David Friedrich Strauß, Father Of Unbelief: An Intellectual Biography

304 Pages·2020·2.187 MB·English

by  Frederick C. Beiser

OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
David Friedrich Strauß, Father of Unbelief
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
David Friedrich Strauß,
Father of Unbelief
An Intellectual Biography
FREDERICK C. BEISER
1
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
3
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OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1. HistoricalSignificanceofDasLebenJesu 6
1.1 ARevolutionaryBook 6
1.2 ThePoliticalReaction 9
2. ReputationandReality 14
2.1 APoliticalModerate 14
2.2 ADefenderoftheFaith 16
3. ContextandBackground 21
3.1 EarlyEducation 21
3.2 BirthofaRationalist 24
3.3 DiscoveryofHegel 27
3.4 TheConflictbetweenReasonandFaith 30
3.5 TheDilemmasofaYoungPastor 34
3.6 JourneytoBerlin 36
4. TübingenLectures 40
4.1 APhilosophicalLecturer 40
4.2 LecturesonLogicandMetaphysics 42
4.3 LecturesontheHistoryofPhilosophy 45
4.4 LecturesontheHistoryofMoralPhilosophy 51
5. Strauß’sMethodandItsProblems 54
5.1 AMethodwithoutPresuppositions? 54
5.2 TheNegativeandPositiveSidesofCritique 59
5.3 AHegelianMethod? 61
6. TheTheoryofMyth 66
6.1 Origins 66
6.2 ProblemsofDefinition 69
6.3 Volksgeist 71
7. Reaction,Demotion,andExile 73
7.1 TheVerdict 73
7.2 LudwigsburgBlues 76
7.3 TheSecondEdition 80
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vi 
8. TheRogue’sGallery 84
8.1 LininguptheDuckies 84
8.2 UncleJohann 86
8.3 TheRevengeofJudas 91
8.4 TheArtandPowerofCriticism 97
8.5 TwoOddBedfellows 101
8.6 AnInternecineQuarrel 105
8.7 LookingForwardandaMissedOpportunity 109
9. CrisisandCompromise 114
9.1 TheCrisis 114
9.2 TheThirdEdition:TheGospelofJohn 118
9.3 TheThirdEdition:StatusofJesus 123
9.4 AnOliveBranch 125
10. TheZurichAffair 132
10.1 HopesforZurich 132
10.2 ApparentSuccessandDisaster 135
10.3 SchleiermacherandDaub 139
11. TheDoctrineoftheChristianFaith 147
11.1 AnApostate’sCompendium 147
11.2 CritiqueofRevelation 152
11.3 AnAbidingbutAmbiguousHegelianProgram 159
11.4 SinandEvil 163
11.5 Reconciliation 167
11.6 Grace 170
11.7 Incarnation 173
11.8 ImmortalityoftheSoul 176
12. CareerinPoliticsandPoliticalWritings 180
12.1 StraußandPolitics 180
12.2 ARomanticontheThrone 183
12.3 PoliticalFictions 186
12.4 TheJewishQuestion 189
12.5 ReligiousandPoliticalLiberalism 193
12.6 TowardaPoliticalPhilosophy 196
12.7 ElectionCampaignfortheFrankfurtParliament 202
12.8 TheDeputyoftheWürttembergParliament 207
13. DasLebenJesufürdasdeutscheVolk 213
13.1 ANewLifeofJesus 213
13.2 TheOriginsoftheGospels 218
13.3 RevisionandDefenseofMyth 221
13.4 JesusChrist,RevolutionaryMoralistandSchwärmer 225
13.5 TheRaisingofLazarus 231
13.6 OverviewoftheEditions 236
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 vii
14. TwoPolemicsofthe1860s 238
14.1 TheHalvesandtheWholes 238
14.2 Strauß,Schleiermacher,andtheSirens’Song 245
15. TheNewandtheOldFaith 252
15.1 ACatechismforFreethinkers 252
15.2 StandpointandAimoftheBook 253
15.3 AreWeStillChristians? 255
15.4 ANewTheoryofReligion 258
15.5 AFreethinker’sCosmology 261
15.6 Strauß’sAllegedMaterialism 263
15.7 AHumanistEthic 264
15.8 ThePoliticsofanOlderMan 266
16. ThreeCritics 270
16.1 Nietzsche 270
16.2 Treitschke 274
16.3 Schweitzer 276
Bibliography 281
Index 289
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OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,25/7/2020,SPi
Preface
ThepurposeofthisbookistohelppreservethelegacyofDavidFriedrichStrauß,a
thinkeronthebrinkofoblivionintheanglophoneworld.Althoughitisadefense
ofStrauß,itisnotintendedasacritiqueofChristianityitself.Evenifweacceptthe
full force of Strauß’s biblical criticism, it should be clear that this does not
undermine the Christian faith, which need not depend on belief in the literal
historical truth of the Bible. Strauß’s great achievement was the critique of that
belief,whichwasamainstayoforthodoxProtestantismforcenturies;butitshould
beclearthathiscritiquedoesnotforeclosethepossibilityofinterpretingtheBible
inallkindsofnon-literalsenses.
The occasion of this book was an invitation to speak at a conference in
Cambridge University on theology and politics in Germany from 1789 to 1848.
The conference, which was held on July 10–11, 2017, was organized by Ruth
JacksonandHannaWeibye.IamextremelygratefulforMss.JacksonandWeibye
fortheirinvitation.ItwasthestimulusIneededtoindulgemyinterest inDavid
FriedrichStrauß.
GivenStrauß’shistoricalandculturalimportanceinGermany,thereisagreat
need for a complete critical edition of his works and correspondence. Strauß’s
Tübingenlectures,hismanynewspaperarticles,andmuchofhiscorrespondence
have still not been published. Zeller’s 1876 edition of the Gesammelte Werke,
despitethename,wasbynomeanscomplete.Zellercollectedonlytheworksthat
Straußwantedpublishedaccordingtohislastwillandtestament;buttheseleftout
manywritingshewishedheneverwrote,thoughforahistoriantheyaresometimes
the most interesting. Apparently, in the 1970s, the Frommann Verlag planned to
publishaneweditionofStrauß’swork;but,asfarasIknow,nothingevercameofit.
Mylettertothispublisherconcerningtheirplanswentunanswered.
This book contains the first account of Strauß’s Tübingen lectures in 1832–3.
These lectures have been in manuscripts—either in Strauß’s hand or that of
students—intheWürttembergLandesbibliothekandtheMarbachLiteraturarchiv.
Theselibrarieshavedigitalizedthesemanuscriptsforme,andtheyshouldnowbe
availabletowhoevercanreadthem.Readingthem,however,isnoeasytasksince
they are inKurrentschrift. They were transcribed formeintomodern Germanby
EdwardQuinter,forwhoseeffortsIamextremelygrateful.Iamalsoindebtedtothe
College of Arts and Sciences of Syracuse University for financial support for the
transcriptions.
Syracuse,NewYork
July2019