Introduction

A Centenary Celebration of Bousset’s Kyrios Christos

The year 2013 marked the 100th anniversary of the publication in German
of Wilhelm Bousset’s magisterial work Kyrios Christos: Geschichte des
Cambridge University Library 49.145.57.185 Thu, 29 Oct 2015 05:23:02

Christusglaubens von den Anfängen des Christentums bis Irenäus. The

original German edition was published in 1913 in Göttingen by Vanden-
hoeck & Ruprecht. A revised edition appeared in 1921, a year after Bousset
died of a heart attack. He was 54 years old.
It was not until 1970 that the book was translated into English by John
E. Steely and published by Abingdon Press. By Steely’s day Kyrios Christos
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had gone through six German editions, the fifth carries an “introductory
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word” by Rudolf Bultmann. In 2013 Baylor University Press published a

new edition of Kyrios Christos in English with an introduction by Profes-
sor Larry W. Hurtado. The importance of Kyrios Christos is clearly evident
in this brief bit of history. Few books in religious studies are translated into
a major language 60 years after they first appear. Fewer still are considered
significant enough to be published for 100 years.
Early in 2013 a number of scholars affiliated with the Society of Biblical
Literature (SBL) began thinking of a way to mark the centenary of Bous-
set’s remarkable book. In consultation with Professors Larry Hurtado
(University of Edinburgh), Loren Stuckenbruck (University of Munich),
and Paula Fredriksen (Boston University) I began to plan a special session
for the 2013 SBL national meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. After
speaking with a number of interested academics, four scholars agreed
to present. With the program planned now all we needed was a venue.
That venue was provided by Professors Jeff Peterson (Austin Graduate
School of Theology) and James Ware (University of Evansville). Together
they directed a SBL program unit entitled “The Extent of Theological Di-
versity in Early Christianity.” Given the interests of this group and its his-
tory, it seemed to be an appropriate setting for these presentations and dis-
cussion. When I laid out to them my plans for a session, they generously
agreed to host it.

Early Christianity 6 (2015), 3–4 DOI 10.1628/186870315X14249562917830

ISSN 1868-7032 © 2015 Mohr Siebeck
 4 A Centenary Celebration of Bousset’s Kyrios Christos

The four essays contained in this volume began as SBL conference pres-
entations. After the session, the scholars agreed to rework and refine their
efforts over the next six to nine months to create these original essays for
the journal Early Christianity. I wish to express my gratitude to them for
taking time to research and write their conference papers and then to re-
fine their thoughts for this journal’s audience.
I wish to express my appreciation as well to Professor Jens Schröter
(Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and his assistant, Ms. Friederike Ku-
nath, for their willingness and help in publishing these essays in Early
Christianity.
William Baird calls Bousset “the brightest star in the galaxy of the his-
Cambridge University Library 49.145.57.185 Thu, 29 Oct 2015 05:23:02

tory of religion school” and Kyrios Christos his most important work.1 No
doubt many will agree with Baird’s assessment and continue to benefit
from Bousset’s legacy for years to come.

Houston, Texas David B. Capes

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1 W. Baird, History of New Testament Research, vol. 2, From Jonathan Edwards to Rudolf
Bultmann (Minneapolis, 2003), 243–251.