David Strauss publishes Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet

Background. David Friedrich Strauss, a German liberal Protestant theologian, returned to Tübingen in 1832 to lecture. In the fall of 1833, he resigned to devote his time to completing his work. The full original title is Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet, published in Tübingen from 1835 to 1836. Strauss argued that many Gospel narratives are myths, defined as imaginative expressions of religious truth, while rejecting orthodox supernatural claims about Jesus.

Immediate Reception. The publication of Das Leben Jesu was a sensation. Adolph Carl August von Eschenmayer wrote a critical review in 1835 titled "The Iscariotism of our days," which Strauss characterized as the offspring of theological ignorance and religious intolerance. The work was connected to the Tübingen School, which revolutionized the study of the New Testament and early Christianity.

Defense Against Hegelians. Since the Hegelians generally rejected his Life of Jesus, Strauss defended his work in a booklet published in Tübingen in 1837. This defense, titled Streitschriften zur Verteidigung meiner Schrift über das Leben Jesu, was later translated into English. The controversy surrounding his work influenced later academic research, with Albert Schweitzer noting that Strauss's arguments filled in the death-certificates of a whole series of explanations.