A Treasury of Albert Schweitzer


Book Description

Collected here in a single volume are the most important philosophical writings of Albert Schweitzer, one of the greatest thinkers and humanitarians of our time. Carefully chosen from among his many written works, the selections in this anthology illuminate and amplify Dr. Schweitzer’s cardinal principle of belief—a reverence for life. Among the important and revealing works included are “Pilgrimage to Humanity,” which outlines his philosophy of culture, the early influences in his life, and his ideal of world peace; “The Light Within Us,” one of the twentieth century’s most significant and beautiful statements of one man’s faith in his fellow man; and “Reverence for Life,” which states, with great clarity and conviction, the essence of Schweitzer’s wisdom. Because of his legendary fame as a medical missionary, other equally important and outstanding aspects of Schweitzer’s life are not as well known. Readers of this book will realize that Albert Schweitzer was a truly creative thinker, whose concern with the problems of the human spirit and whose methods of expressing this concern have raised him to the stature of one of the world’s foremost philosophers.







The Realm of Redemption


Book Description

"Scarcely any concept of Christian doctrine in the present time stands so greatly in need of clarification from the ground up as that of the 'Church'. . . . It is a fact to be welcomed that Mr. Nelson has ventured to fix his eyes upon the problem of the Church form both sides--namely, from that of historical-Biblical research and that of theological reflection. . . . Essentially this book is a circumspect and deliberate presentation of those previously produced writings which have worked out the questions sharply and taken a critical position towards the results. Therefore, it will be welcomed by all those who are participating in ecumenical discussions as a comprehensive survey of the whole area of contemporary study of the Church, doing justice to both Anglo-Saxon and Continental European research." --From Foreword




Albert Schweitzer in Thought and Action


Book Description

In the 1940s and 1950s, Albert Schweitzer was one of the best-known figures on the world stage. Courted by monarchs, world statesmen, and distinguished figures from the literary, musical, and scientific fields, Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952, cementing his place as one of the great intellectual leaders of his time. Schweitzer is less well known now but nonetheless a man of perennial fascination, and this volume seeks to bring his achievements across a variety of areas—philosophy, theology, and medicine—into sharper focus. To that end, international scholars from diverse disciplines offer a wide-ranging examination of Schweitzer’s life and thought over the course of forty years. Albert Schweitzer in Thought and Action gives readers a fuller, richer, and more nuanced picture of this controversial but monumental figure of twentieth-century life—and, in some measure, of that complex century itself.







Remembrance of Things Past?


Book Description

In this book, Michael J. Thate offers an experiment in reception criticism in its consideration of the formation and reception of the historical Jesus discourse. He also attempts to historicize Leben-Jesu-Forschung within debates and narratives of secularization. These two foci guide the book through its two parts. First Thate explicates Schweitzer's dominant archival function in Leben-Jesu-Forschung, while aiming to make fragile the "grand architect's" receptive hegemony. Then he combines critical memory theory and other theoretical readings of the material in an attempt to refocus the study of the historical Jesus as early Christian memory politics in the service of identity explication. He attempts to problematize Schweitzer's legacy of a tidy systematic approach in which much of historical Jesus scholarship continues to operate.




The Essence of Faith


Book Description

The Nobel Peace Prize–winning doctor, theologian, and missionary explores the essence of faith in this masterful early work on Kantian metaphysics. Famous for his medical missionary work in what is now the West African country of Gabon, Albert Schweitzer was an accomplished theologian, philosopher, and international bestselling author. While studying for his PhD at the Sorbonne, Schweitzer developed his views on theology through an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of religion. In The Essence of Faith, Schweitzer explores Kantian ideas to arrive at an inspiring meditation on God, faith, and the limits of human understanding. Both an accessible introduction to Schweitzer’s theology and a strikingly original approach to Kant’s writing and thought, The Essence of Faith is a slim volume of profound ideas.




Four Volumes on Christianity


Book Description

Four of the Nobel Peace Prize–winning author’s most influential, insightful, and inspiring works on theology and ethics in the modern world. Famous for founding the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in what is now the West African country of Gabon, Albert Schweitzer’s ethical philosophy of “Reverence for Life” became one of the most influential ideas of the twentieth century. These four volumes chart the development of Schweitzer’s philosophy from his student days to his career as a globally revered intellectual. The Essence of Faith: While studying for his PhD at the Sorbonne, Schweitzer developed his views on theology through an analysis of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of religion. In The Essence of Faith, Schweitzer explores Kantian ideas to arrive at an inspiring meditation on God, faith, and the limits of human understanding. Pilgrimage to Humanity: In Pilgrimage to Humanity, Schweitzer discusses his philosophy, his ministry in Africa, and his pursuit of world peace. He also explores the important contributions to civilization made by figures such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, J. S. Bach, and Jesus of Nazareth. The Quest of the Historical Jesus: In this landmark work of Biblical criticism, Schweitzer deconstructs the traditional myths of Jesus’s life by offering rigorous textual analysis and historical evidence. By establishing the social and political climate of Jesus’s time, Schweitzer not only dismantles the previously dominant images of Jesus, but also presents a compelling new theory of his own. The Light Within Us: In The Light Within Us, Schweitzer’s longtime friend Richard Kik has compiled many of his most insightful and inspiring quotations. Drawn from his many writings, these quotations share Schweitzer’s thoughts on service, gratitude, God, missionary work, and much more.




The Restoration of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision


Book Description

In 1913, Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) left his internationally renowned career as a theologian, philosopher, and organ player to open a hospital in the jungles of Africa. There he developed in theory and practice his ethics of reverence for life. When he published his most important philosophical work, The Philosophy of Civilization, few people were serious about treating animals with dignity and giving any consideration to environmental issues. Schweitzer's urge was heard but not fully appreciated. One hundred years later, we are in a better position to do it. Predrag Cicovacki's book is a call to restore Schweitzer's vision. After critically and systematically discussing the most important aspects of the ethics of reverence for life, Cicovacki argues that the restoration of Schweitzer does not mean the restoration of any particular doctrine. It means summoning enough courage to reverse the deadly course of our civilization. And it also means establishing a way of life that stimulates striving toward what is the best and highest in human beings.




Faith as Participation


Book Description

In recent years, three particular debates have risen to the fore of Pauline Studies: the question of the centre of Pauline theology, how to interpret the mula, and the relationship between divine and human agency. In the present study, Jeanette Hagen Pifer contends that several of the apparent conundrums in recent Pauline scholarship turn out to derive from an inadequate understanding of what Paul means by faith. By first exploring the question of what Paul means by faith outside of the classic justification passages in Romans and Galatians, she reveals faith as an active and productive mode of human existence. Yet this existence is not a form of human self-achievement. On the contrary, faith is precisely the denial of self-effort and a dependence upon the prior gracious work of Christ. In this way, faith is self-negating and self-involving participation in the Christ-event.