Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834, Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)) looms large for anyone interested in systematic theology. Indeed he is widely regarded as the founder of modern Protestant theology, and is required reading in schools of Divinity.
In this book, Richard Crouter argues that Schleiermacher’s theology is best understood by examining his position at the intersection of Enlightenment reason and Romantic feeling. He explains the historical and cultural contexts of Schleiermacher’s major works like On Religion and The Christian Faith. Crouter highlights Schleiermacher’s role as a public theologian and his influence on contemporaries (Hegel, Kierkegaard) and the shaping of modern theology, emphasizing that understanding the milieu of his thought—German Romanticism, Kantian critique, and public life—is crucial to grasping his ideas on religion as intuition, feeling, and a unifying force in human life.
Key themes in Crouter’s analysis are:
- The cultural context: Schleiermacher’s thought isn’t simply either Romantic or Enlightenment; it’s a dynamic interplay, shaped by the tension between the two, as seen in his famous Addresses on Religion.
- Religion as feeling & intuition: Crouter emphasizes Schleiermacher’s definition of religion as an “intuition and feeling” (a “feeling of absolute dependence”) rather than metaphysics or morality.
- Public and academic role: Schleiermacher’s involvement in public life is explored (like Jewish emancipation) and his foundational work in establishing modern theological disciplines at the University of Berlin.
- Textual analysis: Crouter analyzes the nuances of Schleiermacher’s major texts, including the revisions of On Religion and The Christian Faith, showing how language and context shaped their meaning.
Richard Crouter was born in Washington, D.C. and is the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He grew up in Southern California where he studied history, philosophy, and religion at Occidental College. Having decided on a career in college teaching he set out to study the formation of Christian theology in Greco-Roman antiquity as well as the challenges facing Christianity in the modern period.
Following graduate study at Union Theological Seminary in New York and the University of Heidelberg, he taught in the Department of Religion at Carleton College in Northfield Minnesota and came to specialize on the work of Schleiermacher. His interests range from Biblical studies to St. Augustine, Kierkegaard, Reinhold Niebuhr and the relationship between religion, politics, and modern secularism. He has lectured widely in the U.S. as well as overseas, especially in Germany and the U.K.
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290 pages in Cambridge University Press
First published 2005
ISBN-13 : 978-0521805902
Richard Crouter