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

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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 the ...

and biblical exegete. He was a member of the

history of religions school The history of religions school (German: ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'') is a term applied to a group of German Protestant theologians associated with the University of Göttingen in the 1890s. Ideas The ''Religionsgeschichtliche Schule'' use ...

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 ...

as son of

Bernhard Weiss Bernhard Weiss (20 June 182714 January 1918) was a German Protestant New Testament scholar. He was the father of Johannes Weiss and the painter, Hedwig Weiss. Biography Weiss was born at Königsberg. After studying theology at the University ...

. 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 wor ...

, the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

, 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 ...

, 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. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. 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 research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. 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 Chri ...

biblical criticism. He was held in the highest regard by his contemporaries, and subsequent scholarship has continued to recognize his wide influence. F. Crawford Burkitt, ''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 interpretation ...

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" 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 Form criticism as a method of biblical criticism classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and then attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission."form criticism." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica ...

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-author ...

is a collection of excerpts from letters by the Apostle Paul, 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 form ...

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-vol ...

.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