The history of religions school (German: ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'') is a term applied to a group of German Protestant theologians associated with the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in the 1890s.

Ideas

The ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'' used the methodologies of

higher criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

, a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text." It compared Christianity to other religions, regarding it as one religion among others and rejecting its claims to absolute truth, and demonstrating that it shares characteristics with other religions. It argued that Christianity was not simply the continuation of the Old Testament, but syncretistic, and was rooted in and influenced by Hellenistic Judaism (Philo) and Hellenistic religions like the mystery cults and

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

Influence

The school initiated new areas of research into Biblical history and textual analysis. Its influence is also discernable in the

Christ myth theory The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology", possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Alternatively ...

Members

The circle included Bernhard Duhm (1873),

Albert Eichhorn Karl Albert August Ludwig Eichhorn (1 October 1856, Garlstorf – 3 August 1926, Braunschweig) was a German Protestant theologian. He was the author of ''Das Abendmahl im Neuen Testament'' and one of the founders of the history of religions school ...

(1856–1926; 1886),

Hermann Gunkel Hermann Gunkel (23 May 1862 – 11 March 1932), a German Old Testament scholar, founded form criticism. He also became a leading representative of the history of religions school. His major works cover Genesis and the Psalms, and his major in ...

(1888), Johannes Weiss (1888),

Wilhelm Bousset Wilhelm Bousset (3 September 1865, Lübeck – 8 March 1920, Gießen) was a German theologian and New Testament scholar. He was of Huguenot ancestry and a native of Lübeck. His most influential work was ''Kyrios Christos'', an attempt to explain ...

(1890),

Alfred Rahlfs Alfred Rahlfs (; ; 29 May 1865 – 8 April 1935) was a German Biblical scholar. He was a member of the history of religions school. He is known for his edition of the Septuagint published in 1935. Biography He was born in Linden near Hanover, an ...

(1891), Ernst Troeltsch (1891),

William Wrede Georg Friedrich Eduard William Wrede (; 10 May 1859 – 23 November 1906) was a German Lutheran theologian. Biography Wrede was born at Bücken in the Kingdom of Hanover. He became an associate professor at Breslau in 1893, and full professor in ...

(1891), Heinrich Hackmann (1893), and later Rudolf Otto (1898),

Hugo Gressmann Hugo Gressmann (21 March 1877 – 6 April 1927) was a prominent Old Testament scholar in Protestant Germany and a friend and associate of the eminent scholar Hermann Gunkel. He was a member of the history of religions school. Early life He was born ...

(1902) and Wilhelm Heitmüller (1902). Related were

Carl Mirbt Carl Theodor Mirbt (July 21, 1860 in Gnadenfrei, Province of Silesia – September 27, 1929 in Göttingen) was a German Protestant church historian. He was a member of the history of religions school. Biography Mirbt studied theology from 1880 to ...

(1888),

Carl Clemen Carl Christian Clemen (30 March 1865, near Leipzig – 8 July 1940, Bonn), best known as Carl Clemen, was a German theologian and religious historian. He was a member of the history of religions school. Career Clemen was Professor of New Testamen ...

(1892),

Heinrich Weinel Heinrich Weinel (28 April 1874, Vonhausen – 29 September 1936, Jena) was a German Protestant theologian. Biography He studied at the universities of Berlin and Giessen, and in 1900 became an inspector of evangelical-theological seminaries in ...

(1899), and in his early years

Paul Wernle Paul Wernle (1 May 1872 – 11 April 1939) was a Swiss theologian, born in Hottingen, today part of the city of Zürich. He studied at the Universities of Basel, Berlin and Göttingen. At Basel he was a student of Bernhard Duhm (1847-1928), ...

(1897).

Rudolf Bultmann Rudolf Karl Bultmann (; 20 August 1884 – 30 July 1976) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of the New Testament at the University of Marburg. He was one of the major figures of early-20th-century biblical studies. A prominent criti ...

(1884-1976) may be considered as a third-generation member of this school.

Notes

References

Sources

;Printed sources * * Kurtz, Paul Michael. ''Kaiser, Christ, and Canaan: The Religion of Israel in Protestant Germany, 1871–1918.'' Forschungen zum Alten Testament I/122. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018. * * ;Web-sources

External links

*
''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule''
Kurt Rudolph, ''Encyclopedia of Religion''

University of Göttingen website.

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes co ...

Religion in ancient history Religion in ancient Israel and Judah Christ myth theory {{MEast-myth-stub