Schoeps, Hans-Joachim 1909-1980
SCHOEPS, Hans-Joachim 1909-1980
PERSONAL:
Born January 30, 1909, in Berlin, Germany; died July 8, 1980, in Erlangen, Germany. Education: Attended universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, Marburg, and Leipzig.
CAREER:
University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany, professor of religion and history of ideas, 1947-80.
AWARDS, HONORS:
Bavarian Distinguished Service Cross.
WRITINGS:
IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Paulus: Die Theologie des Apostels im Lichte der Judischen Religionsgeschichte, Mohr (Tübingen, Germany), 1959, published as Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History, translated by Harold Knight, Westminster Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1961.
The Jewish-Christian Argument: A History of Theologies in Conflict, translated by David E. Green, Holt (New York, NY), 1963.
Religionen: Wesen und Gesichichte, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1961, published as The Religions of Mankind, translated by Richard Winston and Clara Winston, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1966, published as An Intelligent Person's Guide to the Religions of Mankind, Gollancz (London, England), 1967.
Jewish Christianity: Factional Disputes in the Early Church, translated by Douglas R. A. Hare, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1969.
OTHER
Jüdisher Glaube in Dieser Zeit: Prolegomena zur Grundlegung einer Systematischen Theologie des Judentums, Vortrupp (Berlin, Germany), 1934.
Wir deutschen Juden, Vortrupp (Berlin, Germany), 1934.
Geschichte der Judischen Religionsphilosophie in der Neuzeit, Vortrupp (Berlin, Germany), 1935.
Zur Jüdischer-Religiosen Gegenwartslage, Jüdischer Buchverlag (Berlin, Germany), 1938.
Der Moderne Mensche und die Verkudigung der Religionen, Vortrupp (Antwerp, Belgium), 1939.
Die Tempelzerstorung des Jahres 70 in der Jüdischen Religionsgeschichte: Agadisches zur Auserwahlung Israles: Symmachusstudien, Seminarium Neotestamenticum Upsaliense (Uppsala, Sweden), 1942.
Die jüdischen Prophetenmorde, Wretmans boktryckeri (Uppsala, Sweden), 1943.
Gestalten an der Zeitenwende, Atherva-Verlag (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), 1948.
Theologie und Geschichte des Judenchristentums, Mohr (Tübingen, Germany), 1948, G. Olms (New York, NY), 1998.
Aus Fruhchristlicher Zeit, Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, Mohr (Tübingen, Germany), 1950.
Gottheit und Menschheit: Die Grossen Teligionsstifter und ihre Lehren, Steingruben-Verlag (Stuttgart, Germany), 1950.
Die Ehre Preussens, F. Vorwerk (Stuttgart, Germany), 1951.
Das Andere Preussens, F. Vorwerk (Stuttgart, Germany), 1952.
Philosemitismus im Barock: Religions-und Geistesgeschichtliche Untersuchengen, Mohr (Tübingen, Germany), 1952.
Das war Preussen: Seugnisse der Jahrhunderte eine Anthologie, Peters (Honnef, Germany), 1955.
Die Letzten Dreissig Jahre: Ruckblicke, E. Klett (Stuttgart, Germany), 1956.
Konservatice Erneuerung: Ideen zur Deutschen Politik, E. Klett (Stuttgart, Germany), 1958.
Was ist und Was Will Die Geistesgeschichte: Uber Theorie und Praxis der Zeitgeistforschung, Musterschmidt-Verlag (Göttingen, Germany), 1959.
Was ist der Mensche? Philosphische Anthropologie asl Geistesgeschichte der Neuesten Zeit, Musterschmidt-Verlag (Göttingen, Germany), 1960.
Isreal und Christenheit: Jüdische-Christliches Religionsgesprach in Neunzehn Jahrhunderten, Ner-Tamid-Verlag (Göttingen, Germany), 1961.
Jüdisch-christliches Religionsgespräch in neunzehn Jahrhunderten, Jüdischer Verlag Athenäum (Königstein, Germany), 1961.
Aus den Preussischer Not und Erneuerung: Tagebucher und Briefe der Gebruder Gerlach und Ihres Kreisse, 1805-1920, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1963.
Ruckblicke: Die Letzten Dreissig Jahre (1925-1955), Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1963.
Studien zur Ubekannten Religions-und Geistesgeschichte, Musterschmidt (Göttingen, Germany), 1963.
Unbewaltigte Geschichte: Stationen Deutschen Schicksals seit 1763, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1964.
