ABSTRACT
The beginning is less macabre than this end, and here Freud belongs to a widespread tradition which is represented in German classicism not by Goethe but by Schiller, in his 1790 treatise about the mission of Moses. The first of these subtractions touches everything which contradicts probability and natural laws, that is, above all, the miracles. It would seem that this position is still far removed from the end of the road where Voltaire has been for so long awaiting biblical scholars. The individual in his theological dimension as someone addressed by God, let alone as a bearer and mediator of revelation, is now only very cautiously, almost shamefacedly, included in the historical evaluation, if at all. Research sees ever more clearly how much this religion developed in the course of time. Speaking about the Moses problem, Eduard Meyer said somewhat brusquely that it is not the function of historical research to construct novels.
