Myth, History, And The Resurrection In German Protestant Theology [Hardcover]

The Christian faith stands or falls with the confession that Jesus Christ is risen. While that assertion itself is perhaps uncontroversial, precisely what this confession means has been a subject of profound significance and immense controversy for centuries. Central to this discussion is the role of myth and history in the biblical witness and in the church's theological engagement with the confession that Jesus Christ is risen. This book traces key trajectories of German Protestant discussions of myth, history, and the resurrection from its earliest critical analysis in the work of Hermann Samuel Reimarus and David Friedrich Strauss to contemporary appraisals by Eberhard Jungel and Ingolf Ulrich Dalferth. At the center of this discussion stands Rudolf Bultmann, whose work on the resurrection sparked fierce debates that left a lasting impact on Protestant theology in Germany and beyond. The questions raised by these theologians continue to resonate in contemporary discussions of the nature and status of biblical texts, the integrity and truth of the Christian confession, and the meaning and significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christian faith and life at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Hege is one of the most able guides of this theological period on the North American scene today, and in his hands readers are treated to even-handed and theologically subtle explorations into what these thinkers found to be at stake in this most core question of Christian faith: what is the historical veracity and contemporary importance of the resurrection narratives? This book will be very useful in both classroom and research settings, and should find wide readership among those interested in issues of biblical hermeneutics, Christian treatment of myth, and the interaction of tradition and modernity in Protestantism. --Robert Saler, Research Professor, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis In this erudite study, Brent Hege proves himself a l“&