In Rudolf Bultmann: A Biography, the theologian-biographer Konrad Hammann examines Bultmann's major works and innovative theological perspectives with a view to the biographical perspectives of his personal life and faith and his participation in the theological world of German Protestant theology against the tumultuous history of Germany in Bultmann's era. This topically dense perspective yields uncommon insights into the changing foci of Bultmann's thought across six decades. In summary, Hammann's portrait traces Bultmann's early rejection of the era's liberal theologies in favor of dedication to theology as a work of faith that reflects on its central subject, God's revelation in Jesus Christ, as well as on traditional doctrinal approaches to biblical interpretation. Bultmann's personal and professional objective was a theology that could proclaim the gospel in terms that ordinary Christians in the modern world (a technologically advanced world ill suited to understanding faith as linked to supernatural realities) could understand. To achieve this, Bultmann approached biblical interpretation utilizing contemporary views that focused on the historical background of the biblical texts (the history of religion movement), Heidegger's existential philosophy, and attention to Barth's dialectical theology and its emphasis on the revealed character of faith.
The precision of Hammann's study is enhanced by his use of unpublished archival materials, among which is Bultmann's ongoing correspondence with Barth, Heidegger, and others. Chapters build a veritable Who's Who on the basis of Bultmann's interactions with the theological luminaries in the German theological faculties of his time, and expose the rich history of Bultmann's dialogue with his theological contemporaries.
In subsequent chapters (a methodic sequence of concentric circles that review aspects of Bultmann's personal and professional life), the structure begins to disclose the tight relationship between Bultmann's theological work and other aspects of his life. None succeeds in illuminating this interaction better than the chapter on Bultmann's life and work during the National Socialist period (1932–45). Here Hammann reveals Bultmann to be a determined opponent of National Socialist ideology and its brutal politics, publicly criticizing its actions and its anti-Semitic positions, in lectures and publications, while also supporting the resistance efforts of the Confessing Church, despite severe consequences for his own life.
It is in this period (1941) that Bultmann gave his renowned (and controversial) lecture on demythologizing. The core of that lecture exposes the mythic character of all human social and political structures, enabling Bultmann to identify the essential core of the New Testament kerygma as the only location that discloses the way to genuine human existence. Rejecting as mythic all gospel references to revelation and faith in terms of supernatural interventions and miracles, Bultmann argues that genuine existence is achieved only by that liberation from humanity's fallen nature that is located solely through faith in the Christ event, that is, the presence of God disclosed in the event of Jesus's death on the cross and his resurrection. The concept of demythologizing remained controversial for the remainder of Bultmann's life and is sometimes seen as the epitome of his considerable corpus of work. Hammann's review of this episode in light of the National Socialist period gives a generous view of the starkness of this particular aspect of Bultmann's thought.
Hammann's study delivers an effective summary of Bultmann's major works, tracing the trajectory of his theological positions in relation to the academic debates of his milieu. His proficient use of archival resources supports a rich survey of the interactions, arguments, and themes of German theology in this era. The biography's dense thematic structure is initially a challenge for the American reader. However, when the author commences his survey of Bultmann's theological works, the detailed background weaves the rich tapestry of Bultmann's life, his faith, and the raison d'être of his theological works that would otherwise remain unknown. Contemporary theologians no longer favor the methods and content of mid-twentieth-century theology, and the distinction between biblical and systematic theologies is more strict. Nonetheless, the historical emphases, the concepts, and the categories presented in Hammann's biography of Bultmann disclose the origins of ideas that scholars still utilize today.
Rudolf Bultmann: A Biography is an advanced work that is ill suited to undergraduate and graduate courses. Still, the author's summary and analysis of Bultmann's major publications as well as his extensive bibliography and index offer a valuable resource for the advanced student at any level. For that reason, the book would be a welcome addition to the college library as well as an exciting resource for scholars interested in the history of twentieth-century German theology.
