The Quest of the Historical Jesus

work by Schweitzer

Also known as: “Von Reimarus zu Wrede”

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July 13, 2026

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Albert Schweitzer's The Quest of the Historical Jesus critically examined attempts to uncover the Jesus of history, separate from later theological interpretations. Schweitzer argued that many scholars projected their own liberal Protestant assumptions onto Jesus, particularly by downplaying his apocalyptic message and focus on the imminent end of the world.123

The primary sources for the life of Jesus are the New Testament Gospels, with the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) being considered more reliable for historical reconstruction than the Gospel of John. Noncanonical texts, like the Gospel of Thomas, offer sayings attributed to Jesus but are generally considered less reliable for understanding the historical Jesus due to their Gnostic leanings.4

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Albert Schweitzer
…Von Reimarus zu Wrede (1906; The Quest of the Historical Jesus) established him as a world figure in theological studies. In this and other works he stressed the eschatological views (concerned with the consummation of history) of Jesus and St. Paul, asserting that their attitudes were formed by expectation of…
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…Von Reimarus zu Wrede (1906; The Quest of the Historical Jesus) established him as a world figure in theological studies. In this and other works he stressed the eschatological views (concerned with the consummation of history) of Jesus and St. Paul, asserting that their attitudes were formed by expectation of…
Read More

Christology
Post-Enlightenment Christology
In a brilliant study, The Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906), Albert Schweitzer, later to gain fame as a missionary doctor in equatorial Africa, argued that the pursuit of the historical Jesus depended on a preconceived notion of Jesus as moral teacher that left the apocalyptic aspects of his…
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In a brilliant study, The Quest for the Historical Jesus (1906), Albert Schweitzer, later to gain fame as a missionary doctor in equatorial Africa, argued that the pursuit of the historical Jesus depended on a preconceived notion of Jesus as moral teacher that left the apocalyptic aspects of his…
Read More

study of religion
Historical-critical studies
…Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), in whose Quest of the Historical Jesus the eschatological teachings (statements about the “last times,” or end of the world as it is now understood) of Jesus are emphasized, together with the dissimilarity of his thought world from our own.
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…Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), in whose Quest of the Historical Jesus the eschatological teachings (statements about the “last times,” or end of the world as it is now understood) of Jesus are emphasized, together with the dissimilarity of his thought world from our own.
Read More