Editing Albert Schweitzer (section)

===''The Quest of the Historical Jesus'' (1906)===
{{Main|The Quest of the Historical Jesus}}
In ''The Quest'', Schweitzer criticised the liberal view put forward by liberal and romantic scholars during the first [[quest for the historical Jesus]]. Schweitzer maintained that the life of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, which reflected late Jewish [[eschatology]] and [[apocalypticism]].  Schweitzer writes:
{{blockquote|The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the ethic of the kingdom of God, who founded the kingdom of heaven upon earth and died to give his work its final consecration never existed. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in a historical garb. This image has not been destroyed from outside; it has fallen to pieces...<ref>{{cite book | last = Schweitzer | first = Albert | author-link =Albert Schweitzer |title=The Quest of the Historical Jesus |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uzRXxvPsylkC&pg=PA478 |year=2001 |publisher= Fortress Press |page = 478 |isbn = 9781451403541 }}</ref>}}

Instead of these liberal and romantic views, Schweitzer wrote that Jesus and his followers expected the imminent end of the world.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hf5Rj8EtsPkC&pg=PT11|title=Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth|date=20 March 2012|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-208994-6|pages=11–|quote=I agree with Schweitzer's overarching view, that Jesus is best understood as a Jewish prophet who anticipated a cataclysmic break in history in the very near future, when God would destroy the forces of evil to bring in his own kingdom here on earth.|authorlink=Bart D. Ehrman}}</ref>
Schweitzer cross-referenced the many New Testament verses declaring imminent fulfilment of the promise of the World's ending within the lifetime of Jesus's original followers.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Pcisys | url = http://home.pcisys.net/~jnf/schauth/rq2.html | title = Review of "The Mystery of the Kingdom of God" }}</ref> {{Failed verification|date=October 2019}} He wrote that in his view, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus speaks of a "tribulation", with his "coming in the clouds with great power and glory." In Mark 13:30 
Jesus says "This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." In Matthew 16:28 Jesus says “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Obviously, Jesus and his followers truly believed that he would return within the disciples lifetime and specifically states the timeframe that it will happen, but it has not! "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matthew, 24:34) or, "have taken place" (Luke 21:32). Similarly, in 1st Peter 1:20, "Christ, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you", as well as "But the end of all things is at hand" (1 Peter 4:7) and "Surely, I come quickly." (Revelation 22:20). Either Jesus, his disciples and/or the noted chapter authors were and remain seriously mistaken; the promised second return timeframe has long ago passed.
[[File:The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle Book-Cover.jpg|thumb|upright|The cover of Albert Schweitzer's ''The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle'']]

Schweitzer concluded his treatment of Jesus with what has been called the most famous words of twentieth-century theology:

{{quote|"He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side, He came to those men who knew him not.  He speaks to us the same word:  'Follow thou me' and sets us to the task which He has to fulfill for our time.  He commands.  And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is."<ref>''The Quest of the Historical Jesus''. Macmillan. 1910. p. 403.</ref>}}