The John H.P. Reumann Chair in Biblical Studies to be bestowed April 5 on Dr. Erik Heen

Dr. Erik Heen

Dr. Erik Heen, Professor of New Testament and Greek at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), will be bestowed The John H.P. Reumann Chair in Biblical Studies in a special chairing ceremony at LTSP on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Dr. Heen will lecture on the subject “The Antikythera Mechanism, the Bible and the Cross.” The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–01 from the bottom of the sea near the Greek island of Antikythera. The ceremony and lecture will begin at 11:30 am in Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center on the LTSP campus, 7301 Germantown Avenue in the Mt. Airy Section of Philadelphia. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Heen earned a BA from Harvard College, 1973; the MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, 1982;  MTh. from Luther Theological Seminary, 1990; MPhil from Columbia University, 1993; and PhD, Columbia University, 1997. His dissertation, "Saturnalicius Princeps: The Enthronement of Jesus in Early Christian Discourse" (UMI Microfilm Number 9728216), investigated the motif of Jesus' enthronement in the New Testament as well as the manner in which it critiqued the local imperial cults in the cities of the Ancient Greek East.

Dr. Heen and faculty colleague the Rev. Dr. Robert Robinson reflected on the Bible and public theology in the Summer 2008 issue of the seminary magazine PS, available online. Dr. Heen's comments on the subject are collected in a series of video clips. He was the distinguished presenter of the 2008 Quodlibit ("Any Question Whatever"), which you can watch online.

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The John H.P. Reumann Chair in Biblical Studies was established as a memorial for the late Rev. Dr. John H. P. Reumann, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Greek at LTSP, who was known for encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible, and whose influence ranged from the seminary classroom to national and international ecumenical and interfaith circles. Dr. Reumann died in 2008.