Life of Jesus(Hegel)

Life of Jesus,German:Das Leben Jesu

Life of Jesus(German:Das Leben Jesu) is one of the earliest works byG. W. F. Hegel.Found amongst his posthumous papers from 1795, it remained an unpublished manuscript until 1906.

Content

In this essay on morality Hegel presents a version ofJesusvery similar toImmanuel Kant'scategorical imperative;it also stays close to Kant'sReligion Within the Limits of Reason Alone.For Hegel the moment Jesus cried out "why hast thou forsaken me", was the moment he knewsinand evil, for evil is the separation of the individual from the universal.

Jesus is presented as a rationalistic philosopher, opposed to the superstition and "positive religion" of thePharisees.Positive religion is a religion that has a definite historic founder,and is characterised rather sociologically: at this stage religion becomes an objective system of laws and rules.

Hegel presented biblical miracles as metaphors for Jesus' philosophical doctrines. Whether related with the tenor of Hegel's philosophy ofimmanence,or just because it remained fragment, the history stops with the crucifixion. Theresurrection of Jesusis absent, along with the other paschal events.

Further reading

• Goldstein, Joshua D. (2006).Hegel's Idea of the Good Life: From Virtue to Freedom, Early Writings and Mature Political Philosophy.Springer. pp. 85–98.ISBN1-4020-4191-8.
• Williamson, Raymond K. (1984).Introduction to Hegel's Philosophy of Religion.State University of New York Press.ISBN978-0-87395-827-1.
• G. W. F. Hegel and the Life of Jesus (Das Leben Jesu).Translated by Michael George. 1981.
• First Edition from 1906, Jena in German

See also

• The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined,an 1835 book by David Friedrich Strauss