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The Quest of the Historical Jesus (Paperback)

by Albert Schweitzer (Author), John John Bowden (Editor), Dennis Nineham (Foreword)
Key Phrases: fourth evangelist, theological letters, modern historical theology, Life of Jesus, Fourth Gospel, John the Baptist (more...)

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best introduction to the subject... Scholarly and urbane... A fine example of critical exposition... A mystery story on the highest possible level, enlivened by Dr. Schweitzer's wit, and enriched by his effective command of simile and metaphor... Affords a wide view of the whole library of critical theology." -- Saturday Review

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
In this revised translation and retrieval of the full text of the revised German edition, Schweitzer describes and critiques 18th and 19th century attempts at retrieving the "Jesus of history" and stands at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries to bring closure to the former, and to open the latter for New Testament scholarship. Schweitzer saw the problems of historiography, theology, and politics in the ways the issues were formulated—and the answers proposed—and refocused attention on Jesus’ "eschatology" in a way abandoned by his predecessors. Issues of the messianic secret, the nature of the kingdom of God, and Jesus’ mission are addressed.

Because of the new invigorated study of Jesus in his first-century context, informed readers will desire Schweitzer as a reference point for the mistakes of the past and the possibilities of new directions.

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Product Details

Paperback: 612 pages
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers; Subsequent edition (January 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800632885
ISBN-13: 978-0800632885
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.7 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #911,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#16 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Schweitzer, Albert

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fourth evangelist, theological letters, modern historical theology, thoroughgoing eschatology, modern historical view, scribal learning, eschatological school, johannine miracles, original evangelist, messianic entry, earliest evangelist, eschatological question, mediating theology, messianic consciousness, community theology, eschatological preaching, sayings collection, messianic dignity, dogmatic element, interim ethic

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Life of Jesus, Fourth Gospel, John the Baptist, Lives of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi, Bruno Bauer, Johannes Weiss, Old Testament, The Debate, New Testament, Psalms of Solomon, Son of God, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, The Christ Myth, Gospel of John, Oskar Holtzmann, Jesus of Nazareth, The Solution of Thoroughgoing Eschatology, Synoptic Gospels, David Friedrich Strauss, Gospel of Mark, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Did Jesus, Similitudes of Enoch

Citations (learn more)

100 books cite this book:

Handbook of Biblical Criticism: Third Edition, Revised and Expanded by Richard N. Soulen on 8 pages
Parable and Gospel (Fortress Classics in Biblical Studies) by Norman Perrin on 7 pages
Schweitzer: A Biography by Professor George Marshall on 5 pages
Healing in the History of Christianity by Amanda Porterfield on 5 pages
Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey by Timothy Johnson on 4 pages

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	84% buy the item featured on this page: The Quest of the Historical Jesus 4.4 out of 5 stars (14) $28.88
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars better tahn anything on the subject since, Schweitzer summar, March 6, 1999

By	Robert M. Price (Selma, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede (The Albert Schweitzer Library) (Paperback)

This book is a turning point in the history of Jesus studies. Schweitzer demonstrates how previous research was really an (unwitting) attempt by liberal and rationalist theologians to proof-text a Jesus who would embarrass orthodox Protestantism and serve as a figurehead for liberal ("Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of Man") Christianity. Schweitzer showed how each historical reconstruction of Jesus uncannily matched the beliefs and agenda of the scholar in question. But Schweitzer knew the Christ of orthodoxy was not the historical Jesus either. One could only discover the latter by being willing to find the unexpected, and Schweitzer thought he found a Jesus who was a prophet of the end of the world, who expected to judge the earth as the Son of Man, and who died tragically mistaken. Even so, he still serves as a beacon of spiritual force for the ages. As does Schweitzer's great book!

