Willem Christiaan van Manen: a Dutch Radical New Testament scholar

Abstract

W C van Manen is the most fascinating representative of the 'Dutch Radicals'. In his opus magnum (1890-1895), Paulus, he argued that we do not have any authentic Pauline epistles. Earlier, in 1865, he had defended the thesis that Paul was the author of 1 Thessalonians. After his appointment as a professor in Leiden we can see his growing doubt about the authenticity of even the four main epistles: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians. In 1889 Van Manen said for the first time that, in his opinion, we do not have any authentic Pauline epistles. The importance of Van Manen is that he compels us to account for our opinions regarding the authorship of the thirteen 'Pauline' epistles.