Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792-1860) has been described as "the greatest and at the same time the most controversial theologian in German Protestant theology since Schleiermacher." The controversy was epitomized by a nineteenth-century British critic who wrote that his theory "makes of Christianity a thing of purely natural origin, calls in question the authenticity of all but a few of the New Testament books, and makes the whole collection contain not a harmonious system of divine truth, but a confused mass of merely human and contradictory opinions as to the nature of the Christian religion." The contributors to this volume, however, regard Baur as an epoch-making New Testament scholar whose methods and conclusions, though superseded, have been mostly affirmed during the century and a half since his death. This collection focuses on the history of early Christianity, although as a historian of the church and theology Baur covered the entire field up to own time. He combined the most exacting historical research with a theological interpretation of history influenced by Kant, Schelling, and Hegel. The first three chapters discuss Baur's relation to Strauss, Möhler, and Hegel. Then a central core of chapters considers his historical and exegetical perspectives (Judaism and Hellenism, Gnosticism, New Testament introduction and theology, the Pauline epistles, the Synoptic Gospels, John, the critique of miracle, and the combination of absoluteness and relativity). The final chapters view his influence by analyzing the reception of Baur in Britain, Baur and Harnack, and Baur and practical theology. This work offers a multi-faceted picture of his thinking, which will stimulate contemporary discussion.

Martin Bauspiess is in the Department of New Testament Studies at the University of Tübingen.; Christof Landmesser is Professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Tübingen. ; David Lincicum is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Notre Dame.; Peter C. Hodsgon is Emeritus Professor of Theology, Divinity School, Vanderbilt University.; Robert F. Brown is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Religion and History of Philosophy, University of Delaware.

• Preface to the English Edition
• Preface to the German Edition
• Abbreviations
• List of Contributors
• Part I: Connections and Demarcations
• 1: Ulrich Köpf: Ferdinand Christian Baur and David Friedrich Strauss
• 2: Notger Slenczka: Ethical Judgment and Ecclesiastical Self-Understanding: Ferdinand Christian Baur's Interpretation of the Protestant Principle in the Controversy with Johann Adam Möhler
• 3: Martin Wendte: Ferdinand Christian Baur: A Historically Informed Idealist of a Distinctive Kind
• Part II: Historical and Exegetical Perspectives
• 4: David Lincicum: Ferdinand Christian Baur and the Theological Task of New Testament Introduction
• 5: Anders Gerdmar: Baur and the Creation of the Judaism-Hellenism Dichotomy
• 6: Volker Henning Drecoll: Ferdinand Christian Baur's View of Christian Gnosis, and of the Philosophy of Religion in His Own Day
• 7: Christof Landmesser: Ferdinand Christian Baur as an Interpreter of Paul: History, the Absolute, and Freedom
• 8: Martin Bauspiess: The Essence of Early Christianity: On Ferdinand Christian Baur's View of the Synoptic Gospels
• 9: Jörg Frey: Ferdinand Christian Baur and the Interpretation of John
• 10: Robert Morgan: F. C. Baur's New Testament Theology
• 11: Stefan Alkier: Belief in Miracles as the Gateway to Atheism: Theological-Historical Remarks about Ferdinand Christian Baur's Critique of Miracles
• 12: Johannes Zachhuber: The Absoluteness of Christianity and the Relativity of All History: Two Strands in Ferdinand Christian Baur's Thought
• Part III: Influences
• 13: James Carleton Paget: The Reception of Baur in Britain
• 14: Daniel Geese: The Similarity of the Two Masters: Ferdinand Christian Baur and Adolf von Harnack
• 15: Birgit Weyel: Ferdinand Christian Baur and Practical Theology
• Bibliography of WORKS BY AND ABOUT BAUR
• Index of Biblical and Ancient References
• General Index