Mysticism and Metaphysics: Schleiermacher and a Historical-Theology Trajectory (original) (raw)
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A ‘Positive Science:’ Internal and External Description in Schleiermacher’s Theology
In his Types of Christian Theology and elsewhere, Hans Frei positively appraises the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher. Frei declares that along with the theology of Karl Barth, Schleiermacher's work "best exhibit[s] both the possibilities and the problems of significant second-order restatement of the tradition of the major hermeneutical and theological consensus in Western Christianity." 1 Frei's analysis, in part because it placed him at odds with others who ostensibly shared his theological instincts, 2 has contributed somewhat to the maintenance and rehabilitation of Schleiermacher's reputation-that is, when it has been noticed at all.
A Review of Deutungen des Subjekts: Schleiermachers Philosophie der Religion by Peter Grove
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principle, the trinitarian worldview is not always as self-evident in discussions of pluralism as Schwöbel assumes. In fact, the task of Christian theology in the wider circumstance of contemporary pluralism is precisely the study of trinitarian faith in devotional gestures, in liturgical practices, and in the daily lives of Christians determining the meaning of their faith in dynamic relation to the three persons of the one God. The Christian faith can be seen in the light of heavenly ordained individuality when the Trinity is brought down to earth in embodied relationships. Empirical determination of the concept requires a listening to the vibrations, tones, and moods of the experience of faith. A theology responsible to the emerging differentiation of religious experience must open its eyes to those experiences located in regions outside a male-dominated, primarily German and North American context. Yes, German Protestantism is the cradle of Protestant concept formation with world-historical consequences. Nevertheless, the cultivation of theological readership lies precisely with the inclusion of dialogue partners beyond one's linguistic purview. It is here where Schwöbel gravely fails the test of pluralism. A brief look at his index of names reveals his almost exclusive indebtedness to the European male tradition, with a few transatlantic forays. The omission of female scholars and theologians emerging from non-European traditions is glaring. Even the three references to 'my wife' (meine Frau) in the preface are only once met with a concretization of her name (Marlene). Enough is enough! Theological writing on pluralism demands an ethical opening of the field of dialogue partners. Whatever the specific reason-whether mutual enrichment of positions, demonstration of ethical respect, a gesture to epistemological modesty, or the goal of persuasion-a theology responsible to the contemporary context cannot continue to select its conversants from within a tradition privileged by history's continency. Rather than assuming readership, invitation should be the privileged ethic. Schwöbel's book may best be thought of as a resource for learning the concepts necessary for passing theological German. At the most, it launches a challenge to contemporary theologians to pay earnest attention to the adequacy of form and language to content. Christian faith is alive in many contexts, and its concepts shimmer with many facets of meaning. When regarded from this perspective, Christianity has something to live, so that theology has something to talk about.
Theology, Metaphysics, and Science: Twenty-First Century Hermeneutical Allies, Strangers, or Enemies
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Most of the readers who are about to read this article certainly expect that the main challenge towards theology formulated here will commence from sophisticated scientic arguments. To their surprise, just the opposite will happen. Doing theology is by all means a noble task in itself but, ultimately, the exposition and explanation of the revealed truths should lead to the strengthening of faith. In other words, the measure of theology is whether by providing a profound intellectual grasp of the Divine it is able to win converts. Theology must lead to the encounter of the living and transforming God, if it fails achieve this it becomes like abstract mathematics: it treats of lofty things that hardly anyone understands but unlike mathematics stands no chance of nding a respectable application.
Theology as a Science: An Historical and Linguistic Approach A Position Paper By
Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry, 2019
PREVIEW ONLY: READ THE FULL TEXT HERE: https://doi.org/10.33929/sherm.2019.vol1.no2.07 This article argues that, given the historical and linguistic background of the terms involved, the study of theology can, in fact, be considered a scientific endeavor, but one must clearly note what is inferred by the term "scientific." Historically, the term "science" or "scientific" has dealt with the realm of knowledge of both the natural and supranatural world. The question of whether theology should be classified as a science arose during the formation of the medieval universities in the thirteenth century, as well as the formation of modern German universities in the nineteenth century. Theologians from Aquinas to Schleiermacher argued that theology should be considered a science and, therefore, a proper subject of study in the university. The affirmation of theology as a science in this article is based on this historical survey, as well as the broader linguistic understanding of the term "science."
Between faith and belief: toward a contemporary phenomenology of religious life, by Joeri Schrijvers, Albany, SUNY Press, 2016, 380 pp., $90 (hardcover), Between Faith and Belief builds significantly on Schrijvers's earlier work Ontotheological Turnings? 1 In his earlier work, Schrijvers argues that traces of ontotheology remain among French phenomenologists like Lacoste, Marion, and Levinas who expressly sought to overcome metaphysics. While this is a pointed critique, Schrijvers interprets this 'ontotheological turn' constructively. Previous attempts to overcome metaphysics have prematurely presupposed that metaphysics can actually be overcome. They have thereby overlooked, à la Reiner Schürmann, that ontotheology is an existential-ontological problem since there is 'a natural metaphysician in each of us'. It is on this point that Between Faith and Belief begins and builds. Not for the purpose of affirming and reasserting traditional metaphysics, but rather to develop an alternative ontology that gives an account of this proclivity for metaphysics while attentive to those contemporary critiques of ontotheology that led to its collapse. Schrijvers discovers an alternative ontology in the work of the Swiss psychiatrist and existential phenomenologist, Ludwig Binswanger, whose description of Dasein plays a decisive role in what Schrijvers calls an 'ontology incarnate'. Whereas contemporary attempts to overcome metaphysics inadvertently conceive faith at the expense of finitude as an other-worldly, mystical insight or inclination known only for the percipient, Schrijvers and Binswanger conceive love phenomenologically as 'being-beyond-the-world-in-theworld' (über die Welt hinaus sein) so that everyday, finite experience (from a simple salutation to friendship to the lover's embrace) opens up within finitude the possibility for an experience of the infinite for all people in many diverse ways and degrees.