The Quest of the Historical Jesus Albert Schweitzer W Montgomery F C Burkitt 9781540412416 Books
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In "The Quest," Albert Schweitzer reviews all prior work on the question of the "historical Jesus" starting with the late 18th century. He points out how Jesus' image has changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of the various authors. He takes the position that the life and thinking of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, and that Jesus defies any attempt at understanding him by making parallels to the ways of thinking or feeling of modern men. Schweitzer wrote that Jesus and his followers expected the imminent end of the world. He became very focused on the study and cross referencing of the many Biblical verses promising the return of the Son of Man and the exact details of this urgent event, as it was originally believed that it would unfold. He noted that in the gospel of Mark, Jesus speaks of a "tribulation," with nation rising against nation, false prophets, earthquakes, stars falling from the sky, and the coming of the Son of Man "in the clouds with great power and glory." Jesus even tells his disciples when all this will happen "Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done." (Mark 1330) The same story is told in the gospel of Matthew, with Jesus promising his rapid return as the Son of Man, and again saying "Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Even St. Paul believed these things, Schweitzer observes (e.g. 1 Thessalonians 4), and Schweitzer concludes that Christians of the first century theology literally believed in the imminent fulfillment of Jesus' promise. Schweitzer writes that the many modern versions of Christianity deliberately ignore the urgency of the message that Jesus proclaimed. Each new generation hopes to be the one to see the world destroyed, another world coming, and the saints governing a new earth. Schweitzer thus concludes that the First Century theology, originating in the lifetimes of those who first followed Jesus, is both incompatible and very different from those beliefs later made official by the Roman Emperor Constantine in AD 325. Schweitzer established his reputation further as a New Testament scholar with other theological studies including The Psychiatric Study of Jesus (1911) and his two studies of the apostle Paul, Paul and his Interpreters, and the more complete The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1930). This examined the eschatological beliefs of Paul and (through this) the message of the New Testament.
The Quest of the Historical Jesus Albert Schweitzer W Montgomery F C Burkitt 9781540412416 Books
I read this book almost 20 years ago but recently purchased a digital copy because I wanted to have it available for ready reference; that is how important it has been over the years to my personal spiritual journey.My interest in this title began with my interest in the life of Albert Schweitzer as early as the late 1950s. He had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, principally for his medical missionary work in West Africa, and was widely considered as close to a saint as the Protestant line of Christianity allows.
I didn't know this before reading "Quest", but Schweitzer held three doctorate degrees: in Medicine, Music, and Theology. This book was written partly in pursuit of the theology doctorate and was first published when he was just 31 years old.
I was in my mid-40s when I first read the book, and despite a fairly strict Presbyterian upbringing had routinely challenged Christian doctrine, and in particular the divinity of Jesus. I had come to the conclusion that this doctrinal point was certainly unprovable and possibly unknowable, and was comfortable with the position that if I tried earnestly to follow the teachings of Jesus I could claim the Christian faith as my principal spiritual home. I was hoping in this book to learn what the sainted Albert Schweitzer had concluded, as it appeared from the title that he had been on a quest similar to mine.
This book does not say what Schweitzer concluded about the divinity of Jesus, because that was not his objective. Rather, this book is a sweeping and often theologically dense compendium of writings from a dozen mostly German theologian-philosophers, all who had tried mightily to understand the nature of Jesus based on the Biblical record and new historical information that had come to light in the ensuing 2000 years.
So while the reading was a disappointment in that I didn't learn what our great Protestant saint had concluded, it was a stunning awakening to me (and stunning is the operative word here) that many great and serious theological thinkers had pondered the same questions I had weighted. I didn't know this was allowed. But these were not apostates, renegades, or heretics; they were unfailingly devout, reasoned, and highly intelligent thinkers.
So this book, for me, gave license to continue my own spiritual journey of interrogation, meditation, devotion, and discovery; a journey I expect to pursue 'til my final breath. If this is also your objective, I highly recommend this reading to you.
