 Although Strauss' book had sold well throughout Europe, in 1838 Strauss published a rebuttal to Bruno Bauer in a booklet entitled, "In Defense of my Life of Jesus against the Hegelians".In that book Strauss admitted publicly that his position had not been inspired by Hegel's philosophy after all, nor by Hegel's theological position (which advocated a dialectical Trinity).Strauss divorced himself from the Hegelians with this booklet, and never joined their ranks again.