Udo Schnelle

Udo Schnelle (born 8 September 1952) is a German biblical scholar and Lutheran theologian. He is professor emeritus of New Testament at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. His work focuses on Pauline and Johannine literature, the history of early Christianity, and the relationship between New Testament texts and their Greco-Roman environment.

Udo Schnelle
Born	(1952-09-08)September 8, 1952 Nauen, Brandenburg, Germany
Nationality	German
Known for	Research on Pauline and Johannine literature
Awards	Hermann Sasse Prize (2019)
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Göttingen
Academic work
Discipline	Biblical studies
Sub-discipline	New Testament
Institutions	Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (1992–present) University of Erlangen–Nuremberg (1986–1992)

He co-edits the multivolume series Neuer Wettstein. He served as president of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 2014 and presided through the 2015 annual meeting.^{[note 1][1][2][3][4]}

Early life and education

Schnelle was born in Nauen, Brandenburg, on 8 September 1952. He studied Protestant theology at the University of Göttingen from 1974 to 1979. He earned the doctorate in theology at Göttingen in 1981 and completed the habilitation there in 1985.^[5][6]

Career

After completing the habilitation, Schnelle served as a parish pastor in Gieboldehausen from 1984 to 1986. He held his first chair as Professor of New Testament at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg from 1986 to 1992. He then joined the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg as Professor of New Testament in 1992 and later became professor emeritus.^[1][6][7]

Schnelle is a co-editor and long-time lead editor of Neuer Wettstein, a reference series that assembles Greco-Roman and Jewish parallels to the New Testament and situates early Christian writings within their ancient context.^[2]

He served as president of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 2014 to 2015. His presidency is documented in the society's 2014 Szeged proceedings and in the 2015 Amsterdam program book.^[3][4]

In 2019, the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church awarded Schnelle the Hermann Sasse Prize for theological literature for his commentary on the Gospel of John.^[8]

Publications

• Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology (1st ed.). Ada, Michigan: Baker Academic. 2005 [2003]. ISBN 9781441242006. LCCN 2005025534.
• History and Theology of the New Testament Writings, trans. Boring, Minneapolis 1998, ISBN 978-0-8006-2952-6
• Theology of the New Testament, trans. Boring, Grand Rapids 2009, ISBN 978-0-8010-3604-0

Notes

1. He opened the 2015 Amsterdam meeting as president and inducted Judith Lieu as the new president.70th General Meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (PDF), Amsterdam: VU University, 29 August 2015, retrieved 23 October 2025