Gerhard von Rad 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...

 Lutheran pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

, University professor and an Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

 scholar.

With the experience of two World Wars, the German-speaking world began to turn "anti-Old Testament". Disturbed by this, Rad turned to the study of the Old Testament and gradually started to bring back its message.

His lively papers achieved a renewal of interest and research in Old Testament studies.