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Tags : The Quest of the Historical Jesus [Albert Schweitzer, W. Montgomery, F. C. Burkitt] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In The Quest, Albert Schweitzer reviews all prior work on the question of the historical Jesus starting with the late 18th century. He points out how Jesus' image has changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of the various authors. He takes the position that the life and thinking of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions,Albert Schweitzer, W. Montgomery, F. C. Burkitt,The Quest of the Historical Jesus,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1540412415,RELIGION Christianity History
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The Quest of the Historical Jesus Albert Schweitzer W Montgomery F C Burkitt 9781540412416 Books Reviews
For the scholarly, this surely is an essential book. I do not believe this book is for the casual reader; it requires real effort and considerable time to read--an effort hindered (at least in the book I received from ), by very poor formatting. It is admitted in the foreword of the version I got that it was scanned by OCR software, and it is quite evident that absolutely no editing was done; furthermore, the type is smaller than most people are accustomed to. However, reading the book is well worth the effort, because it describes the intellectual efforts of (principally German) theologians to understand who the real (the "historical") Jesus was, as determinable from close reading of the canonic Gospels. Of course, for this approach to succeed, it would be needful to accept the Gospels as true. Unfortunately, those scholars knew that the Gospels contradict each other materially, and contain a lot of myths and stories of miracles that might not be true. So, each in his own way tries to tease out the truth or to find explanations for the words of the Gospels.
Imagine a gallery of Jesus portraits. Each represents Jesus as he was seen in different eras, spanning centuries. Each is lovingly painted with the features defined by its era. Suddenly, a white-haired madman comes rushing into the gallery. One by one, he tears each portrait from the wall. He does not merely break them in half, he destroys them utterly. Then, when the walls are empty, the man walks over and places something on the wall. It is HIS version of Jesus. Slowly, a crowd gathers around the image. History itself holds its breath. For the white-haired madman's portrait is the greatest of all.
The "madman" is the great Albert Schweitzer. The portrait is "Quest." Read it and meet Jesus. And let those of faith rest assured that Schweitzer was a man of faith. Other reviews on this page seem to think this is something of an anti-Christ book. They say Schweitzer concludes Jesus was a deluded faker, rendering Christianity a fairy tale. They wish! Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In truth, Schweitzer concludes that if someone attempts to live up to the ethical perfection of Jesus, they will discover for themselves "who he is." And to be sure, "who he is," for Schweitzer, was certainly not a deluded faker. If Jesus' apocalyptic beliefs make him deluded, then most of antiquity, including the Romans, can be called deluded. They all believed in cosmic cycles and world-ending epochs. Was Jesus a faker? Absurd. His absolute sincerity was demonstrated in his willingness to be crucified.
Don't listen to polemic interpretations. Let Schweitzer speak for himself. He wrote, in this book's conclusion ...
"Jesus, in the knowledge that He is the coming Son of Man, lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and he throws Himself upon it. Then it does turn; and crushes Him. Instead of bringing in the eschatological conditions, he has destroyed them. The wheel rolls onward, and the mangled body of the one immeasurably great man, who was strong enough to think of himself as the spiritual ruler of mankind and to bend history to his purpose, is hanging upon it still. That is his victory and his reign."
I read this book almost 20 years ago but recently purchased a digital copy because I wanted to have it available for ready reference; that is how important it has been over the years to my personal spiritual journey.
My interest in this title began with my interest in the life of Albert Schweitzer as early as the late 1950s. He had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, principally for his medical missionary work in West Africa, and was widely considered as close to a saint as the Protestant line of Christianity allows.
I didn't know this before reading "Quest", but Schweitzer held three doctorate degrees in Medicine, Music, and Theology. This book was written partly in pursuit of the theology doctorate and was first published when he was just 31 years old.
I was in my mid-40s when I first read the book, and despite a fairly strict Presbyterian upbringing had routinely challenged Christian doctrine, and in particular the divinity of Jesus. I had come to the conclusion that this doctrinal point was certainly unprovable and possibly unknowable, and was comfortable with the position that if I tried earnestly to follow the teachings of Jesus I could claim the Christian faith as my principal spiritual home. I was hoping in this book to learn what the sainted Albert Schweitzer had concluded, as it appeared from the title that he had been on a quest similar to mine.
This book does not say what Schweitzer concluded about the divinity of Jesus, because that was not his objective. Rather, this book is a sweeping and often theologically dense compendium of writings from a dozen mostly German theologian-philosophers, all who had tried mightily to understand the nature of Jesus based on the Biblical record and new historical information that had come to light in the ensuing 2000 years.
So while the reading was a disappointment in that I didn't learn what our great Protestant saint had concluded, it was a stunning awakening to me (and stunning is the operative word here) that many great and serious theological thinkers had pondered the same questions I had weighted. I didn't know this was allowed. But these were not apostates, renegades, or heretics; they were unfailingly devout, reasoned, and highly intelligent thinkers.
So this book, for me, gave license to continue my own spiritual journey of interrogation, meditation, devotion, and discovery; a journey I expect to pursue 'til my final breath. If this is also your objective, I highly recommend this reading to you.
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