Günther Bornkamm was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 scholar and Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of New Testament at the University of Heidelberg.

He was a student of Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...

 with Ernst Käsemann

Ernst Käsemann

Ernst Käsemann, , was a Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz , Göttingen and Tübingen .-Study and work:...

 (Tübingen), Ernst Fuchs (Marburg) and Hans Conzelmann

Hans Conzelmann

Hans Conzelmann was a German scholar who made many contributions to New Testament research in the twentieth century. One of his major works was Die Mitte Der Zeit , literally 'The Middle of Time', which was translated into English under the title, The Theology of St. Luke...

 (Göttingen).

He was a proponent of the Second Quest for the Historical Jesus

Historical Jesus

The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...

 (Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...

) and suggested a tighter relationship between Jesus and the theology of the early church (in contrast to the 'First' and 'No Quest' periods ending in 1953).

Numbered among his opponents, Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Bultmann

Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...

 argued for a divorce between the two, but their approaches remain similar in many aspects.

The work by Ernst Käsemann

Ernst Käsemann

Ernst Käsemann, , was a Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament in Mainz , Göttingen and Tübingen .-Study and work:...

is also valuable for understanding Bornkamm's work.

Publications

• Jesus of Nazareth. New York: Harper & Row, 1960
• Paul. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995 [1969] ISBN 0800628985
• The New Testament: A Guide to Its Writings. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973.