As Tice states, “He repeatedly averred that Christian faith is essentially a matter of feeling, especially ‘feeling absolutely dependent’ on God, not of adherence to thoughts or to rules for action.” Thus, the “feeling” associated with Christian faith was not mere sentiment ( Affekt) rather, faith was based on an internal conviction ( Gefühl) sent (and received) from God, alone. Yet, Schleiermacher’s suppositions were not just personal emotional tripe. His attempts at questioning the boundaries of institutional truth, a common complaint against postmodernists, were met with resistance. This academic environment also did little to satisfy Schleiermacher’s desire for promoting new trends in theological thinking. The “pietistic religiosity and its worldview came into conflict with Enlightenment theology and above all with the humanistic cultural influence.” With this blossoming conflict in his life and mind, Schleiermacher eventually left this school and began his advanced theological studies at the University of Halle. Yet, he did not appreciate the doctrinal and praxis close-mindedness of the Moravian Brethren, which they valued over matters of intellectual advancement offered by the Enlightenment. Īlthough this school offered much freedom to Schleiermacher for his academic development. As a result of this exposure, as well as of the narrow theological pedagogy of that school, he began to have doubts about certain Christian doctrines. There he formed a secret club in which he and his classmates read Kant, Goethe, and other contemporary German writers. Jacqueline Mariña notes:Īt Niesky (1783) Schleiermacher was exposed to an enlightened humanistic curriculum. When he came of age, young Schleiermacher was sent to a Moravian school in Niesky, and there embarked upon a typical journey of studies that covered Latin and Greek classics, mathematics, botany, biblical studies, and the like. Schleiermacher’s father, then, was open to new ideas, but still clung to his traditional heritage as an anchor. His parents were devout Christians and his father was a Reformed pastor who, for all intents and purposes, was an “Enlightenment” Moravian Pietist. Schleiermacher was born November 21, 1768, in Breslau (now part of Poland). This, of course, will not be an exhaustive study, but will only touch upon some of the important points of Schleiermacher’s life, career, and studies. Overmphasizing the personal nature of moral and religious beliefs.Īs such, it is prudent to consider the factors that most poignantly affected Schleiermacher’s theology.Questioning the trustworthiness of traditional ecclesial authority, and.Questioning any access to absolute truth,.It is not difficult to make connections between Schleiermacher’s philosophy and trends in postmodernity-more a zeitgeist rather than a defined school of thought-such as the following: Schleiermacher (1768–1834), proposed Enlightenment views in theology so consistently that he is usually called “The father of liberal German theology.” His innovative interpretations and theories were quite culturally influential and began a push toward a more relaxed, more creative understanding of Christianity, whose influence can still be seen in contemporary theology and culture. One particular German theologian, Friedrich D. Owing much to the spirit of the Age of Enlightenment, many theologians began to question the traditional view of God and Christianity, and instead offered new, divergent theories that made their religious faith more pragmatically relevant to themselves and to other like-minded believers. As Farley writes, “Now, as in Schleiermacher’s time, the religious landscape is divided deeply between conservative ‘orthodoxy’ and those who despise religion itself.” In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Germany found itself in the middle of such a predicament. Many theological battles have been waged in the effort to define truth, orthodoxy, and dogma. The religious landscape throughout history has been a forum for both conventional and innovative ideas about faith and spirituality.
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