Gerhard von Rad

Gerhard von Rad ( born October 21, 1901 in Nuremberg, † October 31, 1971 in Heidelberg ) was a German Protestant theologian ( Old Testament ).

Life

Gerhard von Rad was one of the most important German biblical scholar of the postwar period. He began his study of theology at Tübingen. There he was a member of the South German liberalism formative Tübingen fraternity " Academic Society Stuttgardia " In the " society Stuttgardia " he was a friend of later liberal political values ​​such as Eberhard Wildermuth, Karl Georg Pfleiderer, Konrad Wittwer, Wolfgang Haussmann and Guntram Palm. His academic career began as a lecturer in Leipzig (1930-1934), she led him on first professorships in Jena (1934-1945) and Göttingen (1945-1949), finally to Heidelberg ( 1949-1967 ).

Von Rad is regarded as the re-discoverer of the " theology of the Old Testament " - the title of his main work, which has been translated into numerous languages. As a student of Albrecht Alt, who is also under the influence of the work of Hermann Gunkel, developed by cycling a tradition-historical approach to the theology of the Old Testament, which he broke down into two major areas which shape the " theology of the historical tradition " and the " theology prophetic tradition ".

His turn to the Old Testament science is rooted in his experiences during the Third Reich, where he first grappled as a vicar, then as a professor in Jena with anti-Semitic tendencies within the Church and society, which ultimately led to an intensive lecture engagement within the Confessing Church.

Its effect as an academic teacher was enormous both in the clergy and in the academic talent. Many of his students have later taken professorships at German universities such as Hans Walter Wolff, Odil Hannes Steck, Hans -Joachim Kraus, Rolf Rendtorff, Klaus Koch. Major approaches of the wheel also attacked Hartmut Gese on.

Gerhard von Rad was recorded in 1963 in the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts.