Beyond Bultmann: Reckoning a New Testament Theology

Rudolf Bultmann’s Theology of the New Testament has stood the test of time. At the very moment modernity was threatening to splinter New Testament studies into a myriad of isolated disciplines, Bultmann was somehow able to hold history, exegesis, and theology together. Theology of the New Testament was, and still is, the definitive theological statement of a high modernist critic. In it Bultmann was as relentless in his historical judgments as he was unapologetic in laying bare the New Testament’s existential claims. Beyond Bultmann puts Bultmann’s classic Theology of the New Testament to a new test. Thirteen contemporary New Testament scholars subject Bultmann’s Theology to a comprehensive new reading. This fresh, critical examination of Bultmann not only places his magisterial work in a new context but also reveals the enduring features of Bultmann’s achievement. Beyond Bultmann demonstrates that Theology of the New Testament, far from being a relic in the museum of interpretation, still speaks today despite its flaws.