Friedrich Schleiermacher: Pioneer of Modern Theology

by Keith W. Clements (Editor)

Overview

Schleiermacher, a German theologian at the turn of the nineteenth century, is truly one of the masters of modern theology: he sought to rebuild Protestant theology in the wake of the Enlightenment and of Kant's destruction of traditional metaphysics. He was the founder of "liberal theology" with its emphasis on inner experience and the knowledge of God as mediated through history. This volume concentrates on the key texts and ideas in Schleiermacher's thought. It presents the essential Schleiermacher for students and the general reader. Keith Clements's introductory essay and notes on the selected texts set Schleiermacher in his historical context, chart the development of his thought and indicate the significance of this theology in the development of Christian theology as a whole. Substantial selections from Schleiermacher's work illustrate key themes:

Religion as feeling and relationship

The distinctiveness of Christianity: redemption through Jesus Christ

The nature of theology as reflection and communication

Hermeneutics: conversation with history

God and the world

The person and work of Christ

Nation, Church and State

Christianity and the religions

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800634018
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	09/20/1991
Series:	Making of Modern Theology
Edition description:	1st Fortress Press ed
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.44(h) x (d)

About the Author

Keith Clements is a theologian, historian, and ecumenist. In addition to teaching at Bristol Baptist College and Bristol University in the UK, and at Whitley College in Melbourne, Australia, he has worked extensively at the international level in the ecumenical movement, concluding as General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches. He has written prolifically on modern ecumenical history, including the definitive biography of J. H. Oldham, and studies on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his contemporaries, including George Bell. He is a minister of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

Table of Contents

List of selected texts

INTRODUCTION

1. Schleiermacher in His Context

2. Main Themes in Schleiemacher's Theology

SELECTED TEXTS

1. Religion as Feeling and Relationship

2. The Distinctiveness of Christianity: Redemption through Jesus Christ

3. Theology as Reflection and Communication

4. Hermeneutics: Conversation with History

5. God and the World

6. The Person and Work of Christ

7. Nation, Church, and State

8. Christianity and the Religions

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Notes

Index