The quest of the historical Jesus : $b a critical study of its progress from Reimarus to WredeSchweitzer, Albert
Religion
The quest of the historical Jesus : $b a critical study of its progress from Reimarus to Wrede
Schweitzer, Albert
Jesus Christ -- Biography -- History and criticism; Jesus Christ -- Historicity
Bauer discusses with great thoroughness those sayings of Jesus in which He
forbids those whom He had healed to noise abroad their cure. In the form
in which they appear these cannot, he argues, be historical, for Jesus
imposes this prohibition in some cases where it is quite meaningless,
since the healing had taken place in the presence of a multitude. It must
therefore be derived from the Evangelist. Only when it is recognised as a
free creation can its meaning be discerned. It finds its explanation in
the inconsistent views regarding miracle which were held side by side in
the early Church. No doubt was felt that Jesus had performed miracles, and
by these miracles had given evidence of His Divine mission. On the other
hand, by the introduction of the Christian principle, the Jewish demand
for a sign had been so far limited, and the other, the spiritual line of
evidence, had become so important, or at least so indispensable, that it
was no longer possible to build on the miracles only, or to regard Jesus
merely as a wonder‐worker; so in some way or other the importance ascribed
to miracle must be reduced. In the graphic symbolism of the Gospel history
this antithesis takes the form that Jesus did miracles—there was no
getting away from that—but on the other hand Himself declared that He did
not wish to lay any stress upon such acts. As there are times when
miracles must hide their light under a bushel, Jesus, on occasion, forbids
that they should be made known. The other Synoptists no longer understood
this theory of the first Evangelist, and introduced the prohibition in
passages where it was absurd.
The way in which Jesus makes known His Messiahship is based on another
theory of the original Evangelist. The order of Mark can give us no
information regarding the chronology of the life of Jesus, since this
Gospel is anything rather than a chronicle. We cannot even assert that
there is a deliberate logic in the way in which the sections are
connected. But there is one fundamental principle of arrangement which
comes quite clearly to light, viz. that it was only at Caesarea Philippi,
in the closing period of His life, that Jesus made Himself known as the
Messiah, and that, therefore, He was not previously held to be so either
by His disciples or by the people. This is clearly shown in the answers of
the disciples when Jesus asked them whom men took Him to be. The implied
course of events, however, is determined by art, not history—as history it
would be inconceivable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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