Synopsis of Schweitzer's QHJ [Ch. 2, Reimarus]

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DCHindley
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Re: Synopsis of Schweitzer's QHJ [Ch. 2, Reimarus]

Post by DCHindley »

Irish1975 wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 9:59 am Schweitzer is certainly critical of Christian theology and the way it distorts research into Jesus’ historicity. But not all that critical. As noted in my summary of Ch. 1, he himself is overtly writing as a theologian, not as some type of secular historian. He took his doctorate in theology, and worked as a pastor, during the years when he wrote QHJ.

From the summary above (#13):
It is primarily theologians whose erudition serves to obstruct insight, to blind the eyes to elementary truths.
It seems far more reasonable to suppose that theologians, or any believers who practice scholarship, are blinded, not by erudition, but by a desire to construct whatever “historical” foundation they imagine to be necessary for the vindication of what they believe.
I thought Schweitzer was a medical missionary (besides his PhD in Biblical studies, he was a qualified MD, as well as a Psychiatrist, but he did have a hard time finding a church to sponsor him. His reputation was as a student of the historical-critical method was not well loved by European Evangelicals (which were and are a different animal than US evangelicalism, which was even less accepting of HC criticism). He did find that sponsor, though, and working a good while in villages of Africa.

You are right, though, when you suppose that "theologians, or any believers who practice scholarship, are blinded, not by erudition, but by a desire to construct whatever “historical” foundation they imagine to be necessary for the vindication of what they believe."

This is why I like to utilize postmodern interpretive schemas. It recognizes that in each age, "truth" re-invents itself in relationship to what the beliefs of the age are.

I am not sure why, but this idea scares the holy crap out of many moderns who wish for, even hope for, an "absolute truth."

In the past I have been dependent on Hayden V White, particularly the 40 page introduction to his Metahistory (1973/4), and J Derrida's deconstructive approach as described by Alun Munslow in Deconstructing History (2nd revised edition 2006, 1997).

DCH
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Irish1975
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Re: Synopsis of Schweitzer's QHJ [Ch. 2, Reimarus]

Post by Irish1975 »

Good stuff. I might get back to you on the issue of post-modernism.
DCHindley wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 11:13 am I thought Schweitzer was a medical missionary (besides his PhD in Biblical studies, he was a qualified MD, as well as a Psychiatrist, but he did have a hard time finding a church to sponsor him. His reputation was as a student of the historical-critical method was not well loved by European Evangelicals (which were and are a different animal than US evangelicalism, which was even less accepting of HC criticism). He did find that sponsor, though, and working a good while in villages of Africa.
It appears from Wikipedia that Schweitzer made the switch to medicine in 1905. QHJ came out in 1906. I think his career as a medical missionary came later.
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DCHindley
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Re: Synopsis of Schweitzer's QHJ [Ch. 2, Reimarus]

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Irish1975 wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 11:57 am Good stuff. I might get back to you on the issue of post-modernism.
DCHindley wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 11:13 am I thought Schweitzer was a medical missionary (besides his PhD in Biblical studies, he was a qualified MD, as well as a Psychiatrist, but he did have a hard time finding a church to sponsor him. His reputation was as a student of the historical-critical method was not well loved by European Evangelicals (which were and are a different animal than US evangelicalism, which was even less accepting of HC criticism). He did find that sponsor, though, and working a good while in villages of Africa.
It appears from Wikipedia that Schweitzer made the switch to medicine in 1905. QHJ came out in 1906. I think his career as a medical missionary came later.
Schweitzer was an interesting fellow.

The theological treatises:

Das Abendmahl – Das Messianitäts und Leidengeheimnes, Ein Skizze des Lebens Jesu (1901). The English translation by Walter Lowrie, The Mystery of the Kingdom of God: the Secret of Jesus’s Messiahship and Passion, was published in 1914.

Von Reimarus zu Wrede: Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung ("From Reimarus to Wrede: Quest of the Historical Jesus studies," 1906). The English translation by W Montgomery, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, was published in 1910 from the 2nd German edition. I believe a more recent translation from a later German edition, with additional info near the end, is available as well.

Geschichte Der Paulinischen Forschung (1912). The English translation by W Montgomery, Paul and His Interpreters, was also published in 1912.

