeland had spread most widely. His diverse intellectual and humanitarian contributions had ensured him considerable fame, and for many years a high profile internationally. Yet after his death, awareness of his achievements waned rapidly, and within a decade or so very few knew much about him, except perhaps that he was the author of 'Licht vom Osten'. Even the publication of a booklet about him in 1967, for the century of his birth, did nothing to bring his name back from virtual obscurity.