140-515: Christianity • Protestantism Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher ( German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃlaɪɐˌmaxɐ] ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed theologian , philosopher , and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant Christianity . He also became influential in the evolution of higher criticism , and his work forms part of
280-631: A Jewish Christian sect with Hellenistic influence of Second Temple Judaism . An early Jewish Christian community was founded in Jerusalem under the leadership of the Pillars of the Church , namely James the Just , the brother of Jesus, Peter , and John. Jewish Christianity soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, posing a problem for its Jewish religious outlook , which insisted on close observance of
420-584: A Moravian school at Niesky in Upper Lusatia , and at Barby near Magdeburg . However, pietistic Moravian theology failed to satisfy his increasing doubts, and his father reluctantly gave him permission to enter the University of Halle , which had already abandoned pietism and adopted the rationalist spirit of Christian Wolff and Johann Salomo Semler . As a theology student, Schleiermacher pursued an independent course of reading and neglected
560-452: A description of the actual forms of the triumphs of reason, of the moral power manifested therein and of the specific methods employed. Every moral good or product has a fourfold character: it is individual and universal; it is an organ and symbol of the reason, that is, it is the product of the individual with relation to the community, and represents or manifests as well as classifies and rules nature. The first two characteristics provide for
700-542: A few scriptures overlapping with the developing orthodox canon, most Gnostic texts and Gnostic gospels were eventually considered heretical and suppressed by mainstream Christians. A gradual splitting off of Gentile Christianity left Jewish Christians continuing to follow the Law of Moses , including practices such as circumcision. By the fifth century, they and the Jewish–Christian gospels would be largely suppressed by
840-455: A focus on how people understand texts in general. He was interested in interpreting Scripture, but he thought one could do so properly only after establishing a system of interpretation that was applicable to all texts. This process was not a systematic or strictly philological approach, but what he called "the art of understanding." Schleiermacher viewed a text as a vehicle that an author used to communicate thoughts that he had had before creating
980-460: A new and greatly-altered edition of his Christlicher Glaube , anticipating the latter in two letters to his friend Gottfried Lücke (in the Studien und Kritiken , 1829) in which he defended his theological position generally and his book in particular against opponents on both the right and the left. The same year, Schleiermacher lost his only son, Nathaniel (1820–1829), a blow that he said "drove
1120-454: A part of religion; one can conceive of a religion without God, and it would be pure contemplation of the universe; the desire for personal immortality seems rather to show a lack of religion, since religion assumes a desire to lose oneself in the infinite, rather than to preserve one's own finite self. Schleiermacher's concept of church has been contrasted with J.S. Semler's . The Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck , deeply concerned with
1260-670: A philosopher he was a leader of German Romanticism . Schleiermacher is considered the most important Protestant theologian between John Calvin and Karl Barth. Born in Breslau in Prussian Silesia as the grandson of Daniel Schleiermacher, a pastor at one time associated with the Zionites , and the son of Gottlieb Schleiermacher, a Reformed Church chaplain in the Prussian army, Schleiermacher started his formal education in
1400-466: A reader to understand an author. Part of the art of understanding is the art of avoiding misunderstanding. Schleiermacher identifies two forms of misunderstanding. Qualitative misunderstanding is a failure of grammatical interpretation— failing to understand the language of the text— "the confusion of the meaning of a word for another." Quantitative misunderstanding a failure of technical/psychological interpretation— misunderstanding
1540-559: A reputation as professor and preacher and exercised a powerful influence in spite of charges of atheism, Spinozism and pietism. In this period, he began his lectures on hermeneutics (1805–1833) and he also wrote his dialogue the Weihnachtsfeier ( Christmas Eve: Dialogue on the Incarnation , 1806), which represents a midway point between his Speeches and his great dogmatic work, Der christliche Glaube ( The Christian Faith );
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#17327801950711680-523: A small scale by both Jewish and Roman authorities , with Roman action starting at the time of the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Examples of early executions under Jewish authority reported in the New Testament include the deaths of Saint Stephen and James, son of Zebedee . The Decian persecution was the first empire-wide conflict, when the edict of Decius in 250 AD required everyone in
1820-404: A theoretical or speculative science it is purely descriptive and not practical, being correlated on the one hand to physical science and on the other to history. Its method is the same as that of physical science, being distinguished from the latter only by its matter. The ontological basis of ethics is the unity of the real and the ideal, and the psychological and actual basis of the ethical process
1960-591: A theory of interpretation of textual expressions into a theory of interpretation of lived experiences. Next to religion and theology, Schleiermacher devoted himself to the moral world, of which the phenomena of religion and theology were, in his systems, only constituent elements. In his earlier essays he endeavoured to point out the defects of ancient and modern ethical thinkers, particularly of Kant and Fichte , with only Plato and Spinoza finding favour in his eyes. He failed to discover in previous moral systems any necessary basis in thought, any completeness as regards
2100-405: Is a criticism of all previous moral systems, including those of Kant and Fichte: Plato's and Spinoza's find most favour. It contends that the tests of the soundness of a moral system are the completeness of its view of the laws and ends of human life as a whole and the harmonious arrangement of its subject-matter under one fundamental principle. Although it is almost exclusively critical and negative,
2240-423: Is a historical process involving learning about the context in which the author wrote, and how the text's original readership understood its language. Understanding is also a psychological process drawing upon intuition and a connection between interpreter and the author. Reader and author are both human. As humans, they have some degree of shared understanding. That shared understanding is what makes it possible for
2380-525: Is also used by Presbyterians , Methodists , and Congregationalists . This particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator . Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period . The creed was apparently used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in
