Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834)
German philosopher-theologian, author of numerous
works, including
On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers (1799), which aimed to reconcile Enlightenment
criticisms of religion with Protestant Christianity. Schleiermacher's
ideas remain influential -- c.f. Eric Reitan's
Is
God a Delusion?: A Reply to Religion’s Cultured Despisers
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2008). Schleiermacher's ideas were later challenged by those of
Protestant theologian Karl Barth (d.1968).
“Religion neither seeks metaphysics to determine or explain
the nature of the Universe, nor like morals to advance and
perfect the Universe by the power of freedom and the divine will
of man. It is neither thinking nor acting, but intuition and
feeling. It will regard the Universe as it is. It is reverent
attention and submission, in child-like passivity, to be stirred
and filled by the Universe's immediate influences." (On
Religion, p.277) |
