Hermann Samuel Reimarus

Hermann Samuel Reimarus, was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics from a study of nature and our own internal reality, thus eliminating the need for religions based on revelation. He denied the supernatural origin of Christianity, and was the first influential critic to investigate the historical Jesus. According to Reimarus, Jesus was a mortal Jewish prophet, and the apostles founded Christianity as a religion separate from Jesus’ own ministry.

22 December 1694

Born on the same birth day (22 December): Ajeenkya Patil • Camila Osorio • Emmanuel Olisadebe • Fatih Öztürk (French footballer) • Jaan Tõnisson • Jean-Michel Basquiat • Lewis Glucksman • Michaela Hončová • Ray Guy

Born in the same month (December 1694): William Shirley