2520-445: Is always both subjective and objective — consciousness of ourselves and of the non-ego. This self-consciousness is the third special form or function of thought — which is also called feeling and immediate knowledge. In it we cognize our own inner life as affected by the non-ego. As the non-ego helps or hinders, enlarges or limits, our inner life, we feel pleasure or pain. Aesthetic, moral and religious feelings are respectively produced by
2660-402: Is bounded by experience, but it seeks to remove Kant's skepticism as to knowledge of the ding an sich (the noumenon ) or Sein , as Schleiermacher's term is. The idea of knowledge or scientific thought as distinguished from the passive form of thought — of aesthetics and religion — is thought which is produced by all thinkers in the same form and which corresponds to being. All knowledge takes
2800-466: Is no such thing as "pure mind" or "pure body." The one general function of the ego, thought, becomes in relation to the non-ego either receptive or spontaneous action, and in both forms of action its organic, or sense, and its intellectual energies co-operate; and in relation to man, nature and the universe the ego gradually finds its true individuality by becoming a part of them, "every extension of consciousness being higher life." The specific functions of
2940-430: Is recorded in the canonical gospels, although infancy gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented in the gospels contained within the New Testament , because that part of his life is believed to be most important. The biblical accounts of Jesus's ministry include: his baptism , miracles , preaching, teaching, and deeds. Christians consider
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#17327801950713080-752: Is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will ultimately return to fulfill the rest of the Messianic prophecy , including the resurrection of the dead , the Last Judgment , and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God . According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke , Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary . Little of Jesus's childhood
3220-419: Is that the source and the basis of dogmatic theology are the religious feeling, the sense of absolute dependence on God as communicated by Jesus through the church, not the creeds or the letter of Scripture or the rationalistic understanding. The work is therefore simply a description of the facts of religious feeling, or of the inner life of the soul in its relations to God, and the inward facts are looked at in
3360-538: Is the outcome neither of the fear of death, nor of the fear of God. It answers a deep need in man. It is neither a metaphysic, nor a morality, but above all and essentially an intuition and a feeling. ... Dogmas are not, properly speaking, part of religion: rather it is that they are derived from it. Religion is the miracle of direct relationship with the infinite; and dogmas are the reflection of this miracle. Similarly belief in God, and in personal immortality, are not necessarily
3500-531: Is the regalia of the Godhead, you say. Alas! dearest father, if you believe that without this faith no one can attain to salvation in the next world, nor to tranquility in this—and such, I know, is your belief—oh! then pray to God to grant it to me, for to me it is now lost. I cannot believe that he who called himself the Son of Man was the true, eternal God; I cannot believe that his death was a vicarious atonement." At
3640-400: Is the tendency of reason and nature to unite in the form of the complete organization of the latter by the former. The end of the ethical process is that nature (i.e. all that is not mind, the human body as well as external nature) may become the perfect symbol and organ of mind. Conscience, as the subjective expression of the presupposed identity of reason and nature in their bases, guarantees
3780-521: The Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based. Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds . They began as baptismal formulae and were later expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. " Jesus is Lord " is the earliest creed of Christianity and continues to be used, as with
3920-773: The Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. In the 7th century, Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem ), North Africa, and Spain, converting some of the Christian population to Islam , including some of the Christian populations in pre-Islamic Arabia , and placing the rest under a separate legal status . Part of the Muslims' success was due to the exhaustion of the Byzantine Empire in its decades long conflict with Persia . Beginning in
4060-627: The Celtic , the Baltic and some Slavic peoples . Around 500, Christianity was thoroughly integrated into Byzantine and Kingdom of Italy culture and Benedict of Nursia set out his Monastic Rule , establishing a system of regulations for the foundation and running of monasteries . Monasticism became a powerful force throughout Europe, and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in Ireland , Scotland , and Gaul , contributing to
4200-633: The Church of the East (600,000). Smaller church communities number in the thousands despite efforts toward unity ( ecumenism ). In the West , Christianity remains the dominant religion even with a decline in adherence , with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian. Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents. Christians remain greatly persecuted in many regions of
4340-520: The Edict of Worms condemned and excommunicated Luther and his followers, resulting in the schism of the Western Christendom into several branches. Other reformers like Zwingli , Oecolampadius , Calvin , Knox , and Arminius further criticized Catholic teaching and worship. These challenges developed into the movement called Protestantism , which repudiated the primacy of the pope ,
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4480-745: The Inquisition , were established with the aim of suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion and prosecution. The 15th-century Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. During the Reformation , Martin Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses 1517 against the sale of indulgences . Printed copies soon spread throughout Europe. In 1521
4620-768: The Magisterial Reformation as corrupted. Their activity brought about the Radical Reformation , which gave birth to various Anabaptist denominations. Partly in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church engaged in a substantial process of reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform. The Council of Trent clarified and reasserted Catholic doctrine. During
4760-482: The Old Testament . The Christian concept of messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept . The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus , sinful humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life . While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over
4900-753: The Oriental Orthodox , taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably": one divine and one human, and that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are nevertheless also perfectly united into one person . The Athanasian Creed , received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding
5040-549: The Pomeranian town of Stolp . He relieved Friedrich Schlegel entirely of his nominal responsibility for the translation of Plato, which they had together undertaken (vols. 1–5, 1804–1810; vol. 6, Repub. 1828). Another work, Grundlinien einer Kritik der bisherigen Sittenlehre [Outlines of a Critique of the Doctrines of Morality to date] (1803), the first of his strictly critical and philosophical productions, occupied him; it
