Category:Historical Jesus Studies--1850s

Ernest Renan

Lew Wallace

Historical Jesus Studies in the 1850s--Works and Authors

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Overview

Renan's Life of Jesus had a sensational impact in mid-19th century. Based on the premise that Jesus’ life should be studied critically like that of every other man, Renan interpreted jesus as a teacher of morality, downplaying the apocalyptic and supernatural elements of Gospels narratives.

The interest in Jesus' Jewish background was fostered by the scholarly work of Alfred Edersheim and by the extraordinary success of the novel Ben Hur by Wallace.

Against the "Liberal Theology," Johannes Weiss argued that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God by Jesus should be interpreted in light of Jewish apocalypticism.

More conservative theologians, like Martin Kähler, argued that the "real" Jesus was not the so-called "Historical Jesus" but the Christ proclaimed by the Christian faith.