2nd of 2 Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt Divinity School
This lecture summarizes the debate between Jesus scholars as to whether Jesus operated with an apocalyptic eschatology or not. Marcus explores Schweitzer’s view in favor which opposes his own views against.
Albert Schweitzer
This lecture is in celebration of 125th anniversary of Albert Schweitzer’s birth, it focuses on the significance Schweitzer played in Jesus scholarship in the 20th century. Schweitzer was a prolific New Testament scholar writing two significant works on the Historical Jesus by the time he was 30. These books set the agenda for Jesus scholarship for the next century. The English titles of these two books are “The Mystery of the Kingdom of God” published in 1901 and “The Quest of the Historical Jesus” published in 1906. Marcus recounts his own excitement reading “The Quest” for the first time at age 22 and has brought it to the classroom several times. John Hays is quoted in his anthology as reporting this book as “One of the most influential books of the 20th century”
Crystallization of Schweitzer’s Understanding of the Apocalyptic Jesus
Schweitzer saw Jesus as expecting the supernatural intervention of God in his own life time. Thus an eminent coming of God and history as we know it coming to a close. Jesus expected that he himself would rule over the resulting everlasting kingdom.
Expectation
The expected apocalyptic scenario within the framework of Judaism in Jesus’s time. The prophet Elijah would return followed by a period of radical repentance. Thereafter the powers of evil would rise leading to a period of intense suffering. God would interfere and end these tribulations by sending in the kingdom of God. Jesus saw himself as playing a central role in the unfolding of this apocalyptic scenario.
Key
In the 10th an 11th Chapters of Matthew Schweitzer finds the key. In them Jesus sends his disciples into his ministry to proclaim the coming of God, not to the gentiles but only to the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus tells his disciples they can expect to be persecuted in this mission and that they will not have time to complete their mission before the Son of Man comes. In Matthew 11 messengers come from the imprisoned John to ask Jesus if he is the Son of Man or if there is another they should be seeking. Schweitzer thinks the wording might refer to the messengers asking Jesus if he is Elijah. Jesus then tells the messengers that John is Elijah, the coming one has already come and if so then who does that make Jesus.
Teachings
The radical teachings are Jesus’s response to his belief that there are only a few months before the world ends. He is urging the radical repentance because he believes the world only has a few months remaining. The Lord’s prayer has apocalyptic undertones in asking “Thy Kingdom Come.” The disciples are asking to be spared from the end times of messianic woe.
Failure
The disciples return, they have enough time to complete their missions before the end times occur. Schweitzer sees that this was unexpected to Jesus and he was wrong. His disciples did not bear the messianic woes and therefore Jesus concludes that he himself must bear these woes. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to deliberately provoking the authorities to get himself crucified expecting that his crucifixion will provoke God’s intervention. God did not intervene and Jesus realizes at the end that he might be wrong.
Schweitzer concluded that the quest for the historical Jesus wasn’t impossible but that it was irrelevant to theology. Schweitzer sees the errors of the historical Jesus as completely separate from the theologically living Jesus.
The Apocalyptic Eschatology of Jesus in the Discipline Today
The mid century consensus that Jesus operated with an apocalyptic eschatology has ended. Jesus scholars are now divided between those that believe that Jesus operated with an apocalyptic eschatology and those that do not. The “Coming Son of Man” have been important sayings for earlier historical Jesus scholars. More recently starting in the 1980’s those sayings have come into question as not coming directly from Jesus. Marcus is among those scholars who believe these phrases have come about later and refer to the second coming of Jesus. Without those phrases there is little else that lends itself to apocalyptic eschatology. This new view has come about largely due to a focus on the wisdom teaching of Jesus. Wisdom teaching of Jesus is about enlightenment and asking one to see differently. Since the 1980’s a more political reading of the term “kingdom of god” has developed. The musing of what life on earth might be like if God were king instead of Cesar. Marcus references Ed Sander’s 1985 book “Jesus and Judaism” as a strong argument for Jesus having an apocalyptic eschatology. The book points our that John the baptizer and Paul both had apocalyptic eschatology, it seems likely that teachers and students would have similar world views. The debate is between two competing paradigms which makes the debate difficult because the paradigms shape which pieces of the teachings you think are authentic Jesus and which are a product of the early church. Marcus and his colleague Dom Crossan ask scholars affirming Jesus had and apocalyptic eschatology to specify between 6 pairs of descriptors determining the kind of event to be expected. The descriptors are as follows: destruction or transformation, material or social, exclusive or inclusive, primary message of Jesus or secondary to his wisdom, will it be instant or will it take time, is Jesus teaching people be passive or active in their expectation of the end of the world. More of the second choices lead to a more socio-political reading of apocalyptic expectation.
Schweitzer’s Christ Mysticism
For Schweitzer the living Jesus experienced through mysticism was likely more important than the historical Jesus and would have been. The paradigm of being a mystic might also point him toward seeing references of mysticism in Jesus’s teachings. Mystics being people who frequently experience sacred moments thus they experience as opposed to simply following doctrines. Schweitzer knew the living Christ as opposed to believing.