5180-616: The Prussian Union of Churches (1817). The 24 years of his professional career in Berlin began with his short outline of theological study ( Kurze Darstellung des theologischen Studiums , 1811) in which he sought to do for theology what he had done for religion in his Speeches . While he preached every Sunday, Schleiermacher also gradually took up in his lectures in the university almost every branch of theology and philosophy: New Testament exegesis, introduction to and interpretation of
5320-978: The Restoration Movement , such as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) , the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada , and the Churches of Christ . The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and hold that Jesus's coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of
5460-910: The Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan (313), later convening the Council of Nicaea (325) where Early Christianity was consolidated into what would become the state religion of the Roman Empire (380). The Church of the East and Oriental Orthodoxy both split over differences in Christology (5th century), while the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism (1054). Protestantism split into numerous denominations from
5600-718: The State church of the Roman Empire . As soon as it became connected to the state, Christianity grew wealthy; the Church solicited donations from the rich and could now own land. Constantine was also instrumental in the convocation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which sought to address Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed, which is still used by in Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy , Lutheranism , Anglicanism , and many other Protestant churches. Nicaea
5740-544: The World Council of Churches . The Apostles' Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church , Lutheranism , Anglicanism , and Western Rite Orthodoxy . It
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5880-916: The dechristianization of France during the French Revolution , the Spanish Civil War , and certain Marxist movements, especially the Russian Revolution and the persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union under state atheism . Especially pressing in Europe was the formation of nation states after the Napoleonic era . In all European countries, different Christian denominations found themselves in competition to greater or lesser extents with each other and with
6020-607: The state religion in Armenia in the early 4th century AD, making Armenia the first officially Christian state. It was not an entirely new religion in Armenia, having penetrated into the country from at least the third century, but it may have been present even earlier. Constantine I was exposed to Christianity in his youth, and throughout his life his support for the religion grew, culminating in baptism on his deathbed. During his reign, state-sanctioned persecution of Christians
6160-451: The world population . Its adherents, known as Christians , are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories . Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches , and doctrinally diverse concerning justification and the nature of salvation , ecclesiology , ordination , and Christology . The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as
6300-522: The 1st century , after the death of Jesus, as a Judaic sect with Hellenistic influence in the Roman province of Judaea . The disciples of Jesus spread their faith around the Eastern Mediterranean area, despite significant persecution . The inclusion of Gentiles led Christianity to slowly separate from Judaism (2nd century). Emperor Constantine I decriminalized Christianity in
6440-483: The 6th century AD. These new universities expanded the curriculum to include academic programs for clerics, lawyers, civil servants, and physicians. The university is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. Accompanying the rise of the "new towns" throughout Europe, mendicant orders were founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of
6580-728: The 8th century, with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the Papacy sought greater political support in the Frankish Kingdom . The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the church. Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed the ecclesiastical structure and administration. In the early 8th century, iconoclasm became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favor of icons. In
6720-415: The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade . The Christian Church experienced internal conflict between the 7th and 13th centuries that resulted in a schism between the Latin Church of Western Christianity branch,
6860-657: The Catholic Church in the Reformation era (16th century). Following the Age of Discovery (15th–17th century), Christianity expanded throughout the world via missionary work , evangelism , immigration and extensive trade. Christianity played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization , particularly in Europe from late antiquity and the Middle Ages . The six major branches of Christianity are Roman Catholicism (1.3 billion people), Protestantism (625 million-900 million), Eastern Orthodoxy (230 million), Oriental Orthodoxy (60 million), Restorationism (35 million), and
7000-411: The Christian system treats more at length and less aphoristically the principal ethical realities — church, state, family, art, science and society. Rothe , amongst other moral philosophers, bases his system substantially, with important departures, on Schleiermacher's. In Beneke 's moral system his fundamental idea was worked out in its psychological relations. Schleiermacher held that an eternal hell
7140-428: The Greek philosophers to a reconstruction of Kant's system. Schleiermacher developed a deep-rooted skepticism as a student and soon rejected orthodox Christianity. Brian Gerrish, a scholar of the works of Schleiermacher, wrote: In a letter to his father, Schleiermacher drops the mild hint that his teachers fail to deal with those widespread doubts that trouble so many young people of the present day. His father misses
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#17327801950717280-468: The Jewish commandments. Paul the Apostle solved this by insisting that salvation by faith in Christ , and participation in his death and resurrection by their baptism, sufficed. At first he persecuted the early Christians, but after a conversion experience he preached to the gentiles , and is regarded as having had a formative effect on the emerging Christian identity as separate from Judaism. Eventually, his departure from Jewish customs would result in
7420-413: The Netherlands and Frisia . Ultimately, these differences led to the outbreak of conflicts in which religion played a key factor. The Thirty Years' War , the English Civil War , and the French Wars of Religion are prominent examples. These events intensified the Christian debate on persecution and toleration . In the revival of neoplatonism Renaissance humanists did not reject Christianity; quite
7560-400: The New Testament, ethics (both philosophic and Christian), dogmatic and practical theology, church history, history of philosophy, psychology , dialectics ( logic and metaphysics ), politics , pedagogy , aesthetics and translation . In politics, Schleiermacher supported liberty and progress, and in the period of reaction that followed the overthrow of Napoleon , he was charged by
