The Religions Book

243

Romanticism valued emotion

above reason and the senses above

the intellect. The movement found

expression in the art, literature, and

philosophy of the early 19th century.

While both Catholic and Protestant
denominations of the Church
insisted that their faith in divine
revelation was well placed, it
seemed obvious to many that the
results of experiment and reason
were far more reliable. Difficult
questions were soon being asked
that would shake the foundations
of Christian belief across the
modern Western world, and by the
end of the 18th century the Church
was in danger of losing popular
support as people increasingly
doubted the rationality and
relevance of the Christian faith.
In response, Christian thinkers
needed to articulate, in a radically
new way, how religion and science,
faith and reason, could coexist.

From facts to feelings
This new era of Christianity was
heralded by the German theologian
Friedrich Schleiermacher (see
right). While working as a hospital
chaplain in Berlin, he had come
into contact with Romanticism,

a cultural movement that had

been born out of a reaction against

what was perceived as the soulless

rationalism of the Enlightenment.

The Romantics emphasized

the importance of feelings and

emotions in human life at a time

when ideas and objects in the

world were being valued purely

for their scientific credibilty and

usefulness. Schleiermacher realized

that as long as Christian belief

was assessed according to the

same criteria and at the same level

as scientific knowledge, it would be

considered unreasonable. Instead

of trying to prove the truth of

Christianity as though it were

a scientific theory (as many of his

predecessors had), he translated

it into the realm of feelings, as

championed by the Romantics. ❯❯

See also: The Protestant Reformation 230–37 ■ The compatibilty of faith 291
■ Jewish Science 333 ■ The Church of Christ (Scientist) 337

CHRISTIANITY

Friedrich

Schleiermacher

Friedrich Schleiermacher was

born in 1768 in Breslau (then

Prussian Silesia), the son of a

reformed clergyman. He was

educated by the Moravian

Brethren, a strict Pietist sect,

before moving to the more

liberal University of Halle to

study theology and philosophy

(focusing in particular on the

work of Kant). When he moved

to Berlin in 1796, he was

introduced to key members

of the Romantic movement.

Schleiermacher became a

professor of theology at Berlin

University in 1810. When he

died in 1834, his radical

reinterpretation of doctrine

had given rise to a completely

new form of theology known

as theological liberalism,

which would be a dominant

intellectual force in Europe

and the United States for

a century.

Key works

1799 On Religion: Speeches

to its Cultured Despisers,

Schleiermacher’s most radical

work on theology.

1821–22 The Christian Faith,

Schleiermacher’s major work

of systematic theology.