Professor of Apocalypse
The Many Lives of Jacob Taubes
Published on 14. May 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
656 pages
978-0-691-25930-7 (ISBN)
Description
The controversial Jewish thinker whose tortured path led him into the heart of twentieth-century intellectual life
Scion of a distinguished line of Talmudic scholars, Jacob Taubes (1923-1987) was an intellectual impresario whose inner restlessness led him from prewar Vienna to Zurich, Israel, and Cold War Berlin. Regarded by some as a genius, by others as a charlatan, Taubes moved among yeshivas, monasteries, and leading academic institutions on three continents. He wandered between Judaism and Christianity, left and right, piety and transgression. Along the way, he interacted with many of the leading minds of the age, from Leo Strauss and Gershom Scholem to Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, and Carl Schmitt. Professor of Apocalypse is the definitive biography of this enigmatic figure and a vibrant mosaic of twentieth-century intellectual life.
Jerry Muller shows how Taubes's personal tensions mirrored broader conflicts between religious belief and scholarship, allegiance to Jewish origins and the urge to escape them, tradition and radicalism, and religion and politics. He traces Taubes's emergence as a prominent interpreter of the Apostle Paul, influencing generations of scholars, and how his journey led him from crisis theology to the Frankfurt School, and from a radical Hasidic sect in Jerusalem to the center of academic debates over Gnosticism, secularization, and the revolutionary potential of apocalypticism.
Professor of Apocalypse offers an unforgettable account of an electrifying world of ideas, focused on a charismatic personality who thrived on controversy and conflict.
Scion of a distinguished line of Talmudic scholars, Jacob Taubes (1923-1987) was an intellectual impresario whose inner restlessness led him from prewar Vienna to Zurich, Israel, and Cold War Berlin. Regarded by some as a genius, by others as a charlatan, Taubes moved among yeshivas, monasteries, and leading academic institutions on three continents. He wandered between Judaism and Christianity, left and right, piety and transgression. Along the way, he interacted with many of the leading minds of the age, from Leo Strauss and Gershom Scholem to Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, and Carl Schmitt. Professor of Apocalypse is the definitive biography of this enigmatic figure and a vibrant mosaic of twentieth-century intellectual life.
Jerry Muller shows how Taubes's personal tensions mirrored broader conflicts between religious belief and scholarship, allegiance to Jewish origins and the urge to escape them, tradition and radicalism, and religion and politics. He traces Taubes's emergence as a prominent interpreter of the Apostle Paul, influencing generations of scholars, and how his journey led him from crisis theology to the Frankfurt School, and from a radical Hasidic sect in Jerusalem to the center of academic debates over Gnosticism, secularization, and the revolutionary potential of apocalypticism.
Professor of Apocalypse offers an unforgettable account of an electrifying world of ideas, focused on a charismatic personality who thrived on controversy and conflict.
Reviews / Votes
"Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Biography Category" "[A] fascinating, judicious biography. Professor of Apocalypse is at once a history of ideas, a gripping psychological melodrama and a study of the surprising power of intellectual charisma to make and unmake lives."---Mark Lilla, New York Times Book Review "This comprehensive biography is an important one. . . . [Muller's] cogently documented biography, empathic in its presentation and judgment, goes a long way in helping us put mortal flesh on the charismatic puzzle that was Jacob Taubes."---Steven E. Aschheim, Los Angeles Review of Books "In Professor of Apocalypse Jerry Z. Muller accomplishes the nigh-impossible task of contextualizing the manifold reminiscences and myths surrounding Taubes into a clearly periodized and expertly documented account."---Eugene R. Sheppard, Times Literary Supplement "Muller has written more than a biography of a talented and tormented Jew and professor of philosophy and religion. Through painstaking reconstruction of the myriad communities of scholars in which Taubes operated and the various worlds of ideas in which he revolved, Muller illuminates hitherto unconnected but fascinating chapters in European, American, and Israeli intellectual life."---Peter Berkowitz, Commentary "A well-crafted, exhaustively researched, intellectually balanced biography."---Abigail Rosenthal, VoegelinView "[Professor of Apocalypse] captures the complex personality of an exceptionally difficult man, and the complexity of the age he lived through. . . . Biographers often grow to despise their subjects. Not without cause, Muller at some points is clearly exasperated. But it speaks to his talent and patience that by the end of his book his readers cannot help but love Taubes, for all of his sins."---Daniel Miller, Mars Review of Books "[A] remarkable biography of Jacob Taubes. . . . Muller has done a magisterial job at bringing this figure to life for us."---Jeffrey A. Bernstein, Journal of the Academy of Religion "Muller's account is excellent."---Wayne Cristaudo, The European LegacyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
17 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
1110 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-25930-7 (9780691259307)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2022
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€27.49
Available for download
Person
Jerry Z. Muller is professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America and the author of several books, including The Mind and the Market and Capitalism and the Jews (Princeton). His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other leading publications.