"I am a Jew who believes in Christ.": ambivalence of Franz Werfel's approach to Judaism and Christianity by an example of his play Paul among the Jews

In the life of significant representative of the Prague German Literature Franz Werfel, Judaism and Christianity played an important role, which was noticeably reflected in his work. This typical Werfel's feature is closely connected with his hometown Prague where Czechs, Germans and Jews coexisted together at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. Their cultures were mutually mixed and influenced by each other, Judaism and Christianity was confronted both with the Czech and the German culture. This bachelor thesis follows the antagonistic attitudes that Franz Werfel maintained towards Judaism, to which he felt bonded thanks to his origin and identity, and to Christianity, which was from his childhood of big importance for him on the emotional level. The paper examines the issue of Werfel's approach to the both religions on one of his plays Paul among the Jews from 1926, describing, according to its author, the tragic moment when Christianity detached from Judaism which resulted in the establishment of the Christian Church in the first century AD. Thus, the aim of this paper is to outline Werfel's own theological concept by analyzing his play Paul among the Jews in order to confirm or to disprove the belief, which spread after the introduction of the play to audience in 1926,..