Wilhelm Bousset

Who was Wilhelm Bousset?

Wilhelm Bousset was a German theologian and New Testament scholar. He was of Huguenot ancestry and a native of Lübeck.

He began his studies at the University of Erlangen, where he met Ernst Troeltsch, with whom he would maintain a friendship that would last throughout his career. Later he studied at Leipzig, where he was student of Adolf von Harnack, and afterwards continued his studies at the University of Göttingen. In 1890 he became a professor of New Testament exegesis at Göttingen, later relocating to the University of Giessen.

Bousset was a prominent figure in the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, a group that included scholars such as Richard August Reitzenstein, Albert Eichhorn and Hermann Gunkel. His better known work involved comparative studies between the Early Christian Church and other religious beliefs, particularly Hellenistic Judaism. Bousset demonstrated in his writings that Christian thought was profoundly influenced by neighboring cultures and belief systems.