Page - 71 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

The search for the human Jesus was a consequence of social, cultural and political conditions found above all within the cultural context of Western Chris- tianity.5 The human Jesus appeared to many scholars and theologians to be more historically accurate, with the relationship between the human Jesus and the historical Jesus remaining troubled by the biased character of the literary sources. In this contribution I reflect upon the interaction of media and the produc- tion of historical representations of Jesus, keeping in mind that unlike the early modern period, the long 19th century was characterized by a public disclosure of themes previously deemed dangerous. As indicated by articles in this collec- tion, discussion of the historicity of Jesus often carried a polemical overtone, particularly as set against the backdrop of the numerous religious confronta- tions that characterized the cultural world of the post-Reformation period. Historicity lived in the interstices, circulated through clandestine networks of readers and buyers of printed books and manuscripts, or lay hidden in details that only the trained eye could detect.6 By contrast, the long 19th century took pleasure in exposing the historical Jesus, even if the topic remained dangerous, a minefield that could destroy the careers of those who dared to approach it. In some instances, however, it could bring everlasting fame, depending on the political and social configuration of the moment, as we shall see. The long 19th century saw the rise and institutionalization of history as a professional practice, a process closely tied to nation building. Alongside the increasing relevance of historiography, European higher education bolstered a scholarly project on the scientific study of religions. Interest in the “historical Je- sus” and the study of Christianity as a discipline were thus both seen as relevant and gained a shared scholarly prestige. The professionalization of history and the study of religions has parallels in technological achievements in the field of visual media, such as photography and cinema. The interaction of these realms of modern culture has yet not been fully explored. Within representations of religion and of the historical past, the trajectories taken by the “historical Je- sus” and by the “cinematic Jesus” intersected at a certain point, as a product of modernity and the incipient rise of mass culture. INTRODUCING THE “HISTORICAL JESUS” At the beginning of the 20th century the influential Lutheran theologian Albert Schweit zer published a significant contribution to the historiography of the 5 Pesce 2011. 6 The literature on these themes is growing: see, for example, the articles in this issue by Barbu and Benfatto, and Pesce 2011. Sacred historiography was also effective, as the article by von Wyss-Giacosa shows. The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Early Cinema | 71www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1