Carl Schmidt und kein Ende

Abstract

This article presents the life and work of the Berlin coptologist Carl Schmidt (1868-1938) in the light of new sources, among them the correspondence between Schmidt and his mentor Adolf Harnack. Due to Carl Schmidt's continuous purchase of newly discovered texts and their preparation for critical editions changed the image of Ancient Christianity, partly in a radical sense. This is especially the case for the Manichaean and other Gnostic texts, but even for some apocrypha he discovered during his numerous expeditions to Egypt. The efforts of preparing critical editions of these newly found documents last until today. Thus first as an assistant of the “Berliner Kirchenväteredition”, then as an initially adjunct professor of Church History, who also gave lectures at the Berlin Faculty of Theology, Carl Schmidt gave support to his lifetime mentor Harnack.