How One Liberal Theologian Found Jesus

Significant figures in recent history are easily forgotten. You may have never heard of Eta Linnemann, but her story bears recalling.

As a student of renowned theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) in the 1950s, she inherited his skepticism about the Bible and events like Christ’s bodily resurrection. She taught these skeptical views to her students in a German university. But as she reached middle age in the 1970s, she abandoned this unbelieving heritage and professed faith in Christ. During her final 30 years, she taught and proclaimed the truth of the Bible and its gospel message. She addressed students and churches in Germany, Scandinavia, Indonesia, the United States, and elsewhere. Her books still sell and circulate today.

Before we consider her faith, let’s see how the skeptical phase of her life unfolded.

Pilgrimage into Unbelief

In her northern German childhood, Linnemann attended church sporadically. She recalled young assistant pastors instructing her Lutheran youth group, but they taught only briefly and then rotated elsewhere. During her confirmation lessons (early teens), she concluded that the pastor “was not born again, and whatever [she] learned did not give any connection to the Lord.” She regarded the gospels as “just different biographies of Jesus.” What she learned had no lasting effect.

After the war, searching for meaning, she attended a 10-day retreat. The scheduled speaker canceled due to flu. A last-minute substitute proved to be an upgrade. In Linnemann’s words,

He had something special: he really believed in Christ. Now, I would say he was a born-again Christian; at that time, I had never heard about being born again. One day this pastor dared to tell us that we were sinners and needed a Savior—Jesus Christ. Of the twenty or so students, about six or seven of us agreed with him and accepted Christ. A day full of joy followed our decision, and then everyone had to return home.

This faith seems to have been stillborn. A few months later, she began university study at Marburg, Germany. She was taught that Jesus’s resurrection wasn’t a historical fact; it was just an idea his disciples shared. This set the tone for her entire theological education. She learned that despite the predictions of Christ’s return in Scripture, the second coming was never going to happen. She learned that the Bible isn’t really “the word of God”; at most, you might sense impressions of God as you read it.

Overall, Linnemann recalled, “We were taught that when we read something in the Bible, we must realize it could have never taken place.”

Due to her diligence as a student and her talent as a scholar, Linnemann eventually followed her teachers (Bultmann, Gerhard Ebeling, Ernst Fuchs, and others) into teaching. She became part of the society of scholars teaching university students (many headed into church leadership) that the Bible and Christian belief must be radically reinterpreted to keep in step with the times. As a New Testament scholar, she authored publications (including Gleichnisse Jesu – Einführung und Auslegung) that were among the first critically acclaimed studies by a woman in a male-dominated guild.

Looking back, Linnemann confessed that God had forgiven her for her critical views and how she inflicted them on a generation of university students. What happened to bring her to a living faith in Jesus Christ?

From Criticism to Christ

As she taught disbelief in the Bible to students, Linnemann found skepticism of her own skepticism creeping in. “The Lord helped me hear the real gospel,” she recalls. This happened over several years through seemingly unlikely means.

Looking back, Linnemann confessed that God had forgiven her for her critical views and how she inflicted them on a generation of university students.

When evaluating a dissertation, she came across well-attested reports of miracles occurring in African churches. She shared this with students, who were shocked that a university professor would admit the possibility of miracles being real. The students began to pray for her. So did their families. It would be a miracle to have a theology professor who believed that at least some of the miracles reported in the Bible could have occurred.

Sensing an opening, students began inviting Linnemann to their monthly prayer meetings. She resisted for months. Finally, she showed up. For a year, she observed the students’ love, their affirmation of salvation through faith in Christ, and the prayers they shared—many of which were visibly answered. This fascinated Linnemann.

Then, one month, a speaker challenged the students: “Is there anybody who wants to believe in Christ?” Linnemann says her first response was “Oh, that’s not for me because I already believe in Christ.” But looking back, she reflects,

That is the problem with theologians; they think they are believers. But then he repeated it, asking who was willing to surrender his life to Christ. Then I knew it was for me. I lifted my arm, the Lord saw my heart, and my life was changed.

I first heard of Eta Linnemann in the early 1980s. Her new life in Christ was just getting underway. I was a doctoral student in Scotland. Two of my fellow students were Germans, and they told me about her change of heart.

I began to run across publications reflecting her new outlook. Over time, I met her personally and translated three of her books, all still in print: the first was Historical Criticism of the Bible: Methodology or Ideology? Next, she wrote a book that challenged the consensus that the Synoptic Gospel writers mainly copied off of each other: Is There a Synoptic Problem? Rethinking the Literary Dependence of the First Three Gospels. She followed that with an anthology of critical essays covering various topics: Biblical Criticism on Trial: How Scientific Is Scientific Theology? At least two of these are still in print in Germany.

Among her other publications was an article probing the evidence for the reputed Gospel source called Q. A funny story sheds light on Linnemann’s sometimes blunt manner: the well-known editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, Hershel Shanks, began a translation of the German version of this article. He sent his work to Linnemann to see if she would consent to its publication in the magazine. Reading his translation, Linnemann thundered, “This is not a translation! It is a forgery!” She didn’t find the translation accurate.

Shanks was thick-skinned enough not to take offense. He invited her to find a translator to her liking, which she did. He subsequently published the result.

Linnemann’s Legacy: Pro and Con

This exchange with Shanks reveals one aspect of Linnemann’s legacy: she wasn’t always diplomatic in her dealings with others. She felt that evangelical scholars should be on the warpath against the “historical-critical theology” (as she termed it) that dominated Western biblical studies. She was sometimes unfair to evangelical colleagues (especially Germans) who weren’t on the same page as her on this mission.

Yet in other respects, I believe we may regard her work favorably. Years ago, I evaluated reviews of her somewhat maverick work on the Synoptic problem. Then as now, I believe she made valid points, offering a truly critical perspective on a topic where too many take too much for granted . . . and where consensus on solving this “problem” still eludes the guild.

In an age of “exvangelicals,” it’s sobering to contemplate Linnemann’s dead-on critique of the generally liberal theology that nearly did her in—and which some disaffected evangelicals seem eager to affirm at least in part.

Most of all, it’s heartening to recall the work of God’s grace in leading Linnemann out of the darkness of the skepticism she’d learned and sought to inflict on her students. The opening of her written testimony includes this:

I want to give you my testimony, beginning with a verse from God’s word, 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” This is very important. I was a theologian for decades but did not know about the inspiration of the Holy Scripture. I had to be born again to find this out.

Linnemann’s story isn’t unique. In 2011, Mary Schertz, professor of New Testament at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, published an account of a major shift in her outlook. She went from rejecting “the notion of having a personal relationship with Jesus” to entering into that relationship.

It’s sobering to contemplate Linnemann’s dead-on critique of the generally liberal theology that nearly did her in.

Many Bible scholars and theologians do, of course, profess faith in Christ. But among scholars internationally, they’re a marked minority. The university world isn’t friendly toward the notion of a truth-revealing Bible and the one true living God revealed in Jesus Christ.

We therefore give thanks all the more for stories like those of Linnemann and Schertz. God’s Word isn’t bound (2 Tim. 2:9), even if powerful institutions, mainstream scholars, and the normative societal outlook deny such a Word even exists.

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