Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism. A new quest for the nineteenth century historical Jesus.
Halvor Moxnes,
Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism. A new quest for the nineteenth century historical Jesus.
London, I.B. Tauris. 2012.
Research on the historical Jesus has so far been studied within the context of theology and church life. In this book Moxnes views the foundation period of the study of the historical Jesus within the political context of Europe in the 19th century.
This was the period when nationalism and the nation state became dominant in Europe. The book studies presentations of Jesus by the most influential scholars from different parts of Europe with different forms of nationalism: F. Schleiermacher and D.F.Strauss in Germany, E. Renan in France and G.A. Smith in Great Britain. The book shows how the images of Jesus participated in the discussions of national identities in terms of citizens’ rights, gender roles and relations to ‘the other’.
This study is also relevant for the relations between religion and politics at the present. It questions the dominant role of nationalism and the nation state as political and ideological models in today’s world, and argues that historical Jesus studies should present Jesus in a universal perspective, ‘beyond nationalism’
Read the first chapter
Advance praise:
‘In a work of stunning originality and insight, Halvor Moxnes has combined the widest learning and the deepest
research to illuminate how the growth of lives of Jesus in the nineteenth century influenced and was influenced by the assertion and development of European national identities.’
– Philip F Esler, Principal and Professor of Biblical Interpretation, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham
‘Halvor Moxnes critically unravels the intimate relationship between an emerging national imagination and the
development of new biographical accounts of Jesus during the 19th century... Fascinating.’
– Werner G. Jeanron d, Professor of Divinity, University of Glasgowng.
‘Halvor Moxnes has written a very welcome contribution, which reminds us that unless we take the hermeneutical
context of the interpreters seriously as a first priority we miss seeing the way in which interpretative preferences have continued to influence the pictures of Jesus that emerge.’
– Christopher Rowland, Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford
Published Feb. 15, 2012 4:20 PM
- Last modified Dec. 21, 2020 2:02 PM