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Historical Jesus Studies in Italy

Overview

Artistic Heritage (15th to 18th century)

Since the Renaissance Italy had a long tradition of artistic and literary retellings of the life of Jesus, culminated in the masterpieces of Aretino and Metastasio and popularized in the 18th century by the production of numerous oratorios.

Early 19th century

No Italian scholar contributed to the international rise of modern critical research on the Historical Jesus, which was prompted by the publication in 1774-78 of the work of Hermann Samuel Reimarus. In the period preceding the Italian Unification, the Roman Catholic Church maintained a strict control of the cultural and religious life, effectively blocking the publication of any non-conformist voice. The most popular "Lives of Jesus" of early 19th-century Italy were literary works of spiritual edification, composed by Catholic prelates of great erudition, such as Antonio Cesari, Giuseppe Lorini and Cardinal Alfonso Capecelatro. Their scope did not go beyond the objective of providing a harmonization of the gospels to create elegant and consistent historical-biographical narratives. The news of the emerging scholarly debate on the Historical Jesus reached Italy as the echoes of far-away heresies.

Beginnings of Critical Scholarship (second half of the 19th century)

The only conspicuous exception is given by historian Aurelio Bianchi-Giovini, who in 1853, challenging censorship and risking jail, made available to Italian readers the most advanced results of international research. His "Critica degli Evangeli" had to be published in Zurich, Switzerland and only in the 1860s, after the Unification, could be reissued in Milan. Bianchi-Giovini remained a brilliant, yet isolated figure of precursor in the field of Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins.

The establishment of the Italian State in 1861 created a new climate of religious freedom. A more solid beginning was provided by the translation of the works of David Friedrich Strauss and Ernest Renan in 1863. In a field hitherto monopolized by Catholic theologians and priests, the publication of such works was in itself a great accomplishment and as expected, was followed by a flow of scandalized judgments and apologetic responses. Things were changing rapidly, however. Italy was now officially a liberal State which in 1870 successfully completed its battle against the temporal power of the Church and conquered Rome as its new capital. In 1873, following the abolition of the Faculties of Theology in Italy, the first chair of History of Christianity was established at the University of Naples. Liberal ideas penetrated also among Catholic authors. Luigi Arosio distinguished himself as the first Catholic NT scholar. In 1890, with his Life of Jesus illustrated by the Best Artists, Ruggeri Bonghi, a friend of Antonio Rosmini and Alessandro Manzoni, a professor of Latin literature and ancient history and founder in 1862 of the newspaper La Stampa, was the first author to inaugurate the Italian tradition of journalists and writers to compete successfully in this literary genre still largely reserved for authors ecclesiastical. The public was also exposed to the first romanticized "apocryphal" versions of the life of Jesus, being they characterized by a new and provocative look at ancient sources (the Judas of Petruccelli or the socialist Jesus of Giannelli) or instead animated by a reverent attitude toward the tradition (the Ben-Hur of Wallace, or The Centurion" by Routhier).

1900s

At the turn of the century, with the consolidation of the Italian State, we have the first scholarly contributions by Italian University professors Alessandro Chiappelli and Baldassare Labanca, both in line with the approach of the European Liberal School. At the beginning of the twentieth century the development of the international “Modernist” movement in Roman Catholicism prompted the rise also of an Italian school promoting a rationalistic approach to Scriptures across established religious boundaries (University professors Adolfo Omodeo, Ernesto Buonaiuti, Luigi Salvatorelli, and Pietro Martinetti, as well as Jewish scholars Felice Momigliano and Israele Zolli, Protestant scholars Piero Chiminelli e Giovanni Luzzi, and Catholic scholars Leone Tondelli and Giuseppe Ricciotti). The condemnation of Modernism by Pope Pius X in 1907, the rise of Fascism in the ‘20s and especially, the Concordat of 1929 between Fascist Italy and the Vatican, and the anti-Jewish racial law in 1938, caused a progressive yet dramatic decline in the freedom of research and the end of this creative experience. The generation of Modernism would have no heirs.

