Gerhard von Rad

Gerhard von Rad
Born (1901-10-21)21 October 1901
Nuremberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died 31 October 1971(1971-10-31)
Heidelberg, West Germany
Education University of Erlangen and University of Tübingen
Church Lutheran
Writings The Problem of the Hexateuch and other essays
Offices held
 Professor of Old Testament, University of Heidelberg
Title Reverend Doctor

Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German theologian, academic, and University of Heidelberg professor.

Early life, education, career

The University of Heidelberg, where Rad taught.

Rad was born in Nuremberg, Bavaria, to Lutheran parents.[1] He then went on to be educated at the University of Erlangen and further at the University of Tübingen.

In 1925, he became a curate in the Lutheran Landeskirche (i.e. the church in the federal state) of Bavaria.[2] Later, he taught at the University of Erlangen in 1929 as tutor. In 1930 he was a privatdozent at the University of Leipzig.[2] From 1934 to 1945 he served as a professor at the University of Jena and later at the University of Göttingen from 1945 to 1949.[3] After that, he became Professor of Old Testament at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in the state of Baden-Württemberg and taught there until his death in 1971.[2]

He was conferred honorary doctorates from the University of Lund, Sweden and the University of Wales, United Kingdom.[4]

Oral tradition and the Pentateuch

Along with Martin Noth, Rad applied form criticism, originated by Hermann Gunkel, to the documentary hypothesis.[5]

With the experience of two World Wars, the German-speaking world began to turn "anti-Old Testament", as anti-Semitic feeling grew. Disturbed by this, Rad turned to the study of the Old Testament and gradually started to bring back its message.[6]

His lively papers achieved a renewal of interest and research in Old Testament studies.[7] Along with Martin Noth, he applied research into the Pentateuch's oral tradition to the explanation of its origin.[5]

In 1960, Rad traveled to the United States where he was a visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary. Rad was greatly influential during this period. While at Princeton, he took on Richard A. Jensen as an understudy, who would also further his research and application.

Death

Gerhard von Rad's grave

Gerhard von Rad and his wife are buried in Heidelberg's "Handschusheim Cemetery".  On their gravestone is minimalist artwork depicting Jonah emerging from the great fish, an Old Testament symbol of resurrection.

Selected works

Publications

Scholarly Impact

“ .....a major contributor to Old Testament studies following the literary-critical tradition of Wellhausen and the form-critical and the traditio-historical approach of Hermann Gunkel as developed by Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth. ”

Prof. Premasagar concludes by saying that

“ the Bible for von Rad, in the final analysis, is neither history nor literature, but rather the confessions of a community. ”
“ ...a number of Rad's innovative papers prepared the way for the blossoming of Old Testament studies in Germany during the first decennia after the Second World War. ”
“ A new methodological approach for OT theology, one that deserves to be put in a class by itself, is that of Gerhard von Rad. His OT theology needs to be understood as the theology of the historical and prophetic traditions. ”
“ In his theology, with its challenge of previous methodologies and with its new proposals, von Rad (1901-71) inaugurated a new epoch in the study of Old Testament theology. He argued against any organization of Old Testament theology along the lines of central concepts, pervasive topics, assumed structures of Israelite thought or world of faith, or systematic theological categories which had been characteristic, in one way or another, of all the theologies of the twentieth century since this was to impose an alien structure on the material. ”
“ Gerhard Von Rad has been a regular contributor to Old Testament studies since 1929, although his main works were published between 1947 and 1960. His major writings include his studies on Deuteronomy; his commentary on Genesis; his two volumes of Theology of the Old Testament and a representative selection of his essays, extending from 1931 through 1964, which were translated and published as The Problem of the Hexateuch and other Essays in 1966, though the bulk of these were written in the late 1940s. ”

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Laurin, Robert B., Contemporary Old Testament Theologians, Judson Press, Valley Forge, 1970, ISBN 0-8170-0488-2, p.65
  2. 1 2 3 Ibid.
  3. ↑ Laurin, Robert B., op. cit. p.66
  4. ↑ Rad, Gerhard von, Wisdom in Israel, SCM Press, London, Fifth Impression, 1985: Rad dedicates the English version to his colleagues at the University of Lund and at the University of Wales for receiving him into their midst
  5. 1 2 Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
  6. ↑ Richard R. Soulen, Handbook of Biblical Criticism
  7. ↑ Society for Biblical Literature, Henning Graf Reventlow introduces Rad's "From Genesis to Chronicles: Explorations in Old Testament Theology"
  8. ↑ Premasagar, Victor, Interpretive Diary of a Bishop - Indian Experience in Translation and Interpretation of some Biblical Passages, The Christian Literature Society, Chennai, August 2001, pp. 8-10
  9. ↑ Society for Biblical Literature, op. cit.
  10. ↑ Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Revised edition, August 1975, ISBN 0-8028-1478-6, pp. 47-47
  11. ↑ Old Testament Theology - Its History and Development, SCM Press Ltd, London, 1985, ISBN 0-334-02231-2, p.233
  12. ↑ Laurin, Robert B. op. cit.
Further reading

The July 2008 issue of Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology has as its subject "Gerhard von Rad: Theologian of the Church." See especially:

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