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The Problem of Jesus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

Maurice Goguel
Maurice Goguel
Affiliation:
Faculté de Théologie Protestante, and École des Hautes Études, Paris
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Extract

The problem of Jesus, which by its very nature must always remain of present concern, seems of late to have stirred a keener interest than for many years past. Never have the publications relating to Jesus and to the problem of the origins of Christianity been so abundant as to-day, and more than ever before do men crave an exact idea of the true story of Jesus and the conditions in which Christianity had its origin.

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , April 1930 , pp. 93 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1930

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References

1 On the history of the mythical theories, see my book, Nazareth, Jésus de, mythe ou histoire? Paris, 1925, pp. 9–34Google Scholar (pp. 11–31 of the English translation); A. Drews, Die Leugnung der Geschichtlichkeit Jesu in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, Karlsruhe, 1926.

2 Couchoud, Paul-Louis, Le Mystère de Jésus, Paris, 1924.Google Scholar

3 Dujardin, Édouard, Le Dieu Jésus: essai sur les origines et la formation de la légende évangélique, Paris, 1927.Google Scholar

4 Lévy, Isidore, La Légende de Pythagore de Grèce en Palestine, Paris, 1927Google Scholar; Recherches sur les sources de la légende de Pythagore, Paris, 1926.Google Scholar For a discussion of Lévy's theory, see my article, ‘Les théories de M. Isidore Lévy sur l'influence de la légende de Pythagore,’ Revue de philologie, de littérature et d'histoire ancienne, 1928, pp. 241–270.

5 Massé, Daniel, L'énigme de Jésus Christ, Paris, [1926].Google Scholar

6 Eisler, Robert, ΙΗΣОТΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕϒΣ Οϒ ΒΑΣΙΛΕϒΣΑΣ: Die messianische Unabhängigkeit vom Auftreten Johannis des Täufer's bis zum Untergang Jakob des Gerechten, nach der neuerschlossenen Eroberung von Jerusalem des Flavius Josephus und den urchristlichen Quellen, Heidelberg, 1928–1929.Google Scholar

7 Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae xiv. 9, 2 (§§ 159 ff.); De Bello Judaico ii. 10, 5 (§§ 204 ff.).

8 His attempts at rebellion are alluded to in Acts 5, 36–37.

9 Ant. Jud. xx. 8, 5 (§ 161); Bell. Jud. ii. 13, 1 (§ 253).

10 At least for the first part of his career, for Eisler admits that afterwards Paul was inclined to make concessions to the power of Rome.

11 These texts have been made accessible to western scholars by Berendts, A. in Die Zeugnisse vom Christentum im slavischen De Bello Judaico des Josephus (Texte und Untersuchungen, neue Folge, XIV, 4), Leipzig, 1906.Google Scholar

12 Barbusse, H., Jésus, Paris, [1927]Google Scholar; cf. Les Judas de Jésus, Paris, [1927].Google Scholar

13 Giran, Étienne, Le Jardin plein de sources. Vol. I. L'Évangile retrouvé, Paris, 1927.Google Scholar

14 According to Giran, Joseph of Arimathea, in order to get authority from Pilate for burying the body of Jesus, had to engage not to leave it in his tomb but to remove it to an unknown spot as soon as the sabbath was over. When the women came early in the morning of the third day, they found the sepulchre open and empty, because the gardener of Joseph of Arimathea had not yet had time to put things in order after carrying out the transfer of the body. In reproaching the women for seeking the living among the dead, he did not mean that Jesus had returned to life, but only that his soul remained alive in spite of death. The misunderstanding of his words gave rise to the legend of the resurrection.

15 Laudet, Fernand, Histoire populaire de Jésus, Tours, 1924.Google Scholar

16 Fillion, , Vie de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ: étude historique, critique, et apologétique, 3 vols., Paris, 1922.Google Scholar

17 Grandmaison, Léonce de, Jésus Christ, sa personne, son message, ses preuves, 2 vols., Paris, 1928.Google Scholar The work was finished when the author died in 1927. His colleagues Fathers Lebreton and Huby carried it through the press.

18 Lagrange, M.-J., L'Évangile de Jésus Christ, Paris, 1928.Google Scholar

19 A good illustration is to be found in the very vigorous pages in which Father de Grandmaison discusses certain theories relating to the influence exerted on Christianity by the hellenistie mysteries.

20 Lagrange, p. vi.

21 With the works of de Grandmaison and Lagrange may be compared the sermons of Father Pinard de la Boullaye, at Notre Dame de Paris. But in the course for Lent 1929, entitled Jésus et l'histoire, Father Pinard still treats only a very limited problem, that of the historical existence of Jesus. He gives us to understand that this is only an introduction, and that we must wait until the work is further advanced before passing judgment on it. So far, however, he does not seem likely to separate the historical from the theological and religious problem any more than is the case with de Grandmaison and Lagrange.

22 Schweitzer, A., Von Reimarus zu Wrede: eine Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung, Tübingen, 1906, p. 399.Google Scholar The second edition was published in 1913.

23 Das Messianitäts- und Leidensgeheimnis: eine Skizze des Lebens Jesu, Tübingen, 1902.Google Scholar See also the same writer's Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung, 2nd ed., pp. 190–443.

24 On this school see my article, ‘Une nouvelle école critique évangélique: la formund traditionsgeschichtliche Schule,’ Revue de l'histoire des religions, XCIV, 1926, pp. 114–160.Google Scholar

25 Bultmann, R., Jesus, Berlin, [1926], p. 12.Google Scholar

26 Bultmann, R., Die Erforschung der synoptischen Evangelien, Giessen, 1925, p. 33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

27 Bertram, G., Neues Testament und historische Methode, Tübingen, 1928.Google Scholar

28 Colani, Timothée, ‘Le Dr. Strauss, un chapitre de l'histoire de la théologie moderne,’ Revue de théologie et de philosophie chrétienne, vol. XII, 1856, p. 22.Google Scholar

29 On this subject see my article, ‘Critique et histoire à propos de la Vie de Jésus,’ Cahiers de la Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses, no. 16, Paris, 1928.Google Scholar

30 Henri Poincaré, La science et l'hypothèse, p. 168.