Barocke Juden, Christen, Judenchristen, Francke (Munich, Germany), 1965.
Preussen: Geschichte eines Stätes, Propyläen Verlag (Berlin, Germany), 1966.
Preussen Gestern und Morgen, Industrie-Club (Düsseldorf, Germany), 1966.
Preussen. Bilder und Zeugnisse. Mit 230 Abbildungen, Propyläen Verlag (Berlin, Germany), 1967.
Neue Quellen zur Geschichte Preussens im 19. Jahrhundert, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1968.
Bereit fur Deutschland! Der Patriotismus Deutscher Juden und der Nationalsozialismus. Fruhe Schriften 1930 bis 1933, Eine Historische Dokumentation, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1970.
Der Weg ins Deutsche Kaiserreich, Propyläen Verlag (Berlin, Germany), 1970.
Preussen und Deutschland: Wandlungen seit 1763, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1970.
Ungelfluegelte Worte. Was Nicht im Buchmann Stehen Kann, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1971, reprinted, Burg Verlag (Stuttgart, Germany), 1990.
Bismarck über Zeitgenossen, Zeitgenossen über Bismarck, Propyläen Verlag (Frankfurt am Main, Germany), 1972.
Deutschland Droht die Anarchie, Hase & Koehler (Mainz, Germany), 1972.
Abschied von Deutschland, Hase & Koehler (Mainz, Germany), 1973.
Ja, nein und trotzdem: Erinnerungen, Begegnungen, Erfahrungen, Hase & Koehler (Mainz, Germany), 1974.
Deutsche Geistesgeschichte der Neuzeit, five volumes, Hase & Koehler (Mainz, Germany), 1977-80.
Üb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit: Preussen in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Rau (Düsseldorf, Germany), 1978.
Ein weites Feld, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1980.
Das andere Preussen: konservative Gestalten und Probleme im Zeitalter Friedrich Wilhelm IV, Haude & Spener (Berlin, Germany), 1981.
Gesammelte Schriften, edited by Manfred P. Fleischer, G. Olms (Hildesheim, Germany), 1998.
Editor, Journal of the History of Religion and Ideas, for more than thirty years.
SIDELIGHTS:
Hans-Joachim Schoeps was an educator and prolific writer of religious history. Born in Berlin, Germany, Schoeps's first published works appeared in the early 1930s and were focused on reconciling his identities as a nationalist and a Jew; he founded a group on this premise called the Deutscher Vortrupp ("German Vanguard") in 1933. Even after the Nazi party came into power, Schoeps remained optimistically patriotic, but that ended when he was arrested in 1936 and forced to flee Germany in 1938. He spent the war years in Sweden, returning to Germany in 1946 despite his parents having been killed in a Nazi concentration camp.
As a professor in the theology department at the University of Erlangen, Schoeps's research centered on the relationship between the Christian and Jewish religions. His views were controversial in that he recognized the significance of Jesus Christ as a Messianic figure for Christians and closely related the Christian and Jewish faiths. While detractors accused him of abandoning his religion, Schoeps felt that his research strengthened his Jewish identity while encouraging a mutual understanding between Christians and Jews. An example is his book Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History—published in German in 1959 and translated into English in 1961—in which he discusses the teachings of the apostle Paul from a Jewish perspective.
Another of Schoeps's major works was Religionen: Wesen und Gesichichte—translated as The Religions of Mankind and An Intelligent Person's Guide to the Religions of Mankind. Harold Lancour, writing in Library Journal, called Schoeps's historica overview "widely recognized as a leading authority in the field of comparative religion and religious history. With a smoothly flowing translation, the book reads well and easily, furthered by Dr. Schoeps's decision to concentrate on the broad sweep rather than the minute details of historical developments. Nevertheless, the book conveys a remarkable amount of detailed information" and "should become a basic work."
BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Library Journal, January 1, 1966, Harold Lancour, review of The Religions of Mankind.
ONLINE
Association of Contemporary Church Historians Web site,http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/akz/ (June, 2003), Matthew D. Hockenos, "The German Protestant Church and Its Mission to the Jews after the Holocaust"; (June 2004) Matthew D. Hockenos, review of Intersecting Pathways: Modern Jewish Theologians in Conversation with Christianity.
Museum of Tolerance Web site,http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/ (October 7, 2004), "Hans Joachim Schoeps."
St. James Clarke & Co. Web site,http://www.lutterworth.com/jamesclarke/ (October 7, 2004).*