ABSTRACT
Almost three centuries ago a contest emerged within the faculty of St. Thomas School in Leipzig, a contest that has never been fully resolved but still marks a schism in the soul of the modern Christian. It was the struggle between the now famous cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, and the once famous rector, Johann August Ernesti—the one a musical genius and the other a pioneer in the historical criticism of the Bible. Both were gifted interpreters of the New Testament, although the media of interpretation they utilized were very different.
