Annette Merz

{{Short description|German theologian}}

Annette Brigitte Merz (born 1 December 1965, Frankfurt am Main[https://profs.library.uu.nl/index.php/profrec/getprofdata/1381/1/1/0 Prof.dr. A.B. Merz (1965 - )] at the Catalogus Professorum Academiæ Rheno-Traiectinæ) is a German Protestant theologian and biblical scholar, on the faculty of the University of Utrecht. Merz has conducted vigorous research into the historicity of Jesus and is best known for her 1996 book with Gerd Theissen, The Historical Jesus,{{cite book|author=McGill University. Faculty of Religious Studies|title=Arc|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LDQRAQAAIAAJ|access-date=24 April 2012|year=1999|publisher=Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University|page=227}} a widely used textbook translated into six languages.{{cite web|url=http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/a.b.merz/research-text.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120803061117/http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/a.b.merz/research-text.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 August 2012 |title=Areas of Research |publisher=University of Utrecht |access-date=24 April 2012 }} In the book, Merz and Theissen "assert that the Christian sources portray both positive and negative assessments of temple sacrifice and that Jesus, near the end of his life, deliberately created a rite to displace such sacrifices" and argue that "significant sayings of Jesus indicate a critical attitude towards the temple cult."{{cite book|last=Milavec|first=Aaron|title=Salvation Is from the Jews (John 4:22): Saving Grace in Judaism and Messianic Hope in Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7z7zojoOo94C&pg=PA99|access-date=24 April 2012|date=7 October 2007|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5989-2|page=99}} They also argue that "God's kingdom is the establishment of his ethical will, the kingdom is to be understood dynamically as rule. But the "kingdom of God" is not an end in itself",{{cite book|last=Fiorenza|first=Elisabeth Schüssler|title=Jesus and the Politics of Interpretation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HmJ6WIOGyoC&pg=PA112|access-date=24 April 2012|date=1 August 2001|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8264-1366-6|page=112}} and also examine "five of the most important differences” between Jesus and John.{{cite book|last=Allison Jr.|first=Dale C. |title=Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzfuJOf1JLMC&pg=PA206|access-date=24 April 2012|date=1 November 2010|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=978-0-8010-3585-2|page=206}}{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Paul N.|last2=Just|first2=Felix|last3=Thatcher|first3=Tom|title=John, Jesus, and History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ryybidJYMAQC&pg=PA219|access-date=24 April 2012|year=2007|publisher=Society of Biblical Lit|isbn=978-1-58983-293-0|page=219}} In the 16th and final chapter they examine the historical Jesus and the beginnings of Christology.{{cite book|last1=Cameron|first1=Ron|last2=Miller|first2=Merrill P.|title=Redescribing Christian Origins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gViBxDhTbCEC&pg=PA355|access-date=24 April 2012|year=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-13064-7|page=355}}

In 2007, she and several other scholars published Kompendium der Gleichnisse Jesu, a major volume on the parables of Jesus. In 2012 she was due to publish Kompendium der frühchristlichen Wundererzählungen, another extensive volume which documents the miracles of Jesus.

Since 2014 Merz has served as Professor of New Testament at the Protestant Theological University, Groningen and Research Associate Professor (30%) at the University of Tilburg, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology.[https://web.archive.org/web/20150117230107/http://www.annettemerz.com/home/ Annette Merz - Home]