George Eliot, Strauss's Life of Jesus

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The article below treats George Eliot’s translations of both Strauss’s Life of Jesus and Feuerbach’s Essence of Christianity.

In Victorian narratives of a crisis of faith (both factual and fictive), German biblical criticism, or higher criticism – most importantly Strauss’s Life of Jesus – is usually cited as one of its two main causes, the other being scientific knowledge. Further causes cited are ethical qualms about Old Testament morality and about Christian doctrines, such as atonement, and disillusionment with worldly or hypocritical clergy, such as we meet in Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers (1857) where the cosmopolitan young Bertie Stanhope wickedly shocks the chancellor by announcing to an assembly of conservative clergymen that Englishmen could learn from German

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Citation: Argyle, Gisela. "Strauss's Life of Jesus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 November 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1838, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1838 Strauss's Life of Jesus 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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