Collection inventory

Special Collections home page

Rudolf Karl Bultmann Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: Oct 1966

Biographical History

Rudolf Karl Bultmann (1884-1976) was a German dialectical theologian.

Born in Germany in what was then the grand duchy of Oldenburg, Bultmann studied theology at the Universities of Tübingen, Berlin, and Marburg; at the latter he was influenced by systematic and liberal theologian Wilhelm Hermann and New Testament scholars Johannes Weiss and Wilhelm Heitmüller. He received his PhD from Marburg in 1910 and shortly thereafter began teaching, first at Breslau and then at Marburg where he was made a full professor and taught for thirty years. His colleagues there included Rudolph Otto, Martin Heidegger, Karl Barth and Friedrich Gogarten. His History of the Synoptic Tradition (1921) is still highly regarded as an essential tool for gospel research. Bultmann was a proponent of "form-criticism," an approach which attempted to discover historical roots of religious writings. Bultmann held that "[t]he aim of form-criticism is to determine the original form of a piece of narrative, a dominical saying or a parable. In the process we learn to distinguish secondary additions and forms, and these in turn lead to important results for the history of the tradition."

[Adapted from "Rudolf Karl Bultmann" in Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Modern Western Theology]

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Karl Bultmann Papers consists of correspondence, interviews, writings, memorabilia, printed material, and symposium material.

Correspondence, the vast majority of which consists of photocopies rather than originals, covers more than 50 years. Notable correspondents include Albert Schweitzer, Gerhard Bergmann, Schubert Ogden, and Thomas C. Odun.

Interviews contains the text of two interviews, one print and one television.

Writings contains interviews, class lecture notes, essays, and books.

Memorabilia includes articles about Bultmann, class notebooks, material from Syracuse University, and a poster advertising a symposium on Bultmann.

Published material contains two articles in German.

Rudolf Bultmann Symposium consists of audiorecordings from a symposium on Bultmann and a poster advertising the event.

Arrangement of the Collection

Original correspondence is alphabetical by name of correspondent. Photocopied correspondence is arranged chronologically. Writings are subdivided by type; within each type, itmes are in no particular order. Printed material is alphabetical by title. Memorabilia is arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Bultmann, Rudolf, 1884-1976.
Ogden, Schubert M. (Schubert Miles), 1928-2019.
Schweitzer, Albert, 1875-1965.

Subjects

Dialectical theology.
Theologians.
Theology -- History -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Essays.
Lectures.
Notebooks.
Posters.

Occupations

Theologians.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Rudolf Karl Bultmann Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Rudolf Karl Bultmann, 1964.

Numerous additions, gift of Antje Lemke, 1968-1987.

Poster, gift of Syracuse University Library Associates, 1984 or 1986.

Original Holland correspondence, gift of Christine Dobson-Kelley, 2025.

Table of Contents

Correspondence, original

Correspondence, photocopies

Interviews

Writings

Memorabilia

Printed material

Rudolf Bultmann Symposium

Inventory