Jesus As an Apocalyptic Prophet: The Meaning of the Theory for Systematic Theology

In contemporary research on the figure of historical Jesus, the dominant theory is that he was an apocalyptic prophet, heralding the imminent coming of the end of the present world and the coming of the eschatological kingdom of God. Beginning with the work of Albert Schweitzer, this theory is considered the most probable according to most researchers of the origins of Christianity. This article examines the assumptions of this theory to show how challenging it is to contemporary systematic theology. The first part presents the history and status of the theory in contemporary scientific research. The second part briefly presents the basic assumptions of the theory itself. Finally, the third part presents the problems that the theory raises for systematic theology.