Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University

by Thomas Albert Howard

Overview

In shaping the modern academy and in setting the agenda of modern Christian theology, few institutions have been as influential as the German universities of the nineteenth century. This book examines the rise of the modern German university from the standpoint of the Protestant theological faculty, focusing especially on the University of Berlin (1810), Prussia's flagship university in the nineteenth century. In contradistinction to historians of modern higher education who often overlook theology, and to theologians who are frequently inattentive to the social and institutional contexts of religious thought, Thomas Albert Howard argues that modern university development and the trajectory of modern Protestant theology in Germany should be understood as interrelated phenomena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199554478
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Tal Howard is Associate Professor of History at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He is also the founding director of the Jerusalem and Athens Forum, an honors program in the history of Christian thought and literature. He has received fellowships from the Erasmus Institute (University of Notre Dame), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture (University of Virginia).

Table of Contents

Abbreviations xi

1 Introduction 1

1 Theology, Modernity, and the German University 1

2 On the State and Modern Science 'in the German Sense' 13

3 Plan of Study 35

4 Broader Considerations, or 'the Pathos of Modern Theology' 38

2 Sacra Facultas and the Coming of German Modernity 45

1 Introduction 45

2 The Medieval Legacy 45

3 Humanism, the Reformation, and the Universities 60

4 The Eighteenth Century: Decline and Critique 80

5 The Way Forward: Halle and G?ttingen 87

6 'Torchbearer or Trainbearer'?: The Faculties and Immanuel Kant 121

3 Theology, Wissenschaft, and the Founding of the University of Berlin 130

1 Introduction 130

2 Revolutionary Times and the Ascendancy of Wissenschaft 134

3 'A New Creation' 142

4 Theology and the Idea of the New University 155

5 Early Operations: Berlin's Theological Faculty, 1810-1819 178

6 'Renewing Protestantism': Schleiermacher and the Challenge of Modern Theological Education 197

4 An Erastian Modernity? Church, State, and Education in Early Nineteenth-Century Prussia 212

1 Introduction 212

2 Church and State before 1806 212

3 The Great Transition: Church and State after 1806 215

4 'A Realm of the Intelligence': Minister Altenstein and his Legacy 239

5 Theologia between Science and the State 267

1 Introduction 267

2 General Trends and Developments, 1810-1918 273

3 The Rise and Fall of 'Theological Encyclopedia' 303

4 History, Commemoration, and the University 324

5 'The Age of German Footnotes': Visitors from Abroad, Admirers from Afar 348

6 'The Crisis of the Theological Faculty': Lagarde, Overbeck, and Harnack 378

6 Conclusion: Janus Gazing 403

Select Bibliography 419

Index 457

Editorial Reviews

"Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University makes a welcome contribution to understanding the oddness of theology in the context of the modern research university."—Donald Wibe, Toronto Journal of Theology

"Howard's book is a welcome addition to studies of nineteenth-century Christian thought, modern intellectual history, and university history. Ably researched and skillfully written, the work distinguishes itself from common fare by its interdisciplinary reach. Howard's presentation is itself a thought-provoking testament to "Berlin's" legacy." —Church History

"Howard's story tells how ingenious leaders, chiefly Friedrich Schleiermacher, rescued the study of theology when German universities made a wholesale turn toward dominance by science and the state. The ironic result was that German theology became an arbiter for all of Christendom while departments of theology in German universities were hanging on by their fingernails. Whether they sacrificed requisite independence to do so is the question that Howard raises masterfully at the end."—Christian Century

From the Publisher