Rolf Rendtorff

Rolf Rendtorff
Rendtorff around the age of 65
Born	(1925-05-10)10 May 1925 Preetz, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Died	1 April 2014(2014-04-01) (aged 88) Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Nationality	German
Occupation	Professor of Old Testament
Years active	1958–1990
Parent	Heinrich Rendtorff (Father)
Awards	Buber-Rosenzweig-Medal (2002)
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Kiel (1945–1946; 1948–1949) Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel (1946–1947) University of Göttingen (1947–1948; 1952–1953] University of Heidelberg (1949–1950)
Thesis	"Die Gesetze in der Priesterschrift: Eine gattungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung" ("The Laws in the Priestly Scripture: A Genre-historical Investigation") (1950)
Doctoral advisor	Gerhard von Rad
Influences	Gerhard von Rad, Walther Zimmerli, Claus Westermann, Brevard Childs
Academic work
Discipline	Biblical Studies
Sub-discipline	Old Testament Biblical Theology
Institutions	Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin (1958–1963) University of Heidelberg (1963–1990)
Notable works	The Problem of the Process of Transmission in the Pentateuch (English: 1990; German: 1977) Canon and Theology: Overtures to an Old Testament Theology (English: 1993; German: 1991) The Canonical Hebrew Bible: A Theology of the Old Testament (English: 2005; German: 1999–2001)

Rolf Rendtorff (1925–2014) was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg from 1963 to 1990. He was one of the more significant German Old Testament scholars from the latter half of the twentieth-century and published extensively on various topics related to the Hebrew Bible. Rendtorff was especially notable for his contributions to the question of the origins of the Pentateuch, his adoption of a "canonical approach" to Old Testament theology, and his concerns over the relationship between Jews and Christians.