7700-452: The Persons nor dividing the Substance ". Most Christians ( Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Protestant alike) accept the use of creeds and subscribe to at least one of the creeds mentioned above. Certain Evangelical Protestants , though not all of them, reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in
7840-415: The Prussian government with "demagogic agitation" in conjunction with the patriot Ernst Moritz Arndt . At the same time, Schleiermacher prepared his chief theological work, Der christliche Glaube nach den Grundsätzen der evangelischen Kirche (1821–1822; 2nd ed., greatly altered, 1830–1831; 6th ed., 1884; The Christian faith according to the principles of the evangelical church ). Its fundamental principle
7980-421: The Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland, all countries with competing denominations. Competition is found in Germany, the Netherlands, and again Switzerland, all countries with minority Catholic populations, which to a greater or lesser extent identified with the nation. Finally, separation between religion (again, specifically Catholicism) and the state is found to a great degree in France and Italy, countries where
8120-498: The Roman Empire (except Jews) to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Diocletianic Persecution beginning in 303 AD was also particularly severe. Roman persecution ended in 313 AD with the Edict of Milan . While Proto-orthodox Christianity was becoming dominant, heterodox sects also existed at the same time, which held radically different beliefs. Gnostic Christianity developed a duotheistic doctrine based on illusion and enlightenment rather than forgiveness of sin. With only
8260-446: The Son of God —the Logos incarnated —who ministered , suffered , and died on a cross , but rose from the dead for the salvation of humankind; and referred to as the gospel , meaning the "good news". The four canonical gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke and John describe Jesus's life and teachings as preserved in the early Christian tradition, with the Old Testament as the gospels' respected background. Christianity began in
8400-414: The West , the papacy became a political player, first visible in Pope Leo 's diplomatic dealings with Huns and Vandals . The church also entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among the various tribes. While Arianists instituted the death penalty for practicing pagans (see the Massacre of Verden , for example), Catholicism also spread among the Hungarians , the Germanic ,
8540-417: The West during this period was enormous and of long-lasting significance. The later rise of Islam in North Africa reduced the size and numbers of Christian congregations, leaving in large numbers only the Coptic Church in Egypt, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Horn of Africa and the Nubian Church in the Sudan (Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia). With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in
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#17327801950718680-403: The antitheses of good and bad and of free and necessary have no place in an ethical system, but simply in history, which is obliged to compare the actual with the ideal, but as far as the terms "good" and "bad" are used in morals they express the rule or the contrary of reason, or the harmony or the contrary of the particular and the general. The idea of free as opposed to necessary expresses simply
8820-421: The book announces Schleiermacher's later view of moral science, attaching prime importance to a Güterlehre , or doctrine of the ends to be obtained by moral action. The obscurity of the book's style and its negative tone prevented immediate success. In 1804, Schleiermacher moved to become university preacher and professor of theology to the University of Halle , where he remained until 1807. He quickly obtained
8960-447: The character and relation of religious feeling. In his earlier days he called it a feeling or intuition of the universe, consciousness of the unity of reason and nature, of the infinite and the eternal within the finite and the temporal. In later life he described it as the feeling of absolute dependence, or, as meaning the same thing, the consciousness of being in relation to God. In his Addresses on Religion (1799), he wrote: Religion
9100-414: The churches of Rome. Its points include: The Nicene Creed was formulated, largely in response to Arianism , at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 respectively, and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431. The Chalcedonian Definition , or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though rejected by
9240-555: The city's cultivated society and in intensive philosophical studies, beginning to construct the framework of his philosophical and religious system. Here Schleiermacher became acquainted with art, literature, science and general culture. He was strongly influenced by German Romanticism , as represented by his friend Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel . That interest is borne out by his Confidential Letters on Schlegel's Lucinde as well as by his seven-year relationship (1798–1805) with Eleonore Christiane Grunow (née Krüger) (1769/1770–1837),
9380-452: The completion of his course at Halle, Schleiermacher became the private tutor to the family of Friedrich Alexander Burggraf und Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1741–1810), developing in a cultivated and aristocratic household his deep love of family and social life. Two years later, in 1796, he became chaplain to the Charité Hospital in Berlin. Lacking scope for the development of his preaching skills, he sought mental and spiritual satisfaction in
9520-438: The conditions of duty except as it combines the three following antitheses: reference to the moral idea in its whole extent and likewise to a definite moral sphere; connection with existing conditions and at the same time absolute personal production; the fulfillment of the entire moral vocation every moment though it can only be done in a definite sphere. Duties are divided with reference to the principle that every man make his own
9660-399: The contemporary critique of religion is often over-simplified by the assumption that there are two supposed "hinges" upon which all critiques of religion(s) are based. These two over-simplifications are given by Schleiermacher as first, that their conscience shall be put into judgement, and second, the "general idea turns on the fear of an eternal being, or, broadly, respect for his influence on
9800-570: The contrary, many of the greatest works of the Renaissance were devoted to it, and the Catholic Church patronized many works of Renaissance art . Much, if not most, of the new art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church. Some scholars and historians attribute Christianity to having contributed to the rise of the Scientific Revolution . Many well-known historical figures who influenced Western science considered themselves Christian such as Nicolaus Copernicus , Galileo Galilei , Johannes Kepler , Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle . In
9940-448: The decisions, and the two principal churches remain in schism to the present day. However, the Catholic Church has achieved union with various smaller eastern churches . In the thirteenth century, a new emphasis on Jesus' suffering, exemplified by the Franciscans' preaching, had the consequence of turning worshippers' attention towards Jews, on whom Christians had placed the blame for Jesus' death . Christianity's limited tolerance of Jews
