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Understanding Of Religion And Its Association Of Christianity Essay

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Known as the “father of modern liberal theology,” Friedrich Schleiermacher was a German theologian, philosopher and biblical scholar who directed 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 settle the criticisms of the Enlightenment with conventional Protestant Christianity (Crouter 261). By doing so, he abandoned the pietistic Moravian theology that had neglected to gratify his growing reservations and he embraced the sensible outlook of Christian Wolff and Johann Salomo Semler. He then became accustomed with the methods of historical criticism of the New Testament and of Johann Augustus Eberhard, from whom he attained an adoration of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. Consequently, he began applying thoughts from the Greek thinkers to a reform of Immanuel Kant’s system (Mariña 3). On this basis, this essay will articulate Friedrich Schleiermacher’s understanding of religion and its association to Christianity as expressed 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 refutation of three notions of religion held by the despisers, clarify his recognition of the true religion with feeling and describe his understanding of the association involving religion and Christianity.
REFUTATION OF VIEWS OF RELIGION HELD BY

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