Johannes Weiss
Encyclopedia
Johannes Weiss was a German
theologian and Biblical exegete.
Biblical criticism
. He was held in the highest regard by his contemporaries, and subsequent scholarship has continued to recognize his wide influence. He died in Heidelberg
.
" was Jesus' understanding of an imminent end to history, and all continuous ethical teachings were additions made by the early church to make Jesus' teaching relevant when the end of the world did not come about immediately. This greatly influenced several generations of Biblical scholars. As a corollary, Weiss believed that the authentic teachings of the historical Jesus would be inapplicable to those who did not hold his first-century apocalyptic worldview.
Weiss also developed form criticism
in its application to the New Testament, a theme expanded upon by Rudolf Bultmann
and many other scholars. This tool enabled Weiss to conclude that I Corinthians is a collection of excerpts from letters by the Apostle Paul, and not a single letter in its own right.
Weiss is particularly notable for giving the name "Q" to the hypothetical sayings source used by the authors of the Gospel of Matthew
and the Gospel of Luke
. Many hold that Q stood for "Quelle", the German word for "source", but some recent scholarship indicates that the letter Q was chosen arbitrarily.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
theologian and Biblical exegete.
History
Weiss was born in Kiel, Germany. A perpetual scholar, he studied in the University of Marburg, the University of Berlin, the University of Göttingen, and the University of Breslau. He then taught as a professor at Göttingen in 1890, at Marburg in 1895, and at the University of Heidelberg in 1908. He wrote many influential books and papers, and was instrumental in the development of New TestamentNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
. He was held in the highest regard by his contemporaries, and subsequent scholarship has continued to recognize his wide influence. He died in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.
Ideas
Weiss was famous for making the first comprehensive exegesis of the Gospels from an eschatological perspective. According to Weiss, the "Kingdom of GodKingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
" was Jesus' understanding of an imminent end to history, and all continuous ethical teachings were additions made by the early church to make Jesus' teaching relevant when the end of the world did not come about immediately. This greatly influenced several generations of Biblical scholars. As a corollary, Weiss believed that the authentic teachings of the historical Jesus would be inapplicable to those who did not hold his first-century apocalyptic worldview.
Weiss also developed form criticism
Form criticism
Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism that classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and that attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission. Form criticism seeks to determine a unit's original form and the historical context of the literary tradition. Hermann...
in its application to the New Testament, a theme expanded upon by Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
and many other scholars. This tool enabled Weiss to conclude that I Corinthians is a collection of excerpts from letters by the Apostle Paul, and not a single letter in its own right.
Weiss is particularly notable for giving the name "Q" to the hypothetical sayings source used by the authors of the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
and the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
. Many hold that Q stood for "Quelle", the German word for "source", but some recent scholarship indicates that the letter Q was chosen arbitrarily.
Select works
- Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche Gottes ("Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God"), 1892.
- Paulus und Jesus ("Paul and Jesus"), 1909.
- Jesus von Nazareth, Mythus oder Geschichte? ("Jesus of Nazareth, Myth or History?"), 1910.
- Das Urchristentum (completed by R. Knopf as "The History of Primitive Christianity"), 1917.