Dr. Albert Schweitzer was an amazing man. He was a renowned theological scholar, a concert pianist, and a medical doctor. The second half of his career was devoted to serving a medical mission in Lambarene, Africa. He could not get missionary support because his theology was suspect, so he performed concerts in order to raise money to support his work.
In the first half of his career as a theological scholar he wrote several books, one of which launched a major theological movement that has now went through several phases. The title of the book describes the movement, The Quest for the Historical Jesus.
The late Fred Craddock, who taught at Candler School of Theology for a number of years, tells about the time he first read the book. He was in his early twenties, just getting started in his theological career. He thought Schweitzer’s Christology was woefully lacking.
Fred was in Knoxville and read in the news that Schweitzer was going to be in Cleveland, Ohio to give a concert at a church dedicating a new organ. The article reported that there would be refreshments afterward and that Schweitzer would be around for conversation. Fred was so passionate about his views of Jesus that he bought a Greyhound bus ticket to Cleveland, hoping to have an opportunity to drill Schweitzer with questions on his doctrine of Christ. He reminds me of myself in my twenties.
After the concert, Fred was one of the first persons to get a seat in the Fellowship Hall. He plopped… [Read more…] about Practicing Love Is Far More Important Than Believing Doctrine
