The purpose of this study is to explore Schleiermacher’s academic characteristic and academic methods, and to evaluate his theology through his major work, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers (1799).
The academic characteristic of the E...
The purpose of this study is to explore Schleiermacher’s academic characteristic and academic methods, and to evaluate his theology through his major work, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers (1799).
The academic characteristic of the Enlightenment finds its roots in reason. And the academic characteristic of practical philosophy of Immanuel Kant is rooted in the praxis-moral. In On Religion, Schleiermacher points out the limitation of the methods, that is the reason rooted in the Enlightenment and the praxis-moral by Kant. In his opinion, on the premise that religion is to approach the Infinite, he suggests that only a single method such as reason or practice alone cannot approach the Infinite. Therefore, to discuss religion, he states that his academic characteristic is based on human nature which includes reason, praxis-moral, sensuality, and intellect, not an independent method such as enlightenment according to Kant. Hence, his method is assessed as the best humanistic approach, inherited from the Enlightenment, because it not only overcame the limitation of reason or practice, but also included even the methods of reason and practice.
Schleiermacher’s academic methods consist of religious intuition (Anschauung) and religious feeling (Gefühl). He says that religious intuition and religious feeling are inseparable. Religious feeling does not exist alone and is dependent on religious intuition, and intuition is based on human nature and does not deny the methods of reason and praxis-moral. Rather, because religious intuition comes from the holistic human nature, which includes reason, praxis or moral, sensuality, and intellect, it includes methods of reason or practice. Hence, his academic methods, intuition and feeling, come from the holistic human nature and include all of the Enlightenment methods and Kant’s method.
Regarding Schleiermacher’s theology, it is located on the extension of the enlightenment theology and its groundwork is not revelation but human nature. In On Religion, he defined the Bible not as the Word of God and special revelation, but as document reflecting the fruit of human nature and the age. Hence, he argued that the Bible is not an invaluable record for those who do not develop human nature. This is understandable that he inherited the ideas of the Enlightenment concerning the Bible. However, a difference is the standard of biblical understanding that is not rooted in the reason of the Enlightenment, but human nature which includes reason.
Regarding Christology, Schleiermacher identified Christ not as God but as a perfect human being having God-consciousness (Gottesbewußtsein). Due to the characteristics of God-consciousness, Christ was able to be an intercessor and was approved as God’s son. In addition, by defining Christ’s intercession as an awakening of an incomplete human nature, he excluded redemptive work from Christ’s work. Hence, his Christology is located in the flow of the historical Jesus studies and it reveals that the standard of judgment about Christ shifted from human reason to human nature.
In conclusion, how can Schleiermacher’s approach of human nature contribute to Reformed churches in the 21st century? Reformed theology viewed religion as “the right manner of knowing and serving the true God” which consists of objective religion and subjective religion. In particular, given that subjective religion is a response of a man who was changed by the Holy Spirit, Schleiermacher’s concept of human nature is not appropriate. From the viewpoint of Reformed theology, human nature is totally depraved, corrupt and not dependent upon God’s revelation. However, we can partly accept his suggestions of the human nature approach, including practice and reason, under the premise of human nature changed by the Holy Spirit. It is appropriate for theologians to seek for a viewpoint not only depending on practice and reason but having a holistic understanding of human nature's approach to God.