The following essay shall consider the given extract from Schleiermacher’s “On Religion; Speeches to its Cultured Despisers”. Schleiermacher’s fifth and final speech explores the range of religions presentations viewed across the world and how this impacts the idea of the plurality of God. Not only this but in his conclusion, Schleiermacher puts forward the idea that Christianity can be viewed as separate from all other religions as the most accurate form of religion, and his reasons for this will take up the majority of this essay 's discussion.
While the following essay will focus on this discussion of the essence of Christianity, it is important to note that Schleiermacher recognises that there is the possibility, and reality, of
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This understanding of Schleiermacher’s religion will become important in our later discussion of the value of Christianity.
Furthermore, it is important to note that Christianity is not a religion, it is a form of religion. Schleiermacher understands all religions as pointing towards the same deity and essence, and so only values Christianity for its ability to more accurately portray the feeling of religion. Schleiermacher explains religion as an intuition towards the infinite, which has a strong connection to feeling, religion’s essence is neither thinking nor acting but “intuition and feeling” (Schleiermacher, 1799). Meaning that religion is “feeling which gives reality to knowledge and substance to morals” (Schleiermacher, 1799), this is important as it shows that what Schleiermacher values in a religion is that it adequately acts as intuition towards the infinite.
Now that one has discussed what it is Schleiermacher understands religion is and why he values it as a whole, one can consider why he values Christianity specifically. Schleiermacher values Christianity as a form of religion because the heart of Christianity is transcendence, wanting us all to be individual from the world. “The original intuition of Christianity is more glorious, more sublime, more worthy of adult humanity, more deeply penetrating into the spirit of systematic religion, and extending farther over the whole universe” (Schleiermacher, 1799, p115) meaning that
Rauschenbusch believes that theology has “lost its contact with the synoptic thought of Jesus” (133). While
The father of liberal theology, Schleiermacher, made “passivity” the most important qualifier. He took the concept a step further and proposed that the “essence of religion is the feeling of absolute dependence” and this approach was supported by scholars such as Rudolf Otto, who defined religious experience as “wholly other”.
Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.
Christianity is a faith based religious tradition, of which the follower is considered to be a Christian adherent. Thus, being a living tradition, Christianity is continually subject to change in accordance to the needs of the adherent and reaffirming the Christian tradition within a contemporary context. The aspects, which attribute the present existence of Christianity and its dynamism therein, include sacred texts and writings, ritual and ceremonies, beliefs and believers, and ethics. Ultimately, the aforementioned characteristics strive to form and continually validate answers to the enduring questions of life through a process of change, which simultaneously highlights Christianity as a living tradition.
When you think “Christian Worldview,” what comes to mind? I know I automatically think; God, Jesus, Christians, and Prayer. As I have learned through my Christian Worldview class, I have learned that there is a lot more to it and this paper will provide you with what I have learned. Throughout this assignment, I will explain about God, Humanity, Jesus, restoration, my analysis of the Christian Faith, and my reflection.
The Bible and its text is trustworthy and reliable to its fullest, but on this journey in seeking the word of God can using it in how daily life is where arises an important question; How now is to understand the idea of the ‘Word of God” and its implications for how Christian theology is to be done. Karl Barth (1886-1968) a Swiss Protestant theologian who is one of the most substantial and influential recent works of Christian Theology in the twentieth century. In this text analysis of one of Barth teaching he breaks down in explaining what he means by “reflection” on the Word of God. Barth first address this three part: “the Word of God in a First Address in which God himself and God alone is the speaker, in a second address in which the
Henry, M. (2003). I am the truth: toward a philosophy of Christianity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.
For the Life of the World authored by Fr. Alexander Schmemann an Orthodox priest was originally intended as a “study guide” in the 1970’s for students preparing themselves for Missionary work, giving them a “world view”, helping to speak about Christian view points along with an approach to how they coalesce through the eyes of the Orthodox Church. A key theme Fr. Schmemann discussed is Secularism, which he believes developed from our progressive alienation of the Christian culture. Additionally, he presents his interpretation of the transforming biblical themes of creation, fall, and redemption through a sacramental understanding. Fr. Schmemann’s experiences within the Orthodox Church liturgy reveal unity in the meanings of these three themes. It is through these understandings he believes can effectively offset the disastrous effects of secularism while revitalizing the sacramental understanding of the world.
