Poll: Top 5 Biblical Scholar Moustaches

In the interests of Movember (donate here) I have decided to compile a list of the top five moustaches sported by past and present biblical scholars. You can vote for your favourite below. The following list is by no means exhaustive and includes only male moustaches. While there have been many weird and wonderful beards within biblical studies, a well-executed lip rug is a much rarer occurrence. In this post I define a moustache as facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip.

1. Albert Schweitzer

Known in historical Jesus research for his review of 19th century lives of Jesus and his own presentation of Jesus as an eschatological prophet, Schweitzer was also the proud owner of a thick and bushy moustache. Perhaps grown to accompany his large array of accomplishments, including but not limited to winning the Nobel peace prize, Schweitzer’s “walrus” was extremely fashionable in his day and would have usefully shielded any unwanted dirt particles from entering his mouth.

2. Hermann Gunkel

A German Old Testament scholar, Gunkel is noted for his contribution to form criticism and the history of religions school, skills clearly carried through in the near perfect forming of his moustache. In fact, his style of snot mop has gone on to become something of a timeless classic in biblical studies as will be observed below.

3. Richard Elliott Friedman

Popularizer of the Documentary Hypothesis and Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia, Friedman’s moustache is reminiscent of Tom Selleck’s famous whiskers. The “chevron,” so I am told, symbolizes confidence, and its wearer is lean, serious, and incapable of putting up with nonsense.

4. Rudolf Bultmann

Yet another German. Bultmann, who was for three decades professor in New Testament at the University of Marburg, was often pictured with both a moustache and a smoking pipe. These accessories worked to balance his calm and thoughtful demeanor with his somewhat radical demythologizing project of the New Testament text. Bultmann wasn’t always photographed with a moustache, however, showing that he was capable of mixing things up.

5. Philip Davies

Emeritus professor at the University of Sheffield and known for his work on the early history of Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Davies wears a minimalist mouth-brow that is both unbroken and neatly trimmed to military grooming standards. Clearly drawing his inspiration from Gunkel (above), Davies moustache is so precise I often set my watch to it.