Rendtorff was especially notable for his contributions to the question of the origins of the Pentateuch, his adoption of a "canonical approach" to Old Testament theology, and his concerns over the relationship between Jews and Christians.

After serving in the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) during World War II,[1] he studied theology from 1945 to 1950 at the universities of Kiel, Göttingen and Heidelberg.

[2] In 1963, he was appointed to a chair at the University of Heidelberg, working in the Old Testament department alongside Gerhard von Rad and Claus Westermann.

[3] He filled this post for twenty-seven years until his retirement in 1990, serving in several administrative positions over this time, including dean of the theological faculty during 1964–1965 and university rector from 1970–1972.

[9] The three studies, published almost at the same time, inaugurated a heated discussion in scholarly circles on the validity of the then-dominant consensus on Pentateuchal origins, the Documentary Hypothesis.