Rudolf Bultmann was the giant of twentieth-century New Testament scholarship. His pioneering studies in biblical criticism shaped research on the composition of the gospels, and his call for demythologising biblical language sparked debate among Christian theologians worldwide.

This definitive biography now in English for the first time traces his career in Germany through the tumult of two world wars. Through richly drawn connections between events in his life and his theology, Hammann illuminates Bultmann s contributions to biblical historical criticism and the changing role of religion in public life in Europe.

First English translation.