Lessing's Nathan the Wise: A Parable of Religious Toleration

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s play Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise, 1779) is one of the great works of the German Enlightenment and one of the most famous literary defenses of religious toleration ever written. The play, set in Jerusalem during the Crusades, tells the story of Nathan, a Jewish merchant, who engages in a famous conversation with the Sultan Saladin about the proper relationship between the three great monotheistic religions. This article examines the central themes of the play, the famous ring parable, and the lasting influence of the work on modern conceptions of religious toleration and pluralism.

The Setting and the Plot

Nathan the Wise is set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, when the city was under the joint rule of the Christian and Muslim powers. The play brings together characters from the three great monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — and it tells the story of how these characters come to recognize the common humanity that underlies their religious differences.

The central characters of the play are:

Nathan, a wealthy Jewish merchant, who has returned to Jerusalem after a long absence to find his daughter Recha, who has been rescued from a burning house by a Christian Knight Templar.

Saladin, the Muslim Sultan of Egypt, who is the ruler of Jerusalem and who engages Nathan in a famous conversation about the proper foundation of religious belief.

The Knight Templar, a Christian warrior who has rescued Recha from the fire and who is gradually transformed by his experience in Jerusalem from a crusader into a man of humane and tolerant convictions.

The play traces the relationships among these characters, and it culminates in the recognition that the three main characters — Nathan, Saladin, and the Knight Templar — are bound together by a complex set of family relationships, and that the supposed religious differences among them are less important than the common humanity they share.

The Ring Parable

The most famous passage of the play is the ring parable, which Nathan tells to Saladin in response to a question about the proper foundation of religious belief. The parable tells the story of a family that possessed a magical ring that gave its owner the favor of God. The ring was always given to the son whom the father loved most, and at length it came to be held by a father who had three sons whom he loved equally.

The father did not want to disappoint any of his sons, so he had two copies of the ring made, indistinguishable from the original, and he gave a ring to each son. After the father’s death, the three sons quarreled over which of them had the real ring, and they brought the case to a judge. The judge refused to decide the case, and he told the sons that the important thing was not which of them had the real ring, but that each of them should live in such a way as to be worthy of it.

The ring parable has been read in many different ways. Some readers have seen in it a defense of the equal validity of the three great monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The three rings represent the three religions, and the judge’s refusal to decide which of them is the “real” religion is a defense of religious pluralism.

Other readers have seen in the ring parable a defense of the inner, spiritual religion of ethical conduct against the outer, institutional religion of doctrine and ritual. The important thing, on this reading, is not which of the three sons has the “real” ring, but that each of them should live in such a way as to be worthy of the ring. The proper response to religious disagreement, on this reading, is not to insist on the correctness of one’s own doctrine, but to cultivate the moral qualities that the ring symbolizes.

Either way, the ring parable is a powerful statement of the principle of religious toleration, and it has been an inspiration to the cause of interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding ever since.

The Themes of the Play

The play develops several themes that are characteristic of the Enlightenment and of the German Aufklärung.

The first theme is the importance of religious toleration. The play shows that the proper response to religious difference is not persecution but mutual respect and dialogue. The three main characters — Nathan, Saladin, and the Knight Templar — are able to transcend their religious differences and to recognize the common humanity that underlies them.

The second theme is the importance of the natural equality of human beings. The play shows that the supposed differences between the followers of the three religions are less important than the common humanity that they share. The recognition of the natural equality of human beings is, in the play, the foundation of the proper response to religious difference.

The third theme is the importance of rational moral agency. The proper response to religious disagreement, in the play, is the cultivation of the moral qualities — kindness, generosity, courage, humility — that the ring symbolizes. The proper religious life, on this view, is not a matter of correct doctrine but of right conduct.

The Legacy of the Play

Nathan the Wise has had a profound influence on the development of modern conceptions of religious toleration and pluralism. The play is a basic reference for the modern tradition of religious freedom, and it has been an inspiration to the cause of interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding.

The play has been adapted for the stage many times, and it has been translated into virtually every major language. The famous ring parable has entered the cultural heritage of the modern world, and it continues to be cited in contemporary discussions of religious toleration and pluralism.

The Setting and the Plot

The Ring Parable

The Themes of the Play

The Legacy of the Play

Further Reading