Rudolf Karl Bultmann (August 20, 1884 - July 30, 1976) was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg. His History of the Synoptic Tradition (1921) is still highly regarded as an essential tool for gospel research, even by scholars who reject his analyses of the conventional rhetorical tropes or narrative units of which the Gospels are assembled, and the historically-oriented principles called "form criticism," of which Bultmann has been the most influential exponent: August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... // What is the New Testament? The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... The University of Marburg, officially called Philipps-Universität Marburg after its founder, the Landgrave Philipp I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous), was founded in 1527 and is the worlds first and oldest Protestant university. ... // Linguistic usage A trope is a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i. ... Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism applied as a means of analyzing the typical features of texts, especially their conventional forms or structures, in order to relate them to their sociological contexts. ...

"The aim of form-criticism is to determine the original form of a piece of narrative, a dominical saying or a parable. In the process we learn to distinguish secondary additions and forms, and these in turn lead to important results for the history of the tradition."

In 1941, he applied form criticism to the Gospel of John, in which he distinguished the presence of a lost Signs Gospel on which John, alone of the evangelists, depended. His monograph was highly controversial. The same year his lecture New Testament and Mythology: The Problem of Demythologizing the New Testament Message called on interpreters to replace traditional theology with the existential philosophy of Bultmann's colleague, Martin Heidegger, an endeavor to make accessible to a literate modern audience the reality of Jesus' teachings. Bultmann remained convinced the narratives of the life of Jesus were offering theology in story form. Lessons were taught in the familiar language of myth. They were not to be excluded, but given explanation so they could be understood for today. Bultmann thought faith should become a present day reality. To Bultmann, the people of the world appeared to be always in disappointment and turmoil. Faith must be a determined vital act of will, not a culling and extolling of "ancient proofs". The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the sequence of the canon as printed in the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Be there. ...

Some scholars criticized Bultmann and other critics for excessive skepticism regarding the historical reliability of the gospel narratives. The full impact of Bultmann was not felt until the English publication of Kerygma and Mythos (in 1948).

Bultmann's main works

• Neues Testament und Mythologie (1941)

References

New Jerome Biblical Commentary Edited by Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, and Roland E. Murphy, Prentice Hall 1990, update of 1968 edition, See P 1137-1139, Modern New Testament Criticism- John S. Kselman and Ronald D. Witherup Father Raymond Edward Brown, S.S., (born 22 May 1928, died August 8, 1998), appointed in 1972 and in 1996 to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which advises the pontiff on scriptural matters, and professor emeritus at the Protestant Union Theological Seminary in New York where he taught for 23 years...

• R. Bultmann, Existence and Faith. Shorter Writings of Rudolf Bultmann, edited and translated by S. M. Ogden, London, 1961
• R. Bultmann, Jesus and the Word, translated by L. P. Smith and E. H. Lantero, London, 1952.
• R. Bultmann, New Testament and Mythology and Other Writings, edited and translated by S. M. Ogden, London, 1984
• D. Fergusson, Bultmann, London, 1992
• Edgar V. McKnight, What is Form Criticism (Guides to Biblical Scholarship, New Testament Series) Fortress Press, 1969

External links

• Rutgers University's Synoptic Gospels Primer has a brief biography and further links.
• wWsley Wildman, "Rudolf Bultmann": analysis of themes: God as Wholly Other; Existentialist interpretations; demythologization
• Some online texts and resources
• John C. McDowell, Girton College, Cambridge: "Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976)": brief introductory essay
• Heinrich Fries: Bultmann-Barth and Catholic theology
• John F. McCarthy, Modernism in the Demythologizing of Rudolf Bultmann, Living Tradition, No. 112, July 2004

John F. McCarthy, The Incomplete Response of Catholic Theologians to the Demythologizing of Rudolf Bultmann (1999):

• Part I - Leopold Malevez and Heinrich Fries
• Part II - René Marlé and Joseph Cahill
• Part III - Xavier Léon-Dufour and John McKenzie
• Part IV - Anton Vögtle and Ugo Lattanzi