Page Range
137-158
Keywords
Schleiermacher, theological method, religious feeling
Abstract
What Friedrich Schleiermacher is most known for is his theological method of deriving doctrine from religious experience. He believed that religious piety is to be found in the “feeling of absolute dependence”, and all subsequent doctrines must be discovered through reflection upon religious experience. Understanding and critiquing Schleiermacher’s theological method requires examining his theological influences, his “feeling of absolute dependence,” and a few examples from his systematic theology. In the end, Schleiermacher’s theological method is ingenious but misguided because it is based on a faulty religious epistemology of human experience. What is needed instead is an objective standard of truth from outside of human nature–namely, God’s revelation found in the Bible.
Recommended Citation
Ballard, Jordan P.. 2022. "The Theological Method of Friedrich Schleiermacher." Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal 6, (2). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol6/iss2/7
Included in
Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons