Editing Bruno Bauer (section)

== Conflict with David Strauss ==
Shortly after the death of [[Hegel]], another writer, [[David Strauss]], who had been a reader of Hegel's writings, arrived in Berlin (1831). As a student of [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] he wrote a controversial book which is now famous, entitled, ''The Life of Jesus Critically Examined'', usually referred to as ''The Life of Jesus'' (1835). In this book, David Strauss announced his own landmark theory of 'demythologization' as an approach to the Gospels, but he also attempted to use Hegel's name and fame in the dedication of his book.

In the year of its publication, Strauss's book raised a storm of controversy. The Prussian king [[Friedrich Wilhelm IV]] tightened control of the Prussian University system, favouring an ultra-conservative approach to the New Testament. He strongly objected to the writing of David Strauss, and so he also blamed the Hegelian school in general, partly because Strauss had named Hegel in his dedication.

Bauer, now 26 years old, was chosen by the Hegelians to refute David Strauss in the Hegelian {{lang|de|Journal für wissenschaftliche Kritik}} (''Journal of Philosophical Criticism''). Bauer demonstrated that Strauss had thoroughly misrepresented Hegel. Bauer also demonstrated that David Strauss' dialectic was taken from Schleiermacher (who was antagonistic toward Hegel).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Massey |first=Marilyn Chapin |date=1977 |title=David Friedrich Strauss and His Hegelian Critics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1201760 |journal=The Journal of Religion |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=341–362 |doi=10.1086/486567 |jstor=1201760 |s2cid=170500435 |issn=0022-4189}}</ref>

Although Strauss's book had sold well throughout Europe, in 1838 Strauss published a rebuttal to Bauer in a booklet entitled, ''In Defense of my Life of Jesus against the Hegelians'' (1838). In that book, Strauss admitted publicly that his position had not been inspired by Hegel's philosophy or theology (with his dialectical Trinity). This firmly divorced Strauss of the Hegelian philosophy.

However, in this final exchange with the Hegelians, David Strauss criticized Bauer in invented terms still in use today.  Bauer was a [[Right Hegelian]] he claimed, as an insult, who uncritically defended all positions of orthodox Christian theology.  His own views, claimed Strauss, were [[Left Hegelian]] which, like Hegel, take a liberal and progressive approach to Scripture.  The terms were made famous by Marx and Engels, who used them in their own battle against the anticommunist Bauer.  Actually, Bauer never accepted those terms.  Strauss had already admitted he was not a student of Hegel.

The Prussian monarch, [[Friedrich Wilhelm IV]], an orthodox Christian, strongly objected to David Strauss, but considered Bauer's defense to be just as bad, so he banned many Hegelians from teaching in Universities, including Bauer.  For the rest of his life, Bauer continued to be bitter towards Strauss, and the elderly Bauer encouraged a young [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] to write articles sharply critical of Strauss. Nietzsche during this early period called Bauer, "[his] entire reading public!"