Hans Conzelmann was a Protestant, German theologian and New Testament scholar.
Education
Conzelmann studied at the universities of Tübingen and Marburg (where he was influenced by Hans von Soden and Rudolf Bultmann) and, after World World War II (in which he was severely wounded), he became the assistant to Helmut Thielicke at the University of Tübingen.
Career
He served at the same time as a pastor and, from 1948, as a religion teacher in a secondary school. In 1951 he submitted his dissertation and, in 1952, his Habilitation (Doctor habil) at Heidelberg University. He then took a position teaching New Testament at Heidelberg and was called, in 1954, to the University of Zurich, where he was made full professor in 1956.
In 1960 he was called to be Professor of New Testament at the University of Göttingen, where he remained until his retirement in 1978.
This theological emphasis was called Heilsgeschichte (usually translated into English as "Salvation History"). Conzelmann thought that history could be divided into three eras: 1. the Old Testament period (up to and including John the Baptist) 2. the period of Jesus" earthly ministry (which Conzelmann said was free from interference from Satan) 3. the era of the Church.
These details have been challenged by later scholars - for example by asking where John the Baptist most accurately fits and if the life of Jesus really was a "Satan free zone".