Der christliche Glaube(often calledGlaubenslehre) has had a formative
influence on modern theology. We willfirst look at thefinal and
definitive version of this work, as published in 1830. A short compari-
son with thefirst edition of the work (1821/2) will then be made.
A contemporary and colleague of Hegel, Schleiermacher is closer to
the individualist leanings of Romanticism than to Hegel’s social phil-
osophy. One of Schleiermacher’s basic concepts is ‘the feeling of
absolute dependence’, a human religious experience that needs to
be considered as the primary event which prompts later theological
reflection. This concept is of fundamental importance in Schleierma-
cher’s dogmatics.^147
Der christliche Glaubeconsists of numbered paragraphs in which
the theological position isfirst presented as a statement, then followed
by a detailed discussion. The feeling of absolute dependence is dealt
with in §33. Interestingly, the statement highlights the event of
recognition:
All so-called proofs of God’s existence are replaced in dogmatics with
the recognition that this feeling of absolute dependence, in which our
self-consciousness represents thefinitude of being in general, is not
something accidental or individually different but a general element
of life.^148This statement is elucidated in the discussion part as follows:‘Dog-
matics must always assume the immediate certainty, the faith. When
the consciousness about God in general is concerned, dogmatics
should not aim at its being recognized but only develop its content.’^149
Earlier, in discussing the phenomenon of ignoring God, Schleierma-
cher remarks that all religious groups may come to the recognition that
such ignorance exemplifies the bondage of the feeling of absolute
dependence.^150
In these passages, Schleiermacher does not define the concept of
recognition as such, but his understanding is nevertheless clearly that
religious recognition is not something that can be argued and subse-
quently adopted. Instead of such a rationalist a posteriori approach,
theology needs to proceed from the revealed truths that are in turn
(^147) Vial 2013 offers a basic introduction to Schleiermacher. Marina 2009,
esp. 216–17, discusses some issues of recognition and love. All translations from the
Glaubenslehreare my own.
(^148) Der christliche Glaube, §33, 205.
(^149) Der christliche Glaube, §33, 210. (^150) Der christliche Glaube, §33, 207–8.
144 Recognition and Religion