Most scholars believe the German Enlightenment () led to the creation of biblical criticism, although some assert that its roots reach back to the Reformation. German pietism played a role in its development, as did British deism, with its greatest influences being rationalism and Protestant scholarship. The Enlightenment age, and its skepticism of biblical and church authority, ignited questions concerning the historical basis for the human Jesus separately from traditional theological views concerning his divinity. This quest for the historical Jesus began in biblical criticism's earliest stages, and has remained an interest within biblical criticism, on and off, for over 200 years.