Die Psychiatrische Bueurtielung Jesu: Darstellung und kritik, (his Doctoral Thesis defended in 1912). English translation by Charles R Joy, The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism, was published in 1913.

Die mystic des apostes Paulus (supposed to follow publication of 1930). The English translation by William Montgomery, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle, was published 1931, 2nd edition in 1953.

Table of Contents of Albert Schweitzer: A Biography, James Brabazon, (2nd Ed, 2000)
http://home.pcisys.net/~jnf/schabout/ra11.html

Illustrations
Preface
Preface to the First Edition
Acknowledgments
Childhood, 1875-1885
The Dark Years, 1885-1893
Strasbourg, 1893-1896
Paris, 1896-1899
Berlin, 1899
Two Examinations, 1899-1900
The Scholar-Curate, 1900-1901
The Historical Jesus, 1901
Helene
Bach, 1902-1904
Medical Studies, 1905-1908
The Departure, 1908-1913
Africa, 1913
Andende: The First Hospital, 1913
War, 1914-1915
"Reverence for Life," 1915
Internment, 1915-1917
The Lost Coin, 1918-1924
Adolinanongo: The Second Hospital, 1924-1927
Fame, 1927-1929
Life at the Hospital, 1929-1932
Another War, 1932-1945
America: "The Greatest Man in the World," 1945-1950
Schweitzer on Film, 1950-1954
A Crack in the Myth, 1951-1954
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Bomb, 1954-1957
The Last of Europe, 1957-1959
The Final Years, 1959-1965
Epilogue
Postscript to the Second Edition
Appendix A: A Day at the Hospital by Albert Schweitzer
Appendix B: From Albert Schweitzer's Gift of Friendship, Erica Anderson
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Irish1975
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Re: Synopsis of Schweitzer's QHJ [Ch. 2, Reimarus]

Post by Irish1975 »

DCHindley wrote: Tue May 11, 2021 5:48 pm Schweitzer was an interesting fellow.

The theological treatises:

Das Abendmahl – Das Messianitäts und Leidengeheimnes, Ein Skizze des Lebens Jesu (1901). The English translation by Walter Lowrie, The Mystery of the Kingdom of God: the Secret of Jesus’s Messiahship and Passion, was published in 1914.

Von Reimarus zu Wrede: Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung ("From Reimarus to Wrede: Quest of the Historical Jesus studies," 1906). The English translation by W Montgomery, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, was published in 1910 from the 2nd German edition. I believe a more recent translation from a later German edition, with additional info near the end, is available as well.

Geschichte Der Paulinischen Forschung (1912). The English translation by W Montgomery, Paul and His Interpreters, was also published in 1912.

Die Psychiatrische Bueurtielung Jesu: Darstellung und kritik, (his Doctoral Thesis defended in 1912). English translation by Charles R Joy, The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism, was published in 1913.

Die mystic des apostes Paulus (supposed to follow publication of 1930). The English translation by William Montgomery, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle, was published 1931, 2nd edition in 1953.

Table of Contents of Albert Schweitzer: A Biography, James Brabazon, (2nd Ed, 2000)
http://home.pcisys.net/~jnf/schabout/ra11.html

Illustrations
Preface
Preface to the First Edition
Acknowledgments
Childhood, 1875-1885
The Dark Years, 1885-1893
Strasbourg, 1893-1896
Paris, 1896-1899
Berlin, 1899
Two Examinations, 1899-1900
The Scholar-Curate, 1900-1901
The Historical Jesus, 1901
Helene
Bach, 1902-1904
Medical Studies, 1905-1908
The Departure, 1908-1913
Africa, 1913
Andende: The First Hospital, 1913
War, 1914-1915
"Reverence for Life," 1915
Internment, 1915-1917
The Lost Coin, 1918-1924
Adolinanongo: The Second Hospital, 1924-1927
Fame, 1927-1929
Life at the Hospital, 1929-1932
Another War, 1932-1945
America: "The Greatest Man in the World," 1945-1950
Schweitzer on Film, 1950-1954
A Crack in the Myth, 1951-1954
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Bomb, 1954-1957
The Last of Europe, 1957-1959
The Final Years, 1959-1965
Epilogue
Postscript to the Second Edition
Appendix A: A Day at the Hospital by Albert Schweitzer
Appendix B: From Albert Schweitzer's Gift of Friendship, Erica Anderson
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Thanks for this, DCH.
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