The purpose of this book is meant to create a foundation for Christian lifestyles. It addresses the origin of Christian values, and portrays the evolution of Christian worldviews throughout history. It briefly explains the biblical narrative and develops ideas in which Christians are able to live out their faith and deal with other worldviews existing in our world today.
The first two speeches of On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers distinguish Schleiermacher as the father of Protestant Liberal Theology, at the very least (Schleiermacher 1996, xiv, xi). The First Speech is "Defence" (Schleiermacher 1996, 1-25) and the Second Speech is "The Nature of Religion" (Schleiermacher 1996, 26-118). Reacting to the orthodoxy, enlightened rationality and detachment, and neoclassical ideals of his time (Schleiermacher 1996, xiv, xvi), Schleiermacher used some established concepts to articulate a newer, liberal approach
The history of religion continues to play an important role in defining why certain aspects of religion are the way they are today. Understanding religion’s history can also help one appreciate the importance, value, and determination that certain individuals went through in order for that particular religion to gain freedom and acceptance in society. Throughout history, Christianity has shown exactly this. By learning about its history, one can gain an understanding of how it emerged into being one of the most popular religions in the world. Furthermore, better understanding of the religion, both historically and contemporarily, can help dispel any negative preconceived notions about Christianity.
Known as the father of modern liberal theology, Friedrich Schleiermacher was a German theologian, philosopher and biblical scholar who focused his attention on the nature of religious experience from the viewpoint of the individual and human nature itself (Mariña 3). Influenced by German Romanticism, Schleiermacher attempted to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant Christianity (Crouter 261). By doing so, he abandoned the pietistic Moravian theology that had failed to satisfy his increasing doubts and he adopted the rational spirit of Christian Wolff and Johann Salomo Semler. He then became acquainted with the techniques of historical criticism of the New Testament and of Johann Augustus Eberhard, from whom he acquired a love of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. As a result, he began applying ideas from the Greek philosophers to a reconstruction of Immanuel Kant’s system (Mariña 3). On this basis, this essay articulate Friedrich Schleiermacher’s understanding of religion and its relationship to Christianity as described in Speech I: Defense and Speech II: The Nature of Religion of his work On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers. The essay will explore Schleiermacher’s rejection of various views of religion held by the despisers, explain his identification of the true religion with feeling and describe his view of the relationship between religion and Christianity.
Although remembered by many as foremost a philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard was quite the theologian in his time, with his own unique approach to theology and Christianity in general. In a time that was ruled by objective methodology in every aspect of acquiring and summarizing knowledge, Kierkegaard sought to bring Christianity back into the realm of the subjective, thereby making it much more interactive and personal. What this paper focuses on is Kierkegaard’s requirement of sacrifice that all Christians must be willing to make in order to be considered true Christians, followed by both a critique and a praise for his contagious notion.
According to Panikkar, a religion is the totality of the means through which humanity builds its own way back to God. Similarly, Schelling calls the three prime principles embodied in our religious images "steps and pegs", having a "propedeutical role" to reach back to God. Accordingly, we can think of the theogonical process as the perfecting of of our understanding of these steps and pegs. Furthermore, we have to remember how Schelling explains monotheism and the Trinity by reading them together with the history of non-Christian religions. Hence, Schelling’s assessment of the Christian religion can be described as an account of how Christianity brings its soteriological means and religious symbols to a complete form. Subsequently, other
In this essay, I will try to summarize, analyze and discuss several pages of Søren Kierkegaard’s Training in Christianity. I will try to focus on his approach to sacred history, a general Christian history and Christianity, which he discusses in this work in relation to faith in God. In other parts of this essay I will attempt also to relate these pages of his work to some key ideas of Kierkegaard’s theology and philosophy and support this with some concrete quotations from the text. In the end I will very briefly compare different philosophies of Hegel and Kierkegaard and try to relate Kierkegaard’s work to a few topics, which