Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§4.5 The Flight from Dogma
butions by Wrede and himself, as a choice between 'thoroughgoing scepticism'
(Wrede) and 'thoroughgoing eschatology' (Schweitzer). 117 And of the points he
makes against Wrede, one of the sharpest is that indications of dogmatic influence
in the Synoptics' account of Jesus' preaching are not necessarily to be taken
as a sign of subsequent Christian theologising, but may be indicative of Jesus'
own mode of thinking. Eschatology itself was nothing other than 'dogmatic history',
expectation of the future course of events as determined by an eschatological
perspective. 118 The 'messianic secret' may well have been Jesus' own device,
on the same assumption; 'for Jesus the overall necessity of his death is grounded
in dogma, not in external historical facts'. 119 Where Wrede said, 'Dogmatic, and
therefore unhistorical', the thoroughgoing eschatological school replied, 'Dogmatic,
and therefore historical'. 120
Whatever we make of Schweitzer's particular claim, and we will return to
it later, 121 the fundamental observation remains: that the presence of dogmatic
influence in the Synoptic tradition should not be regarded in and of itself as proof
of later Christian reflection; the dogma may have been one that Jesus himself
cherished. The observation surprisingly complements that of Kahler (to whom
Schweitzer makes no reference): any assumption that the presence of faith or theology
or dogma constitutes a sure sign of a later perspective is simply fallacious;
the faith, theology or dogma may have been that of Jesus himself and any assumption
that the 'historical Jesus' must have been innocent of all such should
have been self-evidently incredible. It is a pity that the antithetical polarisation of
the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith prevented this observation of
Schweitzer's from having the influence it deserved.
c. The Coup de Grace
It is no doubt true that the most devastating blow of all to Liberalism, and thus
also to the Liberal quest, came from the First World War. The fact that the high
cultures of Europe could descend so far into the bloody horror of the Somme and
the muddy hell of Passchendaele swept the carpet from under Liberalism's
agenda for the emerging generation. The evidence of human bestiality and bru-
117. Schweitzer, Quest ch. 19; he was referring to his own Das Messianitäts- und
Leidensgeheimnis: Eine Skizze des Lebens Jesu (1901); ET The Mystery of the Kingdom of
God: The Secret of Jesus' Messiahship and Passion (New York: Macmillan, 1914).
118. Schweitzer, Quest: 'Eschatology is simply "dogmatic history", which breaks in
upon the natural course of history and abrogates it' (Quest 1 349; Quest 2 315)
119. Schweitzer, Quest 1 390 = Quest 2 350; see also Quest 2 327, 330, 334, 337-38, 342.
120. Schweitzer, Quest 1 385 = Quest 2 346.
121. See below particularly §§12.3b, 12.6c-d, 17.3, 5.
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