10080-711: The division caused by the Reformation led to outbreaks of religious violence and the establishment of separate state churches in Europe. Lutheranism spread into the northern, central, and eastern parts of present-day Germany, Livonia , and Scandinavia. Anglicanism was established in England in 1534. Calvinism and its varieties, such as Presbyterianism , were introduced in Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, and France. Arminianism gained followers in
10220-543: The dominant sects in both Judaism and Christianity. Christianity spread to Aramaic -speaking peoples along the Mediterranean coast and also to the inland parts of the Roman Empire and beyond that into the Parthian Empire and the later Sasanian Empire , including Mesopotamia , which was dominated at different times and to varying extents by these empires. The presence of Christianity in Africa began in
10360-400: The earliest centuries of Christian history, generally, Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and " true God and true man " (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human , suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin . As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the New Testament , he rose from the dead, ascended to heaven,
10500-584: The early 10th century, Western Christian monasticism was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine monastery of Cluny . In the West, from the 11th century onward, some older cathedral schools became universities (see, for example, University of Oxford , University of Paris and University of Bologna ). Previously, higher education had been the domain of Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools ( Scholae monasticae ), led by monks and nuns . Evidence of such schools dates back to
10640-609: The ecclesiological doctrine of revelation. Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, professing that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and is the Son of God , whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament . It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with over 2.4 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of
10780-407: The ego, as determined by the relative predominance of sense or intellect, are either functions of the senses (or organism ) or functions of the intellect. The former fall into the two classes of feelings (subjective) and perceptions (objective); the latter, according as the receptive or the spontaneous element predominates, into cognition and volition. In cognition, thought is ontologically oriented to
10920-463: The ego, the person, as an individualization of universal reason ; and the primary act of self-consciousness as the first conjunction of universal and individual life, the immediate union or marriage of the universe with incarnated reason. Thus every person becomes a specific and original representation of the universe and a compendium of humanity, a microcosmos in which the world is immediately reflected. While therefore we cannot, as we have seen, attain
11060-415: The entire moral problem and act at the same time in an existing moral society. This condition gives four general classes of duty: duties of general association or duties with reference to the community ( Rechtspflicht ), and duties of vocation ( Berufspflicht ) — both with a universal reference, duties of the conscience (in which the individual is sole judge), and duties of love or of personal association. It
11200-525: The era known as the Great Divergence , when in the West, the Age of Enlightenment and the scientific revolution brought about great societal changes, Christianity was confronted with various forms of skepticism and with certain modern political ideologies , such as versions of socialism and liberalism . Events ranged from mere anti-clericalism to violent outbursts against Christianity, such as
11340-723: The establishment of Christianity as an independent religion. This formative period was followed by the early bishops , whom Christians consider the successors of Christ's apostles . From the year 150, Christian teachers began to produce theological and apologetic works aimed at defending the faith. These authors are known as the Church Fathers , and the study of them is called patristics . Notable early Fathers include Ignatius of Antioch , Polycarp , Justin Martyr , Irenaeus , Tertullian , Clement of Alexandria and Origen . Persecution of Christians occurred intermittently and on
11480-439: The fact that the mind can propose to itself ends, though a man cannot alter his own nature. In contrast to Kant and Fichte and modern moral philosophers, Schleiermacher reintroduced and assigned pre-eminent importance to the doctrine of the summum bonum , or highest good. It represents in his system the ideal and aim of the entire life of man, supplying the ethical view of the conduct of individuals in relation to society and
11620-456: The first consisting of the pure ideal element in action and the second the form it assumes in relation to circumstances, each of the two classes falling respectively into the two divisions of wisdom and love and of intelligence and application. In his system the doctrine of duty is the description of the method of the attainment of ethical ends, the conception of duty as an imperative, or obligation, being excluded, as we have seen. No action fulfills
11760-580: The following centuries, competition between Catholicism and Protestantism became deeply entangled with political struggles among European states. Meanwhile, the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought about a new wave of missionary activity. Partly from missionary zeal, but under the impetus of colonial expansion by the European powers, Christianity spread to the Americas, Oceania, East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout Europe,
11900-444: The form of concept and judgment, the concept representing being and the judgment being in action. Knowledge has under both forms the same object, the relative difference of the two being that when the conceptual form predominates we have speculative science and when the form of judgment prevails we have empirical or historical science. Throughout the domain of knowledge the two forms are found in constant mutual relations, another proof of
12040-431: The form of the concept ( Begriff ) or the judgment ( Urteil ), the former conceiving the variety of being as a definite unity and plurality, and the latter simply connecting the concept with certain individual objects. In the concept, therefore, the intellectual and in the judgment the organic or sense element predominates. The universal uniformity of the production of judgments presupposes the uniformity of our relations to
12180-523: The foundation of the University of Berlin (1810), in which he took a prominent part, Schleiermacher obtained a theological chair and soon became secretary to the Prussian Academy of Sciences . He took a prominent part in the reorganization of the Prussian church and became the most powerful advocate of the union of the Lutheran and Reformed divisions of German Protestantism, paving the way for
12320-435: The foundation of the modern field of hermeneutics . Because of his profound effect on subsequent Christian thought, he is often called the "Father of Modern Liberal Theology " and is considered an early leader in liberal Christianity . The neo-orthodoxy movement of the twentieth century, typically (though not without challenge) seen to be spearheaded by Karl Barth , was in many ways an attempt to challenge his influence. As
