Church History, Volume 3 (of 3)Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
History
Church History, Volume 3 (of 3)
Kurtz, J. H. (Johann Heinrich)
Church history
completed Bible will ever succeed in overcoming this prejudice
remains to be seen.[530]
§ 182. PROTESTANT THEOLOGY IN GERMANY.
The real founder of modern Protestant theology, the Origen of the
nineteenth century, is Schleiermacher. His influence was so powerful
and manysided that it extended not merely to his own school, but
also in almost all directions, even to the Catholic church, embracing
destructive and constructive tendencies such as appeared before
in Origen and Erigena. Alongside of the vulgar rationalism, which
still had notable representatives, De Wette founded the new school
of historico-critical rationalism, and Neander that of pietistic
supernaturalism, which soon overshadowed the two older schools of
rational and supra-rational supernaturalism. On the basis of Schelling’s
and Hegel’s philosophy Daub founded the school of speculative theology
with an evangelical tendency; but after Hegel’s death it split into
a right and left wing. As the former could not maintain its position,
its adherents by-and-by went over to other schools; and the latter,
setting aside speculation and dogmatics, applied itself to the critical
investigation of the early history of Christianity, and founded the
school of Baur at Tübingen. Schleiermacher’s school also split into a
right and left wing. Each of them took the union as its standard; but
the right, which claimed to be the “German” and the “Modern” theology,
wished a union under a consensus of the confessions, and sought to
effect an accommodation between the old faith and the modern liberalism;
whereas the left wished union without a confession, and unconditioned
toleration of “free science.” This latter tendency, however, secured
greater prominence and importance from A.D. 1854, through combination
with the representatives of the historico-critical and the younger
generation of the Baurian school, from which originated the “free
Protestant” theology. On the other hand, under the influence of pietism,
there has arisen since A.D. 1830, especially in the universities
of Erlangen, Leipzig, Rostock, and Dorpat, a Lutheran confessional
school, which seeks to develop a Lutheran system of theology of the
type of Gerhard and Bengel. A similar tendency has also shown itself
in the Reformed church. The most recent theological school is that
founded by Ritschl, resting on a Lutheran basis but regarded by the
confessionalists as rather allied to the “free Protestant” theology,
on account of its free treatment of certain fundamental doctrines of
Lutheranism.--Theological contributions from Scandinavia, England,
and Holland are largely indebted to German theology.
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