Richard Špaček o Janově evangeliu: Kapitola z dějin české biblistiky

Richard Špaček (1864–1925) is primarily known as Professor of dogmatic theology and Dean of Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology in Olomouc. It is, however, less known that he began his academic career as a New Testament scholar. This article analyses his paper “The Fourth Gospel in Protestant Scholarship”, published in the periodical Journal of the Catholic Clergy (Časopis katolického duchovenstva) in 1909. I claim that Špaček composed this text, which is a compilation of several German sources, with two intentions. First, he aimed at providing the Czech Catholic clergy with an answer to the translation of Harnack’s History of Dogma. Second, he struggled to provide a solution to historical­‑critical questions, which would be in accord with the recent decision of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.