Cover of the 1972 German edition of von Rad'sCommentary onGenesis, highly regarded amongreligious scholars as "one of the finest examples of theological interpretation of the Old Testament which has been produced during theperiod following the Second World War".[7]
Nazi Germany's anti-Semitism led to an "anti-Old Testament" bias among German scholars.[9] Disturbed by this, von Rad turned to the study of the Old Testament and gradually started to bring back its message.[10]
His lively papers achieved a renewal of interest and research in Old Testament studies.[11] Along withMartin Noth, he applied research into thePentateuch's oral tradition to the explanation of its origin.[8]
In 1960, von Rad traveled to the United States where he was a visiting scholar atPrinceton Theological Seminary. He was greatly influential during this period. While at Princeton, he took onRichard A. Jensen as an understudy, who would also further his research and application.
Gerhard von Rad and his wife are buried in Heidelberg's"Handschuhsheim Cemetery". Archived fromthe original on 2012-04-02. On their gravestone is minimalist artwork depictingJonah emerging from the great fish, an Old Testament symbol ofresurrection.
Das Alte Testament Deutsch (ATD), Tlbd.2/4,Das erste Buch Mose, GenesisISBN3-525-51112-4 (This textbook series of detailed theological commentaries on individual books of the bible translates as "The Old Testament [in] German"; the volume is on the book ofGenesis)
Gottes Wirken in Israel: Vorträge zum Alten TestamentISBN3-7887-0404-7 ("God's acting in Israel: [public] lectures on the Old Testament")
Wisdom in IsraelISBN0-687-45756-4 (translation of the German book below ?)
The message of the prophets ASIN B0006C6BA0
Weisheit in Israel ASIN B000E1Q3CY ("Wisdom in Israel")
Theologie des Alten Testaments (Einführung in die evangelische Theologie) ASIN B0007JBBTI ("Theology of the Old Testament"/ series title: "Introduction into 'evangelisch'[e] theology" ["evangelisch" in German is used in a similar sense as "Protestant" in English, but has other connotations; hence it is not directly translatable; it usually refers tolutheran or closely related faith and theology, or Christians adhering to it)
Basileia (Bible Key Words fromGerhard Kittel'sTheologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament) ASIN B000BGT0RW
Theologie des Alten Testaments, Bd. 2.ISBN3-579-05003-6 (vol.2 of the title above)
Kaiser Taschenbücher, Bd.1, Theologie des Alten Testaments. Die Theologie der geschichtlichen Überlieferungen Israels.ISBN3-579-05002-8 ("Kaiser [publisher's name] pocketbooks, vol.1, "Theology of the Old Testament. Theology of the historical tradition of Israel")
Das Alte Testament Deutsch (ATD), Tlbd.8 : Das fünfte Buch Mose (Deuteronomium)ISBN3-525-51136-1 (the volume on the bookDeuteronomium of the series mentioned above)
Erinnerungen aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft, Frühjahr 1945ISBN3-7887-0507-8 ("Memories of a prisoner of war, spring 1945")
.....a major contributor to Old Testament studies following the literary-critical tradition ofWellhausen and the form-critical and the traditio-historical approach ofHermann Gunkel as developed byAlbrecht Alt andMartin Noth.
Prof. Premasagar concludes by saying that
the Bible for von Rad, in the final analysis, is neither history nor literature, but rather theconfessions of a community.
...a number of von Rad's innovative papers prepared the way for the blossoming of Old Testament studies in Germany during the firstdecennia 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 ofTheology of the Old Testament and a representative selection of his essays, extending from 1931 through 1964, which were translated and published asThe Problem of the Hexateuch and other Essays in 1966, though the bulk of these were written in the late 1940s.
^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
^abCross, F. L., ed. (2005).The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press.
^Bernard M. Levinson (25 May 2011). "Reading the Bible in Nazi Germany: Gerhard Von Rad's Attempt to Reclaim the Old Testament for the Church".SSRN1850821.
^Soulen, Richard R.Handbook of Biblical Criticism.
^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
^Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Revised edition, August 1975,ISBN0-8028-1478-6, pp. 47-47
^Old Testament Theology - Its History and Development, SCM Press Ltd, London, 1985,ISBN0-334-02231-2, p.233
