Johannes Weiss (December 13, 1863 – August 24, 1914) was a German

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and

biblical exegete Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. He was a member of the history of religions school.

History

Weiss was born in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

as son of Bernhard Weiss. A perpetual scholar, he studied in the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the worl ...

, the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick Will ...

, 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 i ...

, and the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. He then taught as a professor at Göttingen since 1890, at Marburg since 1895, and since 1908 at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

. He wrote many influential books and papers, and was instrumental in the development of

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. He was held in the highest regard by his contemporaries, and subsequent scholarship has continued to recognize his wide influence.

F. Crawford Burkitt Francis Crawford Burkitt (3 September 1864 – 11 May 1935) was an English theologian. As Norris Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge from 1905 until shortly before his death, Burkitt was a sturdy critic of the notion of a dist ...

, ''Johannes Weiss: In Memoriam'', The Harvard Theological Review, Cambridge University Press and Harvard Divinity School, 1915. He died in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Ideas

Weiss made the first

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

of the Gospels from an perspective of

consistent eschatology Consistent eschatology (Thoroughgoing eschatology) is a theory in theological and biblical studies that interprets Jesus "in exclusively eschatological terms". The view was initiated by Johannes Weiss, and "picked up, developed, and popularized" ...

. According to Weiss, the "

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" ...

" 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 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 ...

and many other scholars. This tool enabled Weiss to conclude that

I Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-auth ...

is a collection of excerpts from letters by the

Apostle Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, 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 The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and ...

and the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two ...

.Travis Brouwer, ''New Testament'', Divinity Library. Many hold that Q stood for "Quelle", the German word for "source", but some recent scholarship indicates that the letter Q was chosen arbitrarily. John P. Meier, ''

A Marginal Jew John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...

'' Volume II, Doubleday, 1994.

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Johannes 1863 births 1914 deaths 19th-century German male writers 19th-century Lutherans German biblical scholars German Lutheran theologians German male non-fiction writers Heidelberg University faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Lutheran biblical scholars National-Social Association politicians New Testament scholars Writers from Kiel People from the Duchy of Holstein University of Breslau alumni University of Göttingen alumni University of Göttingen faculty University of Marburg alumni University of Marburg faculty