The Beginning of the Modern Era
To some degree the nineteenth century is a continuation of
the original passion of the Reformation, after a two century
lull. Much of the unfinished business of the reformed thinkers
such as Martin Luther and John Calvin was moved forward on the
agenda after a post-Reformation scholasticism that tended to
close the doors on creative theological thought. Yet the modern
age was distinctively modern. New developments in science and
philosophy as well as the political and economic development
of peoples and cultures were forward-looking and not mere reproductions
of patterns already laid down. It was a creative, dynamic time.
For Christian thought the modern age up to the close of World
War I provided the presuppositions on which later developments
can be evaluated. The breakup of traditional theological axioms
whether in doctrine, biblical studies, or in the interpretation
of church history required a radical reconsideration of both
the heritage and destiny of Christianity.
To select just one representative for each of the major new
theological developments of the modern age would in itself make
an impressive roll call. Philosophy in Immanuel Kant, dogmatics
in Friedrich Schleiermacher, David Strauss in Biblical Criticism,
Adolph von Harnack in Church History, William James in the psychology
of religion, the social gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch, to mention
only a few of the obvious---these were the fermenting spirits
of an exhilarating century.
(the marginal characters are Adam and Eve who provide
running commentary on each cartoon)
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804 C.E.)
In 1788 Kant addressed the ethical question in his Critique
of Practical Reason. The nature of the good is posited on freedom,
he argued (I can, therefore, I must), and this issues in a categorical
imperative such as the rigorous assertion: “I must act in
such a way that I can at the same time will that my maxim should
become a universal law.” An important corollary of Kant's
ethics was related to theology, for since goodness and justice
are required and yet seldom prevail in human society, there must
be a God who, as moral arbitrator and divine judge, undergirds
and authenticates the categorical imperative, if not now, then
hereafter.
Kant's last significant work was published in 1793 under the
title: Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone. In this work
Kant was once again drawn into the philosophy of religion dialogue.
Of no great importance for subsequent philosophy, this little
book was substantially influential in shaping the direction which
nineteenth theology was to take. Here both the rational and
ethical concerns of Kant merge in an interpretation of religion,
and of Christianity in particular, which was as ingenious as
it was controversial.
Schleiermacher (1768-1834 C.E.)
The fame of Schleiermacher is usually attributed to two major
theological works written some twenty years apart and in many
ways quite different. The first work bore the descriptive, if
somewhat cumbersome, title On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured
Despisers (1799). It was a series of rambling essays growing
out of his association with the Romantic movement which prided
itself on cultural sophistication and intellectual humanism.
Schleiermacher had much in common with this spirit, but it pained
him sorely that religion, for no good reason, was largely disdained
by his friends, even as a topic of conversation.
Arguing firmly and politely, Schleiermacher sought to make
a place for religious discussion. He was not the least concerned
to defend dogma or even to put the Christian religion above other
religions. He felt instinctively, however, that religious emotion,
at the sublime level manifested its own integrity.
Twenty years later Schleiermacher published a substantial
work on systematic theology known simply as The Christian Faith
(1820-1821; 2nd edition 1830-1831). It was the first creatively
original structure of doctrine since John Calvin's Institutes,
three hundred years earlier. Drawing upon biblical criticism
and the classic Christian tradition enshrined in the evangelical
Reformation creeds, Schleiermacher sought to re-present the Christian
faith in such a way as to retain the living tradition and at
the same time to move ahead into the new day.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855 C.E.)
Standing with both feet in the nineteenth century and speaking
to his own time, Kierkegaard was not heeded until a hundred years
later. He seems, in retrospect, to have been born prematurely;
most of his contemporaries ignored him or put him down as a crank,
a fanatic. He wrote in Danish, a minor European language, adopted
cryptic literary devices such as pseudonyms, scorned and ridiculed
all accepted conventions of his day---it is perhaps no wonder
that recognition was late in coming. Yet the influence of this
eccentric thinker become so pervasive in later philosophical
and theological thought, that without him the current status
of either is unintelligible.
Soren Kierkegaard was born in Copenhagen in 1813 and died
in his birthplace at the early age of forty-two. His life was
a riddle; his relationship with his stern, moralistic father
disturbed him deeply; his broken marriage engagement haunted
him; his critical diatribes against church and state isolated
him. Turning to writing as a career and an outlet for his views,
he became a prolific author of a series of books, monographs,
and articles in an almost endless variety of literary forms.
On the basis of his authorship, Kierkegaard could easily qualify
as a novelist, essayist, satirist, philosopher, humorist, theologian,
psychologist, journalist, sociologist, poet.
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