Uta Ranke-Heinemann (2 October 1927 – 25 March 2021) was a German theologian, academic, and author. In 1969, she was the first woman in the world to be habilitated in Catholic theology. She held a chair of ancient Church history and the New Testament at the University of Duisburg-Essen. When her license to teach was revoked by the bishop because of her critical position in matters of faith, the university created a nondenominational chair of History of Religion. Her 1988 book Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven, criticising the Catholic Church's stance on women and sexuality, was published in several editions, and translated in 12 languages. Her 1992 book Nein und Amen, revised in 2002, said there were "fairy tales you don't need to believe to have a living faith".
After nearly seven years' study of Protestant theology in Bonn, Basel, Oxford, and Montpellier,[6] Heinemann converted to Catholicism in 1953,[7] when she married a Catholic religion teacher, Edmund Ranke.[1] The couple had two sons.[5] She was promoted to doctor in 1954 in Munich, making her the first woman to be so (together with Elisabeth Gössmann).[8][9] One of her fellow students and a friend at that time was Joseph Ratzinger, later known as Pope Benedict XVI.
In 1969, Ranke-Heinemann became the first woman in the world to be habilitated in Catholic theology,[1] at the University of Munich.[1][7][9] She subsequently held the Essen University chair of ancient Church history and the New Testament from 1970.[5]
Ranke-Heinemann was active in the peace movement. During the Vietnam War, she supported the ban on napalm bombs. She travelled to the Communist North Vietnam. In 1979, she organized food for Cambodia suffering a famine.[8] She taught from 1980 in Duisburg, and from 1985 in Essen.[8] In 1987 Bishop of Essen Franz Hengsbach withdrew her license to teach Catholic theology for disputing the virgin birth of Jesus. This effectively disqualified her from the post she had held for three years.[1][10] The University of Essen created a new chair for her, for History of Religion.[8] Her principal book dealing critically with sexuality in the Catholic Church, in English Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, sexuality, and the Catholic Church, appeared first in 1988, and in many subsequent editions.[1] It was translated to 12 languages.[8]
In 1999, Ranke-Heinemann was a candidate for President of Germany, without party membership, but lost to Johannes Rau, the husband of her niece Christina.[1][3]
She announced her break with conventional Christianity altogether in 1992. Ranke-Heinemann died at her home in Essen[8] on 25 March 2021 at age 93.[1][11]
Beliefs
Ranke-Heinemann at the Weltjugendtag in Cologne, 2005
Ranke-Heinemann's book Nein und Amen, announcing her break with the church, was first published in 1992 and reprinted several times;[12] the book was translated into English as Putting Away Childish Things.[13] Spanish[14] and Polish[15] translations followed. She revised it in 2002, after the death of her husband, with the new subtitle Mein Abschied vom traditionellen Christentum, declaring a sevenfold "farewell to traditional Christianity":[8][16]
Die Erinnerung an Rudolf Bultmann, den Gelehrten voller Hilfsbereitschaft, den Aufgeklärten voller Frömmigkeit, hat mich durch mein Leben begleitet, als bei mir die Zweifel größer wurden. Aber gleichzeitig hat mich sein Beispiel gelehrt, dass auch der Skeptiker ein Christ sein kann, wenn auch nicht auf die herkömmliche Weise. (The memory of Rudolf Bultmann, a scholar full of helpfulness and an enlightened man full of piety, has accompanied me through my life when my doubts grew. But at the same time, his example taught me that even the sceptic can be a Christian, even if not in the conventional way.)[17]
Works
Ranke-Heinemann, Uta (1958). Weisheit der Wüstenväter. Düsseldorf: Patmos-Verl. OCLC720087819.
—— (1962). Der Protestantismus : Wesen und Werden. Essen: Driewer. OCLC7605032.
—— (1964). Das frühe Mönchtum, seine Motive nach den Selbstzeugnissen. Essen: H. Driewer. OCLC7068065.
—— (1964). Von christlicher Existenz. Essen: Driewer. OCLC174231966.
—— (1965). Antwort auf aktuelle Glaubensfragen. Essen: Hans Driewer. OCLC31344843.
—— (1968). Christentum für Gläubige und Ungläubige. Essen: Driewer. OCLC6211617.
—— (2012). Eunuchen für das Himmelreich : katholische Kirche und Sexualität von Jesus bis Benedikt XVI. Munich: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag. ISBN978-3-453-16505-2. OCLC1061549449.
—— (2002) [1992]. Nein und Amen. Mein Abschied vom traditionellen Christentum (in German). Munich: Heyne. ISBN3-453-21182-0.
1992 edition translated as:
—— (1994) [1992]. Putting away childish things: the Virgin birth, the empty tomb, and other fairy tales you don't need to believe to have a living faith. Translated by Peter Heinegg. San Francisco: Harper. ISBN0-06-066861-X.
^Ranke-Heinemann, Uta (1994). Putting away childish things: the Virgin birth, the empty tomb, and other fairy tales you don't need to believe to have a living faith (1st ed.). San Francisco: Harper. ISBN0-06-066860-1. OCLC29221407.
^Ranke-Heinemann, Uta (1998). No y amén: invitación a la duda. Translated by Víctor Abelardo Martínez de Lapera. Madrid: Trotta. ISBN84-8164-201-0. OCLC38863221.
^Ranke-Heinemann, Uta (1994). Nie i amen (2nd corrected, supplemented and authorized ed.). Gdynia: Uraeus. ISBN83-85732-15-2. OCLC221834938.
^Nein und Amen. Mein Abschied vom traditionellen Christentum, p. 417
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