David Friedrich Strauss

David Friedrich Strauss , 1808-74, German theologian and philosopher. In Berlin he studied (1831-32) Hegelian philosophy. As tutor at Tübingen he lectured on Hegel, modern philosophy, and Plato. His Das Leben Jesu (2 vol., 1835-36) aroused much interest because it applied the "myth theory" to the life of Jesus, treated the Gospel narrative like any other historical work, and denied all supernatural elements in the Gospels. It was translated into English in 1846 by George Eliot. In 1839, Strauss was appointed to a post at the Univ. of Zürich, but public opposition prevented him from taking it. His other theological writings include Die Christliche Glaubenslehre (2 vol., 1840-41) and Der alte und der neue Glaube (1872; tr. The Old Faith and the New, 1873). His writings mark a turning point in the critical study of the life of Jesus. Strauss was also the author of critical biographies of Ulrich von Hutten (3 vol., 1858-60) and Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1862).

Bibliography: See study by H. Harris (1974).

Strauss, David Friedrich (1808–74) German theologian, pupil of F. C. Baur in Tübingen. His Life of Jesus, translated into English by the novelist George Eliot, suggested that there was little of historical value in the gospels, which were the product of the creative mind of the primitive Church working on narratives of the OT.

Strauss, David Friedrich (1808–74), German biblical critic, whose Das Leben Jesu (The Life of Jesus, 1835–6) had an immense influence on 19th-cent. religious thought. It was translated by G. Eliot (1846) and her study of it helped to confirm her break with Christianity.