12460-447: The functions and rights of the individual as well as those of the community or race. Though a moral action may have these four characteristics at various degrees of strength, it ceases to be moral if one of them is quite absent. All moral products may be classified according to the predominance of one or the other of these characteristics. Universal organizing action produces the forms of intercourse, and universal symbolizing action produces
12600-433: The fundamental unity of thought and being or of the objectivity of knowledge. Plato, Spinoza and Kant had contributed characteristic elements of their thought to this system, and directly or indirectly it was largely indebted to Schelling for fundamental conceptions. While Schleiermacher did not publish extensively on hermeneutics during his lifetime, he lectured widely on the field. His published and unpublished writings on
12740-452: The hint. He has himself read some of the skeptical literature, he says, and can assure Schleiermacher that it is not worth wasting time on. For six whole months there is no further word from his son. Then comes the bombshell. In a moving letter of 21 January 1787, Schleiermacher admits that the doubts alluded to are his own. His father has said that faith is the "regalia of the Godhead," that is, God's royal due. Schleiermacher confessed: "Faith
12880-507: The idea of the supreme unity of thought and being by either cognition or volition, we can find it in our own personality, in immediate self-consciousness or (which is the same in Schleiermacher's terminology) feeling. Feeling in this higher sense (as distinguished from "organic" sensibility, Empfindung ), which is the minimum of distinct antithetic consciousness, the cessation of the antithesis of subject and object, constitutes likewise
13020-434: The increased opposition of the theological schools it was intended to overthrow, and at the same time, Schleiermacher's defence of the right of the church to frame its own liturgy in opposition to the arbitrary dictation of the monarch or his ministers brought him fresh troubles. He felt isolated although his church and his lecture-room continued to be crowded. Schleiermacher continued with his translation of Plato and prepared
13160-440: The language of the text; the latter with the thoughts, emotions, intentions and aims of the author. The language used by an author "is what mediates sensuously and externally between utterer and listener". The ultimate goal of hermeneutics for Schleiermacher is "understanding in the highest sense"— experiencing the same thoughts that the author experienced when writing the text which he identified as submerging Understanding
13300-782: The last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the Global South and Third World countries. The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the Third World and the Southern Hemisphere in general, with the West no longer the chief standard bearer of Christianity. Approximately 7 to 10% of Arabs are Christians , most prevalent in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon . While Christians worldwide share basic convictions, there are differences of interpretations and opinions of
13440-421: The matter of the science which tabulates its constituents after the model of the physical sciences; and it supplies a sharply defined treatment of specific moral phenomena in their relation to the fundamental idea of human life as a whole. Schleiermacher defines ethics as the theory of the nature of the reason, or as the scientific treatment of the effects produced by human reason in the world of nature and man. As
13580-663: The middle of the 1st century in Egypt and by the end of the 2nd century in the region around Carthage . Mark the Evangelist is claimed to have started the Church of Alexandria in about 43 AD; various later churches claim this as their own legacy, including the Coptic Orthodox Church . Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity include Tertullian , Clement of Alexandria , Origen of Alexandria , Cyprian , Athanasius , and Augustine of Hippo . King Tiridates III made Christianity
13720-695: The monastery and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans and the Dominicans , founded by Francis of Assisi and Dominic , respectively. Both orders made significant contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe. Another new order was the Cistercians , whose large, isolated monasteries spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period, church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights, culminating in
13860-434: The nails into his own coffin", but he continued to defend his theological position against Hengstenberg 's party and the rationalists Daniel Georg Konrad von Cölln (1788–1833) and David Schulz (1779–1854), protesting against both subscription to the ancient creeds and the imposition of a new rationalistic formulary. Schleiermacher died at 65 of pneumonia on 12 February 1834. Schleiermacher's psychology takes as its basis
14000-490: The now-Catholic Church, and an Eastern , largely Greek, branch (the Eastern Orthodox Church ). The two sides disagreed on a number of administrative, liturgical and doctrinal issues, most prominently Eastern Orthodox opposition to papal supremacy . The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases, the Eastern Orthodox refused to implement
14140-461: The nuance in the author’s own "sphere." In studying the language that an author uses to present his/her thoughts, an interpreter may be able to understand these thoughts even better than the author him/herself. This can be done by discovering why a particular work was produced, and by discovering unity within other works produced in a similar genre by others, or unity in other works by the same author in any genre. Despite Schleiermacher’s claim to
14280-428: The object; and in volition it is the teleological purpose of thought. In the first case we receive (in our fashion) the object of thought into ourselves. In the latter we plant it out into the world. Both cognition and volition are functions of thought as well as forms of moral action. It is in those two functions that the real life of the ego is manifested, but behind them is self-consciousness permanently present, which
14420-604: The occurrences of this life called by you providence, or expectation of a future life after this one, called by you immortality." From Leibniz , Lessing , Fichte , Jacobi and the Romantic school, Schleiermacher had imbibed a profound and mystical view of the inner depths of the human personality. His religious thought found its expression most notably in The Christian Faith , one of the most influential works of Christian theology of its time. Schleiermacher saw
14560-571: The orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals. Christian nationalism emerged during this era in which Christians felt the desire to recover lands in which Christianity had historically flourished. From 1095 under the pontificate of Urban II , the First Crusade was launched. These were a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from
14700-432: The outward world, and the uniformity of concepts rests similarly on the likeness of our inward nature. This uniformity is not based on the sameness of either the intellectual or the organic functions alone, but on the correspondence of the forms of thought and sensation with the forms of being. The essential nature of the concept is that it combines the general and the special, and the same combination recurs in being; in being
14840-707: The papacy. This conflict came to a head in the First Vatican Council , and in Germany would lead directly to the Kulturkampf . Christian commitment in Europe dropped as modernity and secularism came into their own, particularly in the Czech Republic and Estonia , while religious commitments in America have been generally high in comparison to Europe. Changes in worldwide Christianity over
