Rudolf Schnackenburg (5 January 1914 – 28 August 2002) was a German Catholic priest and New Testament scholar. Joseph Ratzinger referred to him as "probably the most significant German-speaking Catholic exegete of the second half of the twentieth century."Joseph Ratzinger, ''Jesus von Nazareth'', p. 11, where Schnackenburg is called the "wohl bedeutendste deutschsprachige katholische Exeget der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts."

Life

Schnackenburg spent his childhood in

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

and finished secondary school there (at the "Gymnasium Johanneum") in 1932. He then studied philosophy and theology at the universities of Breslau and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1937 he earned his doctoral degree from the University of Breslau for a dissertation written under Friedrich Wilhelm Maier on "faith" in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

. In the same year, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Adolf Bertram and began pastoral work in Silesia until he was expelled from there in 1946. He then earned his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

degree in New Testament Exegesis in 1947 with ''Das Heilsgeschehen bei der Taufe nach dem Apostel Paulus'' (Salvation through Baptism according to the Apostle Paul). His habilitation advisor was Friedrich Wilhelm Maier, then at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, which is where Schnackenburg was made

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

in 1948. From 1952 he was

Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in New Testament Exegesis at the Philosophisch-Theologischen Hochschule Dillingen. In 1955, Schnackenburg was made full professor in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

. From 1957 until 1982, he was Professor of New Testament at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

. After his retirement, he was chaplain in a retirement home and worked with the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Work

Schnackenburg was a member of the International Theological Commission (ITC), wrote numerous books (including a commentary on the

) and worked on the translation of the German Einheitsübersetzung of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

Select Publications

Commentaries * ''Das Evangelium nach Markus,'' 2 vols. (Düsseldorf) * ''Das Matthäusevangelium,'' 2 vols. (Die Neue Echter Bibel; Würzburg) * ''Das Johannesevangelium,'' 4 vols. (Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 4; Freiburg) * ''Der Brief an die Epheser'' (Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament 10; Düsseldorf) Other Publications * ''Die sittliche Botschaft des Neuen Testaments'' (Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, Supplementband 2; Freiburg 1986–1988), vol. 1: ''Von Jesus zur Urkirche'', vol. 2: ''Die urchristlichen Verkündiger'' * ''Der Jesusweg: Meditationen zum lukanischen 'Reisebericht (Stuttgarter Taschenbücher 4; Stuttgart 1990) * ''Gott hat seinen Sohn gesandt: Das Weihnachtsgeheimnis'' (Freiburg 1990) * ''Die Person Jesu Christi im Spiegel der vier Evangelien,'' new edition (Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament, Supplementband 4; Freiburg 1998) * ''Freundschaft mit Jesus'' (Freiburg 1995) * ''Predigt in der Gemeinschaft Sant’Egidio'' (Würzburg 2003) * ''Die Bergpredigt: Utopische Vision oder Handlungsanweisung?'' (Düsseldorf 1984)

Festschriften

* Joachim Gnilka, ed., ''Neues Testament und Kirche: estschriftfür Rudolf Schnackenburg um 60. Geburtstag am 5. Januar 1974 von Freunden und Kollegen gewidmet' (Freiburg 1974) * Helmut Merklein, ed., ''Neues Testament und Ethik: estgabefür Rudolf Schnackenburg'' (Freiburg 1989)

References

External links

Homily eulogizing Rudolf Schnackenburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnackenburg, Rudolf 1914 births 2002 deaths People from Katowice Clergy from the Province of Silesia 20th-century German Catholic theologians German biblical scholars Roman Catholic biblical scholars New Testament scholars University of Breslau alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Legnica German male non-fiction writers 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests