Professor of Apocalypse

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The controversial Jewish thinker Jacob Taubes (1923–1987) navigated the complexities of twentieth-century intellectual life, moving from prewar Vienna to Zurich, Israel, and Cold War Berlin. A descendant of Talmudic scholars, Taubes was viewed as both a genius and a charlatan, traversing yeshivas, monasteries, and esteemed academic institutions across three continents. His journey spanned the realms of Judaism and Christianity, left and right politics, and the tension between piety and transgression. Throughout his life, he engaged with prominent figures such as Leo Strauss, Gershom Scholem, Herbert Marcuse, Susan Sontag, and Carl Schmitt. This definitive biography reveals how Taubes’s personal struggles reflected broader conflicts between faith and scholarship, Jewish identity and the desire for liberation, tradition and radicalism, as well as religion and politics. It highlights his role as a key interpreter of the Apostle Paul, shaping scholarly discourse and traversing themes from crisis theology to the Frankfurt School, and from a radical Hasidic sect in Jerusalem to pivotal debates on Gnosticism, secularization, and apocalypticism. This account captures the vibrant intellectual landscape and the charismatic, controversial figure at its center.