Editor's Opposites

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The publisher's book Opposites appeared in the journal Zur Geschichte und Litteratur in 1777 . From the treasures of the ducal library in Wolfenbüttel and marks the beginning of the fragments dispute . It contains comments by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing on the work Apology or Protective Scripture for the Reasonable Admirers of God by Hermann Samuel Reimarus .

content

The publisher's work Opposites is divided into Lessing's Notes on the five published fragments by Reimarus.

First fragment

At this point Lessing deals with the question of whether a revelation can or must be, answering the question that this should be decided by reason. Another remark by Lessing in the first fragment is that a revealed religion does not presuppose a rational religion.

Second fragment

Here we find Lessing's statement that the second fragment of Reimarus contains a lot of correct, absolutely undoubted things. A revelation that all people can believe is impossible. According to Lessing, God chose a way in which most people can be reached in the shortest possible time. Also in this fragment a distinction is made between Revelation and the books of Revelation.

Third fragment

At this point Lessing defends the miracles in the Bible . As an explanation for crossing the Dead Sea , he gives that a strong wind with the help of ebb tide held back the water and the Israelites were able to cross the sea. In this fragment Lessing also criticizes an unequal orthodoxy .

Fourth fragment

According to Lessing, the fact that in the Old Testament there was no immortality of souls and no reward or punishment after life is due to the fact that the human mind was not yet ready for a true concept of God. Furthermore, the fourth fragment contains excerpts from Lessing's education of the human race , presenting it as if this essay had not been written by him.

Fifth fragment

At this point Lessing deals with the contradictions in the resurrection story . In doing so, he takes the position that the witnesses of the resurrection of Christ are not those who narrated it. According to Lessing, contradictions are not to be found among the witnesses, but among the historians .

literature

  • Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Letters and Works. Volumes 7 and 8, Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Berlin 2003.