| Rudolf Schnackenburg | |
| Birth Place: | Kattowitz, Upper Silesia, Prussia |
| Death Place: | Würzburg, Germany |
| Discipline: | Theology New Testament |
| Work Institutions: | University of Würzburg |
| Alma Mater: | University of Breslau Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Friedrich Wilhelm Maier |
| Influenced: | Josef Ratzinger, Benedict Groeschel |
| Awards: | Recipient of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| Known For: | Das Johannesevangelium, Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament |
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."[1]
Schnackenburg spent his childhood in Liegnitz and finished secondary school there (at the "Gymnasium Johanneum") in 1932. He then studied philosophy and theology at the universities of Breslau and Munich. 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. 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 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, which is where Schnackenburg was made Privatdozent in 1948. From 1952 he was Lecturer in New Testament Exegesis at the Philosophisch-Theologischen Hochschule Dillingen. In 1955, Schnackenburg was made full professor in Bamberg. From 1957 until 1982, he was Professor of New Testament at the University of Würzburg. After his retirement, he was chaplain in a retirement home and worked with the Community of Sant'Egidio.
Schnackenburg was a member of the International Theological Commission (ITC), wrote numerous books (including a commentary on the Gospel of John) and worked on the translation of the German Einheitsübersetzung of the Bible.
Commentaries
Other Publications