Berend Gemser, hoogleraar 1926-1955

Abstract

Berend Gemser, professor 1926-1955 Berend Gemser, who came to the University of Pretoria in 1926 to fill two chairs, those of Semitic Languages and Old Testament Studies, is acknowledged as the initiater of the scientific study of these disciplines in South Africa. In this article special attention is given to his theology. It is shown that in his thought historical criticism was fully integrated in a concept of Scripture, simultaneously wholly of a subserviant character and an organic unity, without denying the distance between the two Testaments. Attention is also drawn to Gemser’s dialogue with some exponents of Afrikaner thought, and to his growing concern about certain aspects of this thought.