14980-402: The peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization , and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture. There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy , as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek. Byzantine art and literature held a preeminent place in Europe, and the cultural impact of Byzantine art on
15120-455: The phenomena of moral action, any systematic arrangement of its parts and any clear and distinct treatment of specific moral acts and relations. Schleiermacher's own moral system is an attempt to supply these deficiencies. It connects the moral world by a deductive process with the fundamental idea of knowledge and being; it offers a view of the entire world of human action which at all events aims at being exhaustive; it presents an arrangement of
15260-513: The phenomenal dualism of the ego and the non-ego, and regards the life of man as the interaction of these elements with their interpenetration as its infinite destination. The dualism is therefore not absolute, and, though present in man's own constitution as composed of body and soul, is relative only even there. The ego is itself both body and soul — the conjunction of both constitutes it. Our "organization" or sense nature has its intellectual element, and our "intellect" its organic element, and there
15400-430: The possibility of understanding of the author’s thoughts better than the author, he grants that "good interpretation can only be approximated" and that hermeneutics is not a "perfect art." The art puts the interpreter in the best position by "putting oneself in possession of all the conditions of understanding." However, the extent of an interpreter’s understanding of a text is limited by the possibility of misunderstanding
15540-434: The practicability of our moral vocation. Nature is preordained or constituted to become the symbol and organ of mind, just as mind is endowed with the impulse to realize this end. But the moral law must not be conceived under the form of an "imperative" or a " Sollen "; it differs from a law of nature only as being descriptive of the fact that it ranks the mind as conscious will, or Zweckdenken , above nature. Strictly speaking,
15680-495: The problem of objectivism and subjectivism in the doctrine of revelation, employs Schleiermacher’s doctrine of revelation in his own way and regards the Bible as the objective standard for his theological work. Bavinck also stresses the importance of the church, which forms the Christian consciousness and experience. In so doing, he attempts to overcome the latent weakness of Schleiermacher’s doctrine of revelation through his emphasis on
15820-459: The programme of his subsequent theological system. In the Monologen , he revealed his ethical manifesto in which he proclaimed his ideas on the freedom and independence of the spirit and on the relationship of the mind to the sensual world, and he sketched his ideal of the future of the individual and of society. From 1802 to 1804, Schleiermacher served as a pastor of a small Reformed church in
15960-422: The reception into consciousness of large ideas — nature, mankind and the world; those feelings are the sense of being one with these vast objects. Religious feeling therefore is the highest form of thought and of life; in it we are conscious of our unity with the world and God; it is thus the sense of absolute dependence. Schleiermacher's doctrine of knowledge accepts the fundamental principle of Kant that knowledge
16100-555: The resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15 ) and the most important event in history. Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is based. According to the New Testament, Jesus was crucified , died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three days later. Dohna-Schlobitten Too Many Requests If you report this error to
16240-417: The role of tradition, the seven sacraments , and other doctrines and practices. The Reformation in England began in 1534, when King Henry VIII had himself declared head of the Church of England . Beginning in 1536, the monasteries throughout England, Wales and Ireland were dissolved . Thomas Müntzer , Andreas Karlstadt and other theologians perceived both the Catholic Church and the confessions of
16380-431: The science of natural history to account for. The moral process is accomplished by the various sections of humanity in their individual spheres, and the doctrine of virtue deals with the reason as the moral power in each individual by which the totality of moral products is obtained. Schleiermacher classifies the virtues under the two forms of Gesinnung ("disposition, attitude") and Fertigkeit ("dexterity, proficiency"),
16520-529: The speeches represent phases of his growing appreciation of Christianity as well as the conflicting elements of the theology of the period. After the Battle of Jena , he returned to Berlin (1807), was soon appointed pastor of the Trinity Church and, on 18 May 1809, married Henriette von Willich (née von Mühlenfels; 1788–1840), the widow of his friend Johann Ehrenfried Theodor von Willich (1777–1807). At
16660-402: The state actively opposed itself to the authority of the Catholic Church. The combined factors of the formation of nation states and ultramontanism , especially in Germany and the Netherlands, but also in England to a much lesser extent, often forced Catholic churches, organizations, and believers to choose between the national demands of the state and the authority of the Church, specifically
16800-550: The state. Variables were the relative sizes of the denominations and the religious, political, and ideological orientation of the states. Urs Altermatt of the University of Fribourg , looking specifically at Catholicism in Europe, identifies four models for the European nations. In traditionally Catholic-majority countries such as Belgium, Spain, and Austria, to some extent, religious and national communities are more or less identical. Cultural symbiosis and separation are found in Poland,
16940-431: The study of the Old Testament and of Oriental languages . However, he attended the lectures of Semler and became acquainted with the techniques of historical criticism of the New Testament , and of Johann Augustus Eberhard from whom he acquired a love of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle . At the same time, he studied the writings of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi and began to apply ideas from
17080-550: The subject were collected together after his death and published in 1838 as Hermeneutik und Kritik mit besonderer Beziehung auf das Neue Testament . However, it was not until Heinz Kimmerle's 1959 edition "based on a careful transcription of the original handwritten manuscripts, that an assured and comprehensive overview of Schleiermacher's theory of hermeneutics became possible." Schleiermacher wanted to shift hermeneutics away from specific methods of interpretation (e.g. methods for interpreting biblical or classical texts) and toward
17220-399: The system of substantial or permanent forms answers to the system of concepts and the relation of cause and effect to the system of judgments, the higher concept answering to "force" and the lower to the phenomena of force, and the judgment to the contingent interaction of things. The sum of being consists of the two systems of substantial forms and interactional relations, and it reappears in
