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Schleiermacher's Conception of Theology and Account of Religion 337 Schleiermacher's Conception of Teology and Account of Religion as a Constitutive Element of Human Culture WILHELM GRÄB 1. Academic Theology in the Modem University The founding of the University of Berlin in 1810, which became for many the archetypal moder university, was a formative event in the shaping of the moder academic tradition of Christian theology in te nineteenth and twentieth centuries. When Hans Frei made this asser­ tion in Types of Christian Theology, he was referring to the considerable debate circa 1800 about whether theology ought to be included in the university.1 Some, first and foremost the philosopher J.G. Fichte, ar­ gued that it had no place in a university committed to moder stan­ dards of rationality.2 Te position that won out, however, was that of the theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher. Schleiermacher affirmed the role of rationality in the university, yet allowed it neither to dictate to theology its content nor to be in competition with it. He saw theology as a "positive" science or discipline (Wissenschaft), by which he meant that it was not included within any single theoretical discipline but was rather related to several of them and directed towards the practical task of educating those who would lead the Christian Church.3 1 Hans W. Frei, Types of Christian Theology, ed. George Hunsinger and William C. Placher (New Haven: Yale University Press, 190), 34-38. 2 Johann Gottlieb Fichte, "Deduzierter Plan einer in Berlin zu errichtenden höheren Lehranstalt," in Die Idee der deutschen Universität (Darmstadt: Hermann Gentner, 1956), 125-218. 3 "Theology is a positive science, the parts of which join into a cohesive whole only through teir common relation to a partclar mode of faith, that is, a particular way of being conscious of God." Friedrich Schleiermacher, Brief Outline of Theology as a Field of Study, trans. Terrece N. Tice (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 190), §1. Hen­ ceforth BO. One should note that the German word "Wissnschaft" is much broader than the English "science." Wissenschaft includes any academic theretical rsarch based on rational argument and presnted in the cotext of the other Wissenschaften. The opposition is not that of science vs. humanities, but of Wissenschaftvs. Praxis. 336 Wilhelm Gräb According to this conception of theology as "positive Wissen­ schaft," theology is a field held together not on the basis of theoretical reasons but by the professional tasks that were being undertaken by theology departments at German universities in the nineteenth century. The usual pattem of theology departments at German universities be­ came that of the state overseeing and paying for a faculty that owed allegiance to general standards of rationality (Wissenschaft) and aca­ demic freedom, on the one hand, and was committed to training clergy for the state Protestant church, on the other. Schleiermacher's concep­ tion helps to demonstrate that theology and religious studies need not oppose, but rather can complement each other. Three consequences follow that make Schleiermacher' s understanding of theology a good lens through which the discipline in its moderncontext can be studied. Firstly, theology was carried on in an environment where it was conti­ nually engaged with and informed by other academic disciplines in their most advanced forms. Secondly, the attempt to hold together the requirements of the academy and the church necessitates that theology bridge the gap between reason and faith. Thirdly, theology therefore considers itself obligated to give reasons for the meaning and truth of faith, i.e., it needs a reasonable justification of its object. While the Christian religion cannot be deduced from philosophical premises, it can be shown that being religious is a meaningful element of human culture. This German pattem of theology, first established by Schleierma­ cher in the context of the founding of the university in Berlin, might be described as confessional theology, implying that the practical goal of theology refers it strictly to the practice of a religious community or "confession" of faith. This does not entail, however, that theology is inevitably a narrowly ideological endeavor. The close relationship of confessional theology to other academic disciplines, together with its high critical and hermeneutical standards, ensures that in all of its sub­ disciplines theology fulfils the highest standards of an academic discip­ line. Such a university theology is, moreover, also oriented toward oth­ er religions and based on an anthropology in which religion is theo­ rized as a constitutive element of human culture. The practical aims of theology do require thatthe Christian religion remain the primary object of its theoretical endeavors. Yet this need not prevent theology from understanding the Christian religion as one reli­ gion among others. On the contrary, theology must integrate funda­ mental questions about the essence and meaning of religion within so­ ciety with specific inquiries into the distinctions between different religions. In fact, following Schleiermacher's paradigm of theology, Schleiermacher's Conception of Theology and Account of Religion 337 most theology departments at German universities also teach the histo­ ry of religions or religious studies (Religionswissenschaft). These disci­ plines are either integrated into theology departments or they coope­ rate with them. Being weil coordinated with theology departments, they take other religions as their subject matter and likewise reflect upon the essence, meaning, and truth of different religious systems of belief. And despite their confessional status, all theological disciplines perform their work-in teaching as weil as research-just like any oth­ er discipline within the humanities: through the employment of histori­ cal and critical, hermeneutical methods. Nevertheless, theologians in Germany frequently confront the sus­ picion that their work is ideologically driven. This is an unjustified bias based upon the false assumption that the teaching and learning of the­ ology requires one to be a believer or that being a Christian means that one is ipso facto incapable of attaining critical distance on one' s per­ sonal religious standpoint. Anyone familiar with the research and teaching that goes on today in theology departments can attest that both assumptions are false. The Schleiermacherian model of theology requires that all branches of the theological disciplines, including prac­ tical theology, follow scientific methods such as historical criticism, hermeneutics, and empirical research. Most theologians, moreover, adopt a highly critical distance to their own confession. Furthermore,in this paradigm historical and practical theology are based on a form of philosophical theology or philosophy of religion that secures the ra­ tional basis of the entire discipline. Schleiermacher maintained a distinctionbetween thediscourse sur­ rounding the term "religion" and the specific propositions or doctrines articulating the peculiar content of the Christian faith. He emphasized that "philosophical theology," which is responsible for developing the general understanding of religion, must take a higher standpoint than the various confessions and religions. A Schleiermacherian theology promotes the integration of the philosophy of religion or-why not?­ today' s religious studies into theology departments. The key assump­ tion enabling this integration is that religion be understood as a consti­ tutive element of human culture in general. In this broader perspective, theology is a speculative, critical, and empirical theory of religion, specificallyconcerned with Christiantradi­ tions, churches, and communities. What makes this ensemble of disci­ plines theological is not their distinctive method. There is no theologi­ cal hermeneutics or special kind of theological thinking. Theology uses the same methods as all of the other humanities.Speculative, critical, or empirical disciplines can and must become theological disciplines be- 338 Wilhelm Gräb cause they are needed both for understanding the Christian religion and for fulfilling the practical tasks of leadership within the Church. Nevertheless, from the perspective of contemporary debates about the relationship between religious studies and theology, Schleiermach­ er represents a position that allows for a differentiation between Reli­ gionswissenschaft (i.e., the philosophy of religion or religious studies) and theology-but without entirely separating them. Theology is a combination of heterogeneous disciplines. The same is true of the Reli­ gionswissenschaften or religious studies. Today, both ensembles of dis­ ciplines integrate sociology, psychology, history, ethnology, and anth­ ropology. The only difference is that religious studies departments are not obligated to function·within or otherwise foster church leadership. As a consequence, they do not focus primarily, if at all, on the Christian religion. But this difference does not of itself impugn theology's stan­ dards of rationality or academic credentials. Theology and Religionswis­ senschaft/religious studies are both ensembles of diverse scientific dis­ ciplines that employ empirical, critical, and speculative methodological procedures. Indeed, they have more in common than their scientific methods. In Schleiermacher's paradigm, the object of theology is religion as a di­ mension of human life. The object of theology is not "God in his revela­ tion in Jesus Christ." Rather, theology is a positive
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