David Friedrich Strauss

David Friedrich Strauss (1808–1874) was a German theologian whose 1835 book The Life of Jesus treated Gospel miracle stories as myths formed by early Christian communities, not historical reports.

Historical criticism: The study of texts through their historical settings, sources, authorship, and development. Strauss used historical criticism to test whether Gospel narratives could be treated as eyewitness history.
The Life of Jesus Critically Examined: Strauss’s 1835–1836 study arguing that many Gospel narratives arose as myths rather than reliable history. This book presents the method and conclusions that made Strauss influential and controversial.
Friedrich Schleiermacher: A German theologian and philosopher who reinterpreted Christian doctrine through religious experience and historical study. Schleiermacher’s lectures on Jesus helped shape the intellectual setting in which Strauss trained.
Bruno Bauer: A German theologian and philosopher who advanced radical criticism of the New Testament’s historical reliability. Bauer pushed historical criticism beyond Strauss’s account of myth toward a more skeptical view of Gospel origins.
Gospel: A narrative or proclamation about the life and significance of Jesus of Nazareth. Strauss examined the canonical Gospels as historically situated accounts of Jesus.
Gospel harmony: A composite account that arranges parallel Gospel passages into a single continuous narrative. Strauss rejected harmonizing discrepancies when they pointed to distinct narrative traditions.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: A German philosopher whose account of history and spirit influenced nineteenth-century theology. Strauss adapted Hegelian ideas when explaining myth as the expression of a community’s beliefs.
Ernest Renan: A French scholar whose 1863 Life of Jesus presented Jesus as a historical figure in literary form. Renan’s later biography shows how the quest for Jesus continued beyond Strauss’s critique.
Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, whose overlapping narratives allow direct comparison. Their shared episodes and differences supplied evidence for Strauss’s account of Gospel development.
Two-source hypothesis: A theory that Matthew and Luke drew on Mark and a shared sayings source called Q. Later source criticism offered a different account of the Synoptic relationships Strauss had examined.

Linked from 7 pages