17360-449: The text. Schleiermacher's work had a profound impact on the field of hermeneutics, so much so that he is often referred to as "the father of modern hermeneutics as a general study." His work marks the beginning of hermeneutics as a general field of inquiry, separate from specific disciplines (e.g. law or theology). In the twentieth century, philosophers such as Heidegger , Gadamer , and Ricoeur would expand hermeneutics even farther, from
17500-587: The text. These thoughts were what caused the author to produce the text; at the moment of text creation, these "inner thoughts" become "outer expression" in language. In order to interpret a text, then, the interpreter must consider both the inner thoughts of the author and the language that s/he used in writing the text. In other words, the reader must submerge himself in the realities of the object of understanding (the text). This approach to interpreting texts involves both "grammatical interpretation" and "psychological (or technical) interpretation." The former deals with
17640-440: The unity of our being, in which the opposite functions of cognition and volition have their fundamental and permanent background of personality and their transitional link. Having its seat in this central point of our being, or indeed consisting in the essential fact of self-consciousness, religion lies at the basis of all thought, feeling and action. At various periods of his life Schleiermacher used different terms to represent
17780-437: The universe, and therewith constituting a philosophy of history at the same time. Starting with the idea of the highest good and of its constituent elements ( Güter ), or the chief forms of the union of mind and nature, Schleiermacher's system divides itself into the doctrine of moral ends, the doctrine of virtue and the doctrine of duties; in other words, as a development of the idea of the subjection of nature to reason it becomes
17920-727: The universities. On Religion is divided into five major sections: the Defense ( Apologie ), the Nature of Religion ( Über das Wesen der Religion ), the Cultivation of Religion ( Über die Bildung zur Religion ), Association in Religion ( Über das Gesellige in der Religion, oder über Kirche und Priesterthum ), and the Religions ( Über die Religionen ). Schleiermacher initiates his speeches on religion in its opening chapter by asserting that
18060-499: The various forms of science; individual organizing action yields the forms of property and individual symbolizing action the various representations of feeling, all these constituting the relations, the productive spheres, or the social conditions of moral action. Moral functions cannot be performed by the individual in isolation but only in his relation to the family, the state, the school, the church, and society — all forms of human life which ethical science finds to its hand and leaves to
18200-404: The various stages of their development and presented in their systematic connection. The aim of the work was to reform Protestant theology, to put an end to the unreason and superficiality of both supernaturalism and rationalism, and to deliver religion and theology from dependence on perpetually changing systems of philosophy . Though the work added to the reputation of its author, it aroused
18340-507: The wife of Berlin clergyman August Christian Wilhelm Grunow (1764–1831). Though his ultimate principles remained unchanged, he placed more emphasis on human emotion and the imagination. Meanwhile, he studied Spinoza and Plato , both of whom were important influences. He became more indebted to Kant though they differed on fundamental points. He sympathised with some of Jacobi's positions, and took some ideas from Fichte and Schelling . The literary product of that period of rapid development
18480-547: The world, particularly in the Middle East , North Africa , East Asia , and South Asia . Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as 'The Way' ( Koinē Greek : τῆς ὁδοῦ , romanized: tês hodoû ), probably coming from Isaiah 40:3 , "prepare the way of the Lord". According to Acts 11:26 , the term "Christian" ( Χρῑστῐᾱνός , Khrīstiānós ), meaning "followers of Christ" in reference to Jesus's disciples ,
18620-464: Was ended with the Edict of Toleration in 311 and the Edict of Milan in 313. At that point, Christianity was still a minority belief, comprising perhaps only 5% of the Roman population. Influenced by his adviser Mardonius , Constantine's nephew Julian unsuccessfully tried to suppress Christianity. On 27 February 380, Theodosius I , Gratian , and Valentinian II established Nicene Christianity as
18760-414: Was first used in the city of Antioch by the non-Jewish inhabitants there. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity/Christianism" ( Χρῑστῐᾱνισμός , Khrīstiānismós ) was by Ignatius of Antioch around 100 AD . The name Jesus comes from ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἰησοῦς Iēsous , likely from Hebrew / Aramaic : יֵשׁוּעַ Yēšūaʿ. Christianity developed during the 1st century AD as
18900-446: Was his influential book, Reden über die Religion ( On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers ), and his "new year's gift" to the new century, the Monologen ( Soliloquies ). In the first book, Schleiermacher gave religion an unchanging place among the divine mysteries of human nature, distinguished it from what he regarded as current caricatures of religion and described the perennial forms of its manifestation. That established
19040-410: Was not compatible with the love of God. Divine punishment was rehabilitative, not penal, and designed to reform the person. He was one of the first major theologians of modern times to teach Christian Universalism . On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers is a book written by Schleiermacher dealing with the gap he saw as emerging between the cultural elite and general society. Schleiermacher
19180-400: Was not new—Augustine of Hippo said that Jews should not be allowed to enjoy the citizenship that Christians took for granted—but the growing antipathy towards Jews was a factor that led to the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 , the first of many such expulsions in Europe. Beginning around 1184, following the crusade against Cathar heresy, various institutions, broadly referred to as
19320-450: Was only the first of the three sections of the science of ethics — the doctrine of moral ends — that Schleiermacher handled with approximate completeness; the other two sections were treated very summarily. In his Christian Ethics he dealt with the subject from the basis of the Christian consciousness instead of from that of reason generally; the ethical phenomena dealt with are the same in both systems, and they throw light on each other, while
19460-465: Was the first of a series of ecumenical councils , which formally defined critical elements of the theology of the Church, notably concerning Christology . The Church of the East did not accept the third and following ecumenical councils and is still separate today by its successors ( Assyrian Church of the East ). In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire was one of
19600-517: Was writing when the Enlightenment was in full swing and when the first major transition into modernity was simultaneously occurring. With the fall of the late Middle Ages and a vigorous discourse taking hold of Western European intellectuals, the fields of art and natural philosophy were flourishing. However, the discourse of theologians, arguably the primary and only discourse of intellectuals for centuries, had taken to its own now minor corner in
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