1910s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1910s in Italy

1920s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1920s in Italy

1930s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1930s in Italy

1940s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1940s in Italy

1950s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1950s in Italy

1960s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1960s in Italy

1970s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1970s in Italy

1980s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1980s in Italy

1990s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 1990s in Italy

It would take 40 years to see a new beginning and blossoming of an Italian school in the 1980s and 1990s, after the Second Vatican Council laid the foundations for a renewed interest in historical research and fostered a new climate of freedom and ecumenical dialogue. The seminal work of Carlo Maria Martini, rector of the Pontifical Biblical institute in the 1970s, prepares the path for the emergence of a new generation of Italian scholars: University professors Giorgio Jossa, Mauro Pesce, and Paolo Sacchi, as well as Theological Seminary professors Giuseppe Barbaglio, Rinaldo Fabris, Bruno Maggioni, and Giuseppe Segalla. The future of Italian scholarly research on Jesus today appears brighter as more Italian scholars in the field are engaged in international ventures (Mauro Pesce, Paolo Sacchi, Giorgio Jossa, Marcello Del Verme) or teach abroad (Enrico Norelli, Gabriele Boccaccini, Pierluigi Piovanelli, Edmondo Lupieri). Yet there are three major obstacles: the precarious situation of studies in religion in Italian Universities and Seminaries; the lasting influence of religious conservatism against the historical method; and the difficulty for young researchers and scholars to find academic positions. What will follow the generation of the Second Vatican Council is yet to be seen.

2000s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 2000s in Italy

2010s

• See List of works on the Historical Jesus in the 2010s in Italy

International impact

The international impact of Italian Scholarship in the field of Historical Jesus Studies has been limited by the paucity of original works, or translations, in international languages, and by the limited presence of Italian scholars in international projects of research.

At the beginning of the 20th century a couple of articles in the American Journal of Theology and the Harvard Theological Review drew attention on the promising developments in the field of the Study of Religion in Italy, but the long review article on the history of research on the Historical Jesus "from Locke to Reitzenstein," published in 1929 by Luigi Salvatorelli in the Harvard Theological Review, remained the only contribution offered by an Italian scholar to an international audience. A much greater impact had fictional works by Italian Authors such as the film Christus <Christ> by Giulio Antamoro (1916) and particularly, "La storia di Cristo <The Story of Christ>" by Giovanni Papini (1921), which was translated in dozens of languages and enjoyed great popularity.

After the war the "Vita di Cristo <Life of Christ> (1940) by Italian scholar and priest Giuseppe Ricciotti was translated into English, German and French. For its moderate openness to the scholarly method, and its apologetic conclusions, the work was well received in Catholic circles of the time. No other major product of Italian scholarship was made available to international audience in the second half of the 20th century, even after the growth of interest in the field in Italy after the Vatican Council. Once again, the major impact of the Italian school came through some works of fiction, notably, the international success of two movies, "Il Vangelo secondo Matteo <The Gospel according to Matthew>" by Pierpaolo Paolini (1964) and "Jesus of Nazareth (1977), by Franco Zeffirelli.

At the turn of the 21st century Italian scholars have been more active internationally, some of them have got positions in international Universities, such as Gabriele Boccaccini and Edmondo Lupieri in the United States, Enrico Norelli in Switzerland, and Pierluigi Piovanelli in Canada. Some are directly involved in international groups with the Society of Biblical Literature, such as Mauro Pesce.

In 1998 Enrico Norelli edited a volume in French on the Historical Jesus and in 2005 Pierluigi Piovanelli published a review article in English on the history of research in the field. In 2010 the Italian Journal Henoch hosted a conversation (edited by Pierpaolo Bertalotto, Gabriele Boccaccini and James H. Charlesworth) among some of the most distinguished international specialists, including the Italian Scholars Gabriele Boccaccini, Giorgio Jossa, Mauro Pesce and Paolo Sacchi.