oa Abraham Kuenen (1828-1891): De Pentateuch en de godsdienst van Israël

This article about Abraham Kuenen is written on the occasion of the centenary of his death, 10 december 1991. After a short biography, his theories concerning the origin and the composition of the Pentateuch, and concerning the history of the religion of Israel are described and discussed. Kuenen’s research on these two areas is considered to be his most important contribution to the international debate of the time. The publications involved are: Historisch-kritisch onderzoek naar het ontstaan en de verzameling van de boeken des Ouden Verbonds. Deel I, 1861; Historisch-critisch onderzoek ... Deel I,1, 1885 (completely revised edition); De Godsdienst van Israël tot den Ondergang van den Joodschen Staat, Two Volumes, 1869 and 1870. In the last part of the article attention is paid to the ‘critical method’ of Kuenen.