Editing Julius Wellhausen (section)

==Biography==
Wellhausen was born at [[Hamelin]] in the [[Kingdom of Hanover]]. The son of a [[Protestant]] [[pastor]],<ref>Clements, R.E. ''A Century of Old Testament Study'' (Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1994), 7.</ref> he later studied [[theology]] at the [[University of Göttingen]] under [[Georg Heinrich August Ewald]] and became ''[[Privatdozent]]'' for [[Old Testament]] history there in 1870. In 1872, he was appointed [[Academic ranks in Germany#Faculty|professor ordinarius]] of theology at the [[University of Greifswald]]. However, he resigned from the faculty in 1882 for reasons of conscience,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} stating in his letter of resignation:
{{blockquote|"I became a theologian because the scientific treatment of the Bible interested me; only gradually did I come to understand that a professor of theology also has the practical task of preparing the students for service in the Protestant Church, and that I am not adequate to this practical task, but that instead despite all caution on my own part I make my hearers unfit for their office. Since then my theological professorship has been weighing heavily on my conscience."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levenson |first1=Alan |title=Was the Documentary Hypothesis Tainted by Wellhausen's Antisemitism? - TheTorah.com |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/was-the-documentary-hypothesis-tainted-by-wellhausens-antisemitism |website=www.thetorah.com |publisher=Project TABS |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref><ref>Cited in Robert J. Oden Jr.,''The Bible Without Theology: the Theological Tradition and Alternatives to It'' (Urbana: University of Illinois, 2000), p. 20.</ref>}}

He became [[Academic ranks in Germany#Faculty|professor extraordinarius]] of oriental languages in the faculty of [[philology]] at [[university of Halle|Halle]], was elected professor ordinarius at Marburg in 1885 and was transferred to Göttingen in 1892, where he stayed until his death.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Among theologians and biblical scholars, he is best known for his book, ''[[Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels]]'' (''Prolegomena to the History of Israel''); his work in Arabic studies (specifically, the magisterial work entitled ''The Arab Kingdom and its Fall'') remains celebrated, as well.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=The Arab Kingdom and its fall |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-315-41033-3 |url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Arab-Kingdom-and-its-Fall/Wellhausen/p/book/9781138221505 |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> After a detailed synthesis of existing views on the origins of the [[Torah|first five books of the Bible]], Wellhausen aimed at placing the development of these books into a historical and social context.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=Die Pharisäer und die Sadducäer: eine Untersuchung zur inneren jüdischen Geschichte |date=1874 |publisher=L. Bamberg |location=Greifswald |page=19 |edition=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wellhausen |first1=Julius |title=Prolegomena to the History of Israel |date=1994 |publisher=Scholars Press |location=Atlanta, Ga. |isbn=978-1-55540-938-8 |page=509}}</ref> The resulting argument, called the [[documentary hypothesis]], became the dominant model for many biblical scholars and remained so for most of the 20th century.

According to [[Alan Levenson]], Wellhausen considered theological [[anti-Judaism]], as well as [[antisemitism]], to be normative.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Levenson |first1=Alan |title=Was the Documentary Hypothesis Tainted by Wellhausen's Antisemitism? - TheTorah.com |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/was-the-documentary-hypothesis-tainted-by-wellhausens-antisemitism |website=TheTorah.com |publisher=Project TABS |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref>