This week in Christian history: Aelred dies, Albert Schweitzer born, Spanish Protestant leader

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 12, 2020

Albert Schweitzer born – January 14, 1875

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), a Noble Peace Prize-winning doctor and theologian who authored the 1906 book 'The Quest of the Historical Jesus.' — Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), a Noble Peace Prize-winning doctor and theologian who authored the 1906 book "The Quest of the Historical Jesus." | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Albert Schweitzer, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning theologian, musician, and doctor, was born in a small village in the European province of Alsace.

Schweitzer was best known for his medical work in Africa, which he began shortly before the start of the First World War, and for writing the book The Quest of the Historical Jesus.

Dover Publications, which later reprinted the 1906 opus, referred to the book as a “groundbreaking work” that “contributed in no small measure to the remarkable resurgence in Jesus studies in the latter part of the 20th century.”

“Schweitzer's work has proved the touchstone for all subsequent quests for the ‘Jesus of history,’” stated Dover.

“Through examining the works of more than 50 18th- and 19th-century authors and scholars, he shows conclusively that each historical reconstruction of Jesus was largely a fantasy made in their own self-image.”