Friedrich Schleiermacher: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism (Cambridge Studies in Religion & Critical Thought)

Friedrich Schleiermacher's groundbreaking work in theology and philosophy was forged in the cultural ferment of Berlin at the convergence of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The three sections of this book include illuminating sketches of Schleiermacher's relationship to contemporaries, his work as a public theologian, as well as the formation and impact of his two most famous books, "On Religion" and "The Christian Faith. Richard Crouter's essays examine the theologian's stance regarding the status of doctrine, church and political authority, and the place of theology among the academic disciplines. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 12 SCHLEIERMACHER TEXTS 12 OTHER WORKS 13 Introduction 15 BETWEEN ENLIGHTENMENT AND ROMANTICISM 17 SCOPE AND INTEREST 23 SECTIONS AND THEMES 25 Part I Taking the measure of Schleiermacher 33 Chapter 1 Revisiting Dilthey on Schleiermacher and biography 35 PRECURSORS AND HEIRS OF DILTHEY 37 QUESTIONING BIOGRAPHY 40 SCHLEIERMACHER ON LIFE AND HISTORY 44 CONCLUSIONS 49 Chapter 2 Schleiermacher, Mendelssohn, and the Enlightenment: comparing On Religion (1799) with Jerusalem (1783) 53 TEXTS OF PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT 55 POLITICS AS THE “SINE QUA NON” OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY 60 UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGION VERSUS PARTICULARITY OF A CONFESSION 67 REVELATION AS SUBJECTIVE AND HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE 75 “JERUSALEM” AND “ON RELIGION”: AN UNLIKELY KINSHIP 79 Chapter 3 Hegel and Schleiermacher at Berlin: a many-sided debate 84 EARLY ENCOUNTERS AND FORESHADOWING OF DIFFERENCES 88 HEGEL’S CALL TO BERLIN 94 POLITICAL DIFFERENCES 96 THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 101 HEGEL’S CRITIQUE OF SCHLEIERMACHER’S DOGMATICS 103 POSTSCRIPT – AN UNFINISHED COMPARISON 110 Chapter 4 Kierkegaard’s not so hidden debt to Schleiermacher 112 STRANGE BEDFELLOWS 115 AMBIGUOUS EVIDENCE 118 SCHLEIERMACHER’S ‘CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS’ 123 A MODEL FOR KIERKEGAARD 131 Part II Signposts of a public theologian 135 Chapter 5 Schleiermacher’s Letters on the Occasion and the crisis of Berlin Jewry 137 SETTING OF THE ‘LETTERS ON OCCASION’ 138 THE ARGUMENT OF SCHLEIERMACHER’S LETTERS 142 CIVIL ACCOMMODATION AMID RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES 151 Chapter 6 A proposal for a new Berlin university 154 THE SETTING OF OCCASIONAL THOUGHTS 156 SCHLEIERMACHER ON THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSITY 164 THE DRIVE TO KNOW AS IT RELATES TO THE STATE 166 BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND RESEARCH ACADEMIES: THE GERMAN SENSE OF A UNIVERSITY 169 FURTHER (NON-FICHTEAN) THOUGHTS ON THE UNIVERSITY 172 PHILOSOPHICAL (ARTS AND SCIENCES) VERSUS PROFESSIONAL FACULTIES 174 CONCLUSION 178 Chapter 7 Schleiermacher and the theology of bourgeois society: a critique of the critics 183 FROM CULTURAL ACCOMMODATION TO BOURGEOIS THEOLOGY 186 SCHLEIERMACHER’S SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT 191 THEOLOGIAN IN A TIME OF TURMOIL 199 Part III Textual readings and milestones 207 Chapter 8 Schleiermacher’s theory of language: the ubiquity of a romantic text 209 Chapter 9 Shaping an academic discipline: the Brief Outline on the Study of Theology 221 CONTEXT OF THE “BRIEF OUTLINE” 223 LOCATING AND DEFINING THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY 226 APPREHENDING THE CHURCH IN TIME AND PLACE 228 LEADING AND GOVERNING THE CHURCH IN THE PRESENT 235 APPRAISING THE MODEL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDY 237 Chapter 10 Rhetoric and substance in Schleiermacher’s revision of The Christian Faith (1821–1822) 240 SCHLEIERMACHER AS REDACTOR 242 REVISIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 248 CONCLUSION 259 Chapter 11 On Religion as a religious classic: hermeneutical musings after two hundred years 262 TWO CENTURIES OF INTERPRETATION 262 Type 1 He shaped my life, but he is basically wrong 264 Type 2 More Spinozist than Christian, more naturalist than theist 266 Type 3 A romantic and subjective work, but unstable as philosophy 268 Type 4 His idea of the numinous shapes the field of Religious Studies 271 Type 5 His Romantic literary theory effectively grounds the individual’s reflective self-consciousness within prereflective awareness 274 THE LIMITATIONS OF RECEPTION HISTORY 278 References 285 SECONDARY WORKS 285 Index 288 Friedrich Schleiermacher's groundbreaking work in theology and philosophy was forged in the cultural ferment of Berlin at the convergence of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The three sections of this book include illuminating sketches of Schleiermacher's relationship to contemporaries (Mendelssohn, Hegel and Kierkegaard), his work as public theologian (dialogue on Jewish emancipation, founding the University of Berlin) as well as the formation and impact of his two most famous books, On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers and The Christian Faith. Richard Crouter examines Schleiermacher's stance regarding the status of doctrine, Church and political authority, and the place of theology among the academic disciplines. Dedicated to the Protestant Church in the line of Calvin, Schleiermacher was equally a man of the university who brought the highest standards of rationality, linguistic sensitivity and a sense of history to bear upon religion. Richard Crouter illustrates how Schleiermacher's work draws from both the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The book's three sections include illuminating sketches of Schleiermacher's relationship to contemporaries, his work as a public theologian, and the formation and impact of his two most famous books, On Religion and The Christian Faith In his monumental yet never completed (or translated) biography, Life of Schleiermacher (1870), Wilhelm Dilthey maintained that, unlike Kant, Schleiermacher's significance can only be grasped through his biography.

richard Crouter Illustrates How Schleiermacher's Life Work Draws From The Enlightenment And Romanticism.