Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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Emerson Fosdick.
II. RUDOLF BULTMANN
Rudolf Bultmann claims universal recognition as one
of the most influential New Testament scholars of the
twentieth century. Bultmann sought to translate New
Testament truth into the language and mindset of
contemporary man. A preacher as well as a lecturer and
writer, his work demands the attention of preachers
today.
The son of a German pastor and grandson of two
ministers, Bultmann gave himself early to his studies,
with a preference for religion, Greek, and German
literature.' After completing his formal education,
he gave his life to the study and teaching of the New
Testament. For thirty years, he taught at the University
of Marburg. (Six of those years, Martin Heidegger, who
influenced Bultmann's theology greatly {see below),
taught at the same university.)
Though he admitted his debt to the liberal
theologians under whom he studied, Bultmann moved away
from them into new territory. He wrote, "The subject of
theology is God, and the chief charge to be brought
against liberal theology is that it has dealt not with
God but with man."2
Bultmann described his theology of preaching using
traditional theological terms, but filled them with new