Pope Benedict’s Historical Validation of Jesus’ Incarnation Dieter Mitternacht Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong Säkulare Sprachen, die das, was einmal gemeint war, bloß eliminieren, hinterlassen Irritationen Jürgen Habermas, Glauben und Wissen There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in. Leonard Cohen, Anthem Introduction Book boxes were carried up into the new residence. Adolph von Harnack glanced at a label, pointed to a book shelf, and said: “theology belongs with belletristic.” Harnack was, of course, referring to speculative theology. He himself was a “scientiic” theologian, an ardent advocate of relentless historical scrutiny, one who reconstructs the original and the historical characteristics of Christianity. He wouldn’t bend to either orthodox or liberal inclinations. His objective was to recover the plain moral teachings of the extraordinary man Jesus. Just around that same time, Albert Schweitzer put the inal strokes to a book on historical Jesus research. 1 With acute precision Schweitzer dismantled the scholarly constructions of from Reimarus 1 A. Schweitzer, Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung (4th ed.; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1926). The irst edition was published in 1906 with the title Von Reimarus zu Wrede. Zetterholm, M., and S. Byrskog, eds. he Making of Christianity: Conlicts, Contacts, and Constructions: Essays in Honor of Bengt Holmberg. Coniectanea Biblica: New Testament Series 47. Winona Lake, Eisenbrauns, 2012.