Adrianus van Selms

Overview & Synopsis

Adrianus van Selms (1906-1984) was a Dutch pastor (1930-1938) who became senior lecturer and professor in Semitic languages at the University of Pretoria (1938-1972) and lecturer in Biblical archaeology (1938-1962) at the Faculty of Theology of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (Dutch Reformed Church of Africa). He was an acknowledged academic in South Africa and abroad and the author of numerous publications. His books were predominantly in Dutch, but he wrote most of his articles in English, thus they are theoretically accessible to the scholarly public. A number of articles, however, were published in Dutch and Afrikaans, dialects that are less easy to comprehend by those not familiar with the said two languages. The present book is an attempt to overcome the linguistic barrier and to present in a summarised way Van Selms’ contributions in three Dutch journals (Onder Eigen Vaandel, Nederlands Theologish Tijdschrift, and Kerk en Theologie), two academically-orientated Afrikaans journals (Hervormde Teologiese Studies and Acta Classica) and three journals of a more popular nature (Die Hervormer, Pro Veritate and Almanak). In total, 87 separate articles (discussed in 79 sections) of Van Selms receive attention.