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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
  • Cc: <danhynes AT africamail.com>
  • Subject: RE: Schweitzer
  • Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 18:49:13 -0400


Vince Endris asks:

>>Speaking of Schweitzer, I was very impressed with his "Quest of the
Historical Jesus." This book influenced me more than any in my thoughts on
the NT. Since I began studying Paul, I have been looking for his "Paul and
his interpreters." I assume this is the book you were talking about that is
no longer in print. Should I continue my search? Is this a good book on
Paul? Does Schweitzer review the history of the study of Paul like he did
for Jesus? What is his thesis?<<

Yes, I would recommend you keep trying. I found a number of copies for sale
at Abebooks:
http://www.abebooks.com/

While the book _Paul and His Interpreters_ [1912] was originally written
after _Quest of the Historical Jesus_ [1906, E.T. 1910], it does proceed in
a different manner.

In the preface to _Paul_, written in 1911 (with the book published in 1912),
Schweitzer says:

"The present work forms the continuation of my _History of the Critical
Study of the Life of Jesus_ [this is the English equivalent of the 1913
second edition of the original German, so the second edition was in process
of preparation at the time he wrote], which appeared in 1906 under the title
"Von Reimarus zu Wrede." [This is what appeared in English as _Quest ... _
in 1910] (pg v)

[...]

For practical reasons the method adopted in my former book, of attaching the
statement of the new view to the history of earlier views, has not been
followed here [he instead follows a more-or-less chronological presentation,
with frequent thematic digressions]. This view will be developed and
defended in a separate work bearing the title "The Mysticism of Paul the
Apostle" [...], which will appear at an early date." [Schweitzer wrote the
preface in 1911, so it turned out to be 20 years, 1930, with English
translation in 1931]

The English and American literature of the subject has not been included in
this study [actually, some of these authors are dealt with briefly], since
the works in question were not in all cases accessible to me, and an
insufficient acquaintance with the language raised a barrier. [Imagine a
modern professional critic saying such a thing!]

Nor have I aimed at giving, even within this limitation, a complete
enumeration of all the studies of Paul's teaching. I have only desired to
cite works which either played a part of some value in the development of
Pauline study, or were in some way typical." (pg xi)

Personally, I got more out of _Paul_ than _Quest_, although I'd recommend
both without hesitation. Both books provide essential overviews of the work
of German critics (where the bulk of serious 19th century criticism
occurred) up through the turn of the 20th century. For more modern
overviews, Ben Witherington III has two books that bring the reader into
late 20th century (_The Jesus Quest_, 1995, and _The Paul Quest_, 1998), and
with some digging you will find others.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA







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