Rudolf Bultmann

Makers of Contemporary Theology #5

by Ian Henderson, Edwin H. Robertson (Editor)

Genres: Theology

47 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1965

About the author

Ian Stuart McWalter Henderson (1927 – April 13, 2013) was a British citizen known for his role in resolving the Mau Mau crisis in Kenya in the late 1950's, and for managing the Bahraini General Directorate for State Security Investigations from 1966 - 1998. Henderson was dubbed the "Butcher of Bahrain" due to torture and the numerous human rights violations that were alleged to have taken place under his command there, especially during 1990's uprising in Bahrain.

Henderson was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1927 but grew up among the Kikuyu in Kenya and lived most of his life overseas. He served as a Colonial Police Officer in Kenya during the 1950's and was famed for his role in capturing Mau Mau rebel leader Dedan Kimathi, about which he wrote the book Man Hunt in Kenya (1958).

In 1954, Henderson was awarded the George Medal, the 2nd-highest award for bravery not in combat, and later a bar to the George Medal, for suppressing the Mau Mau uprising. "Ian Henderson has probably done more than any single individual to bring the Emergency to an end" wrote General Sir Gerald Lathbury when he left Kenya in 1957.

After Kenya gained its independence, Henderson was deported from Kenya and moved to Bahrain. He was employed as the head of the General Directorate for State Security Investigations in Bahrain for some 30 years, retiring from his position in 1998. He was accused of complicity in torture during the 1990's uprising in Bahrain, leading to an investigation by British authorities in 2000. The investigation was concluded in 2001 and no charges were filed, despite thorough documentation by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch of the torture. He always denied any involvement in torture, despite the release of the documentary "Blind Eye to the Butcher" which contains evidence and interviews with the disfigured torture victims who identify Ian Henderson.

While the chief of the Bahrain police, Ian Henderson personally interviewed North Korean agent Kim Hyon-hui and her accomplice Kim Seung-il. The pair had travelled to Bahrain posing as Japanese tourists after planting a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858. Henderson managed to prevent Hyon-hui from taking a cyanide pill secreted in a cigarette she was carrying.

Ian Henderson was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the OBE (1984), George Medal (1954) (and Bar (1955)), and the King's Police and Fire Services Medal (1953).
He was honoured by Government of Bahrain with The Order of Shaikh 'Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa (Wisam al-Shaikh 'Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa) Exceptional Class (2000), The Order of Bahrain (Wisam al-Bahrein) 1st Class (1983), and The Medal of Military Merit (Wissam al-Khidmat al-Askari) 1st Class (1982).

Ian Henderson died on April 13, 2013 at the age of 86.

Reviews

[محمد شکری]

کتابی ناقص و نارسا که تنها حجم کم آن می تواند خواننده را مجاب به اتمامش کند
وقتی کتابی قصد آشنایی دادن با یک هرمنوتیسیست الهیدان را دارد حداقل یا باید در هرمنوتیک واضح سخن بگوید یا در الهیات (اگر نگوییم هردو!) ایان هندرسون مخاطب آشنا با متن کتاب مقدس و هرمنوتیک را برای نوشتار کوتاه خود درباره استادش، رودلف بولتمان، درنظر گرفته است. کتابی که سال 1966 (1345) نوشته شده و برای اولین بار توسط حنایی کاشانی در سال 1377 ترجمه شده است. پس انتظار زیادی نیست که مترجم مخاطب فارسی زبان را غیرآشنا با الهیات مسیحی و هرمنوتیک فلسفی قلمداد کند! اما هیچ اثری از شرح اصطلاحات و عبارات مهم متن (بخصوص در الهیات مسیحی) دیده نمی شود. جایگاه ریاست ها و قوا در کتب مقدس، مفهوم عملی کریگما، سوما (تن یا جسد) و اهمیت آن نزد مسیحیت، نمونه هایی از مفاهیم پرتکرار و مهم متنند که بدون هیچ گونه شرحی برجا مانده و برخی از آنها حتی با معادل انگلیسی یا لاتین هم در ترجمه نیامده اند تا خود خواننده لااقل آن را جستجو کند

کتاب البته نقاط قوتی هم دارد و آن شرح برخی اصطلاحات مهم نزد بولتمان از قبیل اسطوره زدایی و عیسای تاریخی و مسیح ایمانی، و البته معرفی برخی آثار مهم بولتمان در دل متن اصلی است

[Casper Denck]

Crossposted from http://nicodemist.wordpress.com/2010/...

I have read a few of the books in the Makers of Contemporary Theology series and my impression is that the quality of the books vary greatly, this is not one of the better ones.

One the face of it Ian Henderson is well equipped to carry out the task having been a student of Barth. Moreover, he was the doctoral supervisor of the late John MacQuarrie one of the leading existentialist theologians. My impression though is the editors probably had very stringent space limitations (the text only runs to 47 pages) and the result is a small book that only really begins to introduce Bultmann and does next to nothing to contextualise the challenge of Bultmann's thought to the wider theological context at the time of writing.

Although the SCM Briefly series seems to be relaunching this succinct introductory text / essay approach I am not sure what this really adds given that such basic introductions are readily available online (for example, see here and here). It is not that this is a bad book, it adequately does its job of introducing the major Bultmannian themes but, for me, an introductory text in the digitial age as to do more than that - for example,surveying critical responses and providing links to further research. however, on the positive side at least it can be read in one sitting.