Nathan der Weise [Nathan the Wise]

Book Description

Nathan der Weise - A Plea for Religious Tolerance During the German EnlightenmentLESSING, Gotthold Ephraim. Nathan der Weise. [Nathan the Wise]. Berlin: Voss, 1779. Text in German. 276pp. Original boards, rubbed and worn, corners bumped, otherwise Very Good tight condition.FIRST EDITION, second printing? (with the publishers name and place omitted). Nathan the Wise is a play first published in 1779 as a fervent plea for religious tolerance. Set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade it describes how the wise Jewish merchant Nathan, the enlightened Sultan Saladin, and the (initially anonymous) Templar came to an understanding of mutual beliefs between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Its message was considered threatening enough to the Church during Lessing’s lifetime that they forbid all performances.The centerpiece of the work is the ring parable, narrated by Nathan when asked by Saladin which religion is the true one. An heirloom ring with the magical ability to render its owner good in the eyes of God and mankind had been passed from father to the son he loved most. When it came to a father of three sons, each of whom were loved equally, the father promised it to each of them. Looking for a way to keep his promise, he had two replicas made that were indistinguishable from the original. Each son was given a ring from the father’s deathbed. The brothers immediately began quarreling over who possessed the genuine ring until a wise judge intervened. “It is up to each of you,” they were told, “to live piously enough to prove the ring’s power is true.” Nathan compares this to religion, saying that each of us lives by the religion we have learned from those we respect.The character of Nathan is in large part modeled after Lessing’s lifelong friend, the preeminent Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelsohn, of the German Enlightenment. Similar to Nathan the Wise and Saladin, written by Lessing to have met over the chessboard, the two shared a common love for the game.Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781). Protestant German poet and playwright. Studied medicine and theology in Leipzig.

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