Axiomata, if there are any in such things

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The Axiomata is a theological pamphlet by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , which was created in March 1778 in the course of the fragmentation dispute .

Emergence

The text appeared together with " Eine Parabel " as the second answer to the reaction of the Hamburg Lutheran theologian Johann Melchior Goeze against Lessing's contradictions in the "Freewilling Articles". In his review of January 30, 1778, Goeze had accused Lessing of undermining the common Christian faith and assumed that Lessing had denied any historical revelation in general. In addition, Goeze openly denounced Lessing's publication of the fragments of Reimarus as a revolutionary act endangering the state. Goeze also called for the authorities to intervene. The Axiomata was published at the same time as the parable in the second half of March 1778, but Lessing must have completed the pieces by the end of February or by the beginning of March at the latest, as a letter from Joachim Heinrich Campe to Friedrich Nicolai on March 4, 1778 shows.

content

Lessing's axiomata are divided into ten sub-items and an introduction. The last of the ten sub-points contains, as is usual with the other writings of the fragmentation dispute, a summary and a clear point against Goeze. Lessing points out in the Axiomata that the Bible is not the only source of the truth that stands behind Christianity. The Bible also contains information that is only marginally valuable for the Christian religion. However, this does not make the work any less valuable. Likewise, the Bible contains man-made contradictions, but man can filter out divine truth. Lessing also states that the exact wording of the scriptures should not be equated without reservation with the divine will behind the Christian religion.

Lessing does not see the Bible and Revelation as the same thing, but regards the Bible as a testimony to Revelation. Lessing sees one argument for this in the fact that Christianity was a religion before the Bible existed. Christianity existed well before evangelists and apostles wrote the Bible. Accordingly, according to Lessing, the whole truth of the Christian religion cannot be based on Scripture. Not the pure wording, but the meaning of the biblical writings are true. According to Lessing, the teachings of Christ would have had an impact even if the New Testament had not been written down. Likewise, even if all copies of the Bible disappeared, religion would remain true.

Lessing concludes from this that the Christian religion is not true because evangelists and apostles spread it, but because it possesses an inner truth. The Christian religion is the result of God's will to teach people the truth. That is why she does not get her truth from Scripture, but vice versa. According to Lessing, establishing the Bible as absolute is so wrong and extremely dangerous.

effect

Lessing's parable and the axiomata had a strongly polemical tone towards his adversary Goetze. Accordingly, the so-called fragments dispute did not lose its intensity, but even reignited. In April 1778, alongside reactions from various theologians such as Friederich Daniel Brehm or Johann Balthasar Lüderwald, Lessing's first Anti-Goeze and Goetzes response, Something Preliminary , appeared in short stages . In general, the effect must have been great immediately after its appearance, both positive and negative reactions can be noted.

literature

  • Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim: Works and Letters. Ed. V. Wilfried Barner (among others). Vol. 8 works 1774–1778. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, pp. 53–89.
  • Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim: Works and Letters. Ed. V. Wilfried Barner (among others). Vol. 9 works 1774–1778. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1993.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim: Works and Letters. Ed. V. Wilfried Barner (among others). Vol. 9 works 1774–1778. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1993, p. 809.
  2. ^ Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim: Works and Letters. Ed. V. Wilfried Barner (among others). Vol. 9 works 1774–1778. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1993, pp. 824–827.