In this Book

Boschwitz on Wellhausen: The Life, Work, and Letters of a Jewish Scholar in Nazi Germany

Book
Friedemann Boschwitz, Paul Michael Kurtz
2024
Published by: Penn State University Press
Series: Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible
summary

Julius Wellhausen was a monumental figure in the field of biblical studies, but his work has been denounced as antisemitic in recent years. This book offers a nuanced view of Wellhausen’s scholarship through a critical edition and translation of one of the last doctoral dissertations by a Jew in Nazi Germany: Friedemann Philipp Boschwitz’s Julius Wellhausen: Motives and Measures of His Historiography.

Boschwitz presents a deep, holistic analysis of Wellhausen's thought, examining his work on ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and formative Islam within the framework of comparative religion and cultural history. He also situates Wellhausen in the context of German intellectual history, tracing the influence of Johann Gottfried Herder on Wellhausen and Wellhausen on Friedrich Nietzsche.

In addition, Paul Michael Kurtz provides incisive commentary and archival materials that highlight Boschwitz’s scholarly achievements and open new vistas onto Jewish intellectual history. Piecing together fragments from private letters and official documents, Kurtz shows the formidable challenges Boschwitz faced as a Jewish scholar under a discriminatory political and academic regime. The correspondence also reveals Boschwitz’s rich social life and connections with major émigré thinkers such as Salo Baron, Leo Strauss, and Karl Löwith.

Boschwitz on Wellhausen brings together a fascinating wealth of published and unpublished material to tell an original story of great importance to scholars of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran as well as those interested in German Judaism and modern philosophy.

Table of Contents

open access

Cover

Half-Title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part 1. Introduction

The Life and Work of Friedemann Uri Boschwitz

Part 2. Translation

Editorial Note on the Translation

Content Overview

Introduction: [Biography and Methodology]

Chapter 1. [Originality and History]

Chapter 2. [The Religious and the Secular]

Chapter 3. [Law, State, Church]

Chapter 4. [Politics and Culture]

Excursus I. On Wellhausen's Gospel Criticism

Excursus II. Wellhausen and Nietzsche

Bibliography

Part 3. Documentation

Editorial Note on the Documentation

Section A. Letters by Boschwitz

Section B. Letters on Boschwitz

Section C. Letters to Boschwitz

Section D. Dossier of Boschwitz

Appendix 1. Inventory of the Boschwitz-Meister Correspondence

Appendix 2. Mentions of Boschwitz in the Strauss–Klein–Löwith Letters

Appendix 3. Overview of Major Personages

Appendix 4. Chronology of Key Events in Boschwitz's Career

Subject Index

Name Index

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