Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 01:2 (Summer 1997)
Article: Adolf Schlatter’s “The Significance of Method for Theological Work”: Translation and Commentary
Author: Robert W. Yarbrough

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SBJT 1:2 (Summer 1997) p. 64

Adolf Schlatter’s “The Significance of
Method for Theological Work”:
Translation and Commentary

Robert W. Yarbrough

Robert Yarbrough is Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Yarbrough has written extensively on the Gospels, and translated Werner Neuer’s Adolf Schlatter: A Biography of Germany’s Premier Biblical Theologian.

Like most disciplines, biblical research has its classic statements. A generation ago Samuel Sandmel produced one on the abuse of biblical parallels.1 A decade later F. F. Bruce commented authoritatively on the subject of the New Testament and classical sources.2 Though hailing from quite recent times, Leander E. Keck’s 1996 presidential address to the Society of Biblical Literature may likewise prove to be of perennial importance.3

New Testament theology’s classic statement is undoubtedly that of J. P. Gabler in 1787.4 But it is by no means the only seminal treatise on the subject. As Robert Morgan’s The Nature of New Testament Theology implies, essays by William Wrede and Adolf Schlatter furnish examples of ground-breaking methodological reflection of no less importance.5 It is not surprising that Morgan found Schlatter’s work of such value if he is in fact anything like Germany’s “premier biblical theologian,” to quote the subtitle of a recent popular-level biography.6

Although Schlatter’s essay first appeared in 1909, it is readily accessible today, in English, in both the Morgan and Neuer volumes.7 But its length, profundity, and wide-ranging scope makes it of more value to seasoned researchers in the field than to readers whose grasp of New Testament theology’s methodological complexities has not yet reached terminal levels.

A shorter, generally overlooked article by Schlatter called “The Significance of Method for Theological Work” furnishes both the flavor and some of the substance of what makes his approach so timelessly distinct.8 My translation appears below. Italicized section subheadings have been added to clarify the half-dozen issues Schlatter succinctly addresses.

Following the translation are remarks corresponding to the introduction and to each individual part of Schlatter’s presentation. Since Schlatter’s...

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