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48 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "There is silence all around...", December 8, 1999

By	Loren Rosson III (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede (The Albert Schweitzer Library) (Paperback)

This landmark classic demonstrates the cliche of "the painting telling more about the painter than the subject being painted". People use the gospels as a mirror for their own beliefs and reconstruct Jesus accordingly in their self-images. Schweitzer's Jesus, by contrast, stands on a foreign landscape of apocalyptic fanaticism -- a deluded prophet who thought he was God's instrument sent to announce the end of history; burning with apocalyptic zeal, marching to Jerusalem, confident he could force God's hand and usher in the kingdom through a voluntary death. But it didn't happen. Jesus was crushed by the system he defied, and the drama ended on the cross.

Even if Schweitzer's portrait of Jesus is a bit extreme, he got the basics right -- Jesus the eschatological prophet -- and closed the curtains on the liberal quest for Jesus. He was a prophet himself, for we have another liberal quest today in the work of the Jesus Seminar. Instead of Jesus the liberal Protestant, the Seminar gives us Jesus the liberal humanist, disguised as a non-apocalyptic sage. For more up-to-date works which follow Schweitzer's apocalyptic prophet, see E.P. Sanders' "The Historical Figure of Jesus", Paula Fredriksen's "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews", and Dale Allison's "Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet". Allison's book, in particular, is worth its weight in gold.

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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST for theologians, pastors, & serious Christians, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede (The Albert Schweitzer Library) (Paperback)

I don't think the above review understood the central theme or the historical importance of this monumental work. Fortunately, Mr. Price's eloquent review (below) explains Dr. Schweitzer's theme well: that most theologians who attempt to reconstruct the Gospels & the life of Jesus are simply projecting their own values onto the subject. The result is a normative portrayal of a "Christ of Faith," NOT a "historical Jesus." In fact, the "real" Jesus recedes into historical background as the authors of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John also project their own values & interpretation onto Jesus' life. Who is Jesus, then? That is a question of faith, not a question of history.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Orthodox Point of View
I am surprised the reviews are so one-sided over such a controversial subject matter. Let me provide an orthodox counterview. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Joe Rae

5.0 out of 5 stars Quest of rhe Historical Jesus
The writing is a little thick at times, surely due to a combination of a century-old writing style together with the translation from German. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Magdalene Wannabe

5.0 out of 5 stars Hasn't Lost a Bit of Relevance
Though it could benefit from 20th-century discoveries about the nature of Jewish apocalyptic, Schweitzer's majestically written, often devastating analysis of the covert... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Rudiger

5.0 out of 5 stars Heroic Scholars
This is the greatest book ever written about the historical Jesus, and it should be required reading for every college student. Read more

Published 19 months ago by John Loken

5.0 out of 5 stars Misunderstood classic
For over one hundred years people have been misinterpreting this book, or at least focusing on a secondary issue. Read more

Published on January 11, 2007 by N. Ravitch

5.0 out of 5 stars albert schweitzer is my hero.
The Quest of the Historical Jesus made me question my faith. This is not a bad thing as per Milton:
... Read more

Published on December 25, 2006 by eliot

5.0 out of 5 stars Monumental
THE QUEST OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS is Albert Schweitzer's monumental attempt to review and comment on the research done on the historical Jesus mostly in the nineteenth century... Read more

Published on February 12, 2006 by Peter Kenney

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
We know Dr. Schweitzer from the bushy white hair and mustache, lost somewhere in Africa, Nobel prize winning peace activist. Read more

Published on February 10, 2006 by Dr. James Gardner

5.0 out of 5 stars Albert, I hardly knew you!
This is a most erudite and methodical analysis of the lives of Jesus written in the 100 years or so before and during Schweitzer's life, many of them by German writers. Read more

Published on July 28, 2005 by C. Wolfer

4.0 out of 5 stars A true landmark
Although quite long and involved, this book represents a true landmark in the history of the study of the life of Jesus Christ. Read more

Published on January 23, 2005 by readerg

› See all 14 customer reviews...

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