Ruben Zimmermann

Ruben Zimmermann (born May 10, 1968) is a German Theologian, New Testament Scholar and Ethicist, currently Professor at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany.^[1]

Biography and education

Zimmerman received his PhD at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg in 1999, and his Habilitation at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich in 2003. From 2005-2009, he was Professor for Biblical Studies at Bielefeld University; since then he is Professor for New Testament at the Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz.

He is Co-leader of the Mainz Research Center for Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity (e/ac),^[2] and he has been elected as one of 15 advanced career scholars in the Templeton "Enhancing Life Project".^[3]

Work - Research fields

His areas of research are in ethics (ethical theory, biblical ethics, applied ethics^[4]) the Gospel of John, the parables of Jesus, and miracle stories. Challenging scholarly consensus Zimmermann identifies also parables in the Gospel of John, such as the parable of the good shepherd (John 10:1-5) or the dying grain (John 12:24).^[5]

Books

for a list of Zimmermann`s English publications see here

as author

• Geschlechtermetaphorik und Gottesverhältnis. Traditionsgeschichte und Theologie eines Bildfelds in Urchristentum und antiker Umwelt' ( WUNT II/ 122), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.
• Christologie der Bilder im Johannesevangelium. Die Christopoetik des vierten Evangeliums unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von John 10, WUNT 171, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.^[6]
• Puzzling the Parables of Jesus. Methods and Interpretation, Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015. http://www.fortresspress.com/product/puzzling-parables-jesus-methods-and-interpretation
• Die Logik der Liebe. Die 'implizite Ethik' der Paulusbriefe am Beispiel des 1. Korintherbriefs, Biblisch-theologische Studien 162, Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 2016.^[7]

as editor

• Bildersprache verstehen. Zur Hermeneutik der Metapher und anderer bildlicher Sprachformen. Mit einem Geleitwort von H.-G. Gadamer (Übergänge 38), München: Fink, 2000.^[8]
• Metaphorik und Christologie (Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann), Berlin – New York: De Gruyter, 2003 (with J. Frey / J. Rohls).
• Imagery in the Gospel of John. Terms, Forms, Themes, and Theology of Johannine Figurative Language (WUNT 200), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006. (with J. Frey / J. G. van der Watt).
• Kompendium der Gleichnisse Jesu (with D. Dormeyer, G. Kern, A. Merz, Chr. Münch und E. E. Popkes), Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2007.
• Hermeneutik der Gleichnisse Jesu. Methodische Neuansätze zum Verstehen urchristlicher Parabeltexte (WUNT 231), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.
• Jenseits von Indikativ und Imperativ. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik/Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, vol. 1, WUNT 238, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen, 2009. (with F. W. Horn).
• Moral Language in the New Testament. Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik/Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, vol. 2, WUNT 2/296, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen, 2010. (with Jan G. van der Watt).
• Rethinking the Ethics of John. The implicit Ethics in the Johannine Writings, Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, vol. 3, WUNT 291, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012. (with J. G. van der Watt)
• Kompendium der frühchristlichen Wundererzählungen, Bd. 1: Die Wunder Jesu, Gutersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2013 (together with D. Dormeyer, J. Hartenstein, Chr. Münch, E. E. Popkes und U. Poplutz).
• Normen frühchristlicher Ethik. Gut – Leben – Leib – Tugend. Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, vol. 4, WUNT 313. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2013 (with F. W. Horn and U. Volp).
• Handbuch Bibeldidaktik, UTB 3996, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2013 (with Mirjam Zimmermann).
• Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel. Narrative Approaches to Seventy Figures in John, WUNT 314. Tübingen 2013 (with Steven A. Hunt, USA and D. Francois Tolmie, SA).
• Metaphor, Narrative, and Parable in Q, WUNT 315, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014 (with Dieter T. Roth and Michael Labahn).
• Studienbuch Hermeneutik. Bibelauslegung durch die Jahrhunderte als Lernfeld der Textinterpretation. Portraits – Modelle – Quellentexte, Gutersloh: Gütersloher Verlag, 2014 (with S. Luther).
• Metapher – Narratio – Mimesis – Doxologie. Begründungsformen frühchristlicher und antiker Ethik, Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, vol. 7, WUNT 356, Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen 2016 (edited with U. Volp, F. W. Horn).

References

1. http://www.ev.theologie.uni-mainz.de/eng/2316.php
2. The centre for Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity was established in 2009 and provides a forum for scholars in the disciplines of Old Testament, New Testament, Church History/Patristics, and Systematic Theology/Ethics to engage in a focused exchange of ideas with researchers in other areas of antiquity (Jewish Studies, Classics, ancient Near Eastern studies, ancient philosophy, and ancient history) as well as in contemporary ethics and moral philosophy. See website here
3. http://enhancinglife.uchicago.edu/people/enhancing-life-by-waiving-rights-an-ethics-of-surrendering-in-the-new-testament-and-its-meta-ethical-implications
4. Bioethics, Medical Ethics, see, for instance, on longevity-research.
5. See the discussion on the BLOG German for Neutestamentler
7. http://www.neukirchener-verlage.de/artikel/zeige/602.993/?PHPSESSID=6d6ab82fc856c4a16b30ea6769b7eeca
8. https://books.google.com.au/books?isbn=3770534921

External links

• http://www.ev.theologie.uni-mainz.de/2316.php
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEvPTmFQssw (introductory paper to the longevity conference Mainz, 20 July 2016)