individual enjoys. The doctrine of the common spirit leads to the
appreciation of collective life. In this transforming life, individuality is
not dissolved but it is pressed into the service of the collective.^176
While it would be anachronistic to claim that Schleiermacher has
both a politics of universalism and a politics of difference, he does
attempt to make some room for both collective and individual
dimensions of human consciousness. As the basic underlying idea
of the feeling of absolute dependence shows, both of these dimensions
are fundamentally heteronomous. The attempt resembles Hegel to
some extent.
In sum, Schleiermacher employs the term recognition only rarely,
though in significant passages of his dogmatics. This phenomenon
is already apparent in the first edition of Der christliche Glaube
(1821/2). As the second edition of 1830 is the received text in later
Protestant dogmatics, we have treated it at some length. Regarding the
idea of recognition, thefirst edition formulates similar thoughts in a
condensed fashion. The link with the feeling of absolute dependence
is put this way:‘The recognition that this feeling of dependence is
the essential condition of life replaces for us all proofs of God’s
existence; they have no place in our method.’^177 Accordingly, the task
of dogmatics consists in‘developing the content of the recognized
consciousness of God’.^178
The leading statement on justification in 1821/2 is very close to
thefinal form of 1830; in the earlier text, however, recognition is
expressed in the passive:‘That God justifies the human being means
that his sins are forgiven and he is recognized as a child of God.
However, justificationtakesplaceonlyinsofarasthehumanbeing
has true faith in the Redeemer.’^179 The reason why conversion is not
mentioned explicitly here is that in thefirst edition conversion only
comes after justification. The explanation of the article on justifica-
tion in thefirst edition starts with a consideration of the differences
between Protestant and Roman Catholic teaching. Schleiermacher
is irenic and considers that the Roman Catholic doctrine consists
of both declarative justification and sanctification and that both
(^176) Der christliche Glaube, §124, 292–3.
(^177) Der christliche Glaube(1821/2), §38, 127.
(^178) Der christliche Glaube(1821/2), §38, 128.
(^179) Der christliche Glaube(1821/2), §129, 108.
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