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Richard Wagner’s prose sketches for Jesus of Nazareth: historical and theological reflections on an uncompleted opera

Bell, Richard H.

Authors

RICHARD BELL richard.bell@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Theology



Abstract

In May 1849 Wagner fled Dresden after the failure of the uprising of which he was a leader. His last creative work in Dresden was prose sketches for an opera Jesus of Nazareth, the result of his study of the Graeco-Roman world and the New Testament together with some knowledge of biblical criticism. Although he portrays Jesus as a social revolutionary in that he attacks the Pharisees, oppression and injustice, he is by no means a political messiah; indeed Wagner emphases his sacrificial death which results in the giving of the Holy Spirit. Key theological themes of the work which I explore include Jesus’ messiahship, law and freedom, and the significance of his death.

Citation

Bell, R. H. (in press). Richard Wagner’s prose sketches for Jesus of Nazareth: historical and theological reflections on an uncompleted opera. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 15(2-3), https://doi.org/10.1163/17455197-01502007

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 5, 2017
Online Publication Date Dec 14, 2017
Deposit Date Sep 18, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal for Study of the Historical Jesus
Print ISSN 1476-8690
Electronic ISSN 1745-5197
Publisher Brill Academic Publishers
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 2-3
DOI https://doi.org/10.1163/17455197-01502007
Keywords christology; freedom; law; redemption; Richard Wagner; sacrifice
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/899719
Publisher URL http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/17455197-01502007

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