Willem Christiaan Van Manen

1842-1905. Dutch theologian. Born at Nordeloos, he studied at Utrecht and became a preacher in the Dutch Reformed Church.* Recognized as an able theologian, he moved from a relatively orthodox position steadily toward an advanced higher critical viewpoint. In his early forties he was appointed professor at Leyden (1885) and became a brilliant exponent of radical higher criticism. He concluded that the Pauline epistles were sub-apostolic (in his Paulus, 3 vols., 1890-96) and extended this to most of the NT, dating it from the second century and seeing it as part of an effort to transform Judaism into a universal religion.