Introduction
Albrecht Ritschl was one of the most pivotal theologians in the history of Christianity. While many charge him with introducing ideas that led to a more liberal theology, his intentions were nevertheless honorable. Ritschl lived in a time where Christianity was no longer considered relevant or feasible, and his reinterpretations were an attempt to keep Christianity applicable to modern society. His defenses, however, often resulted in a corruption of doctrine and left Christianity open to attack. Thus Ritschl was an extremely influential theologian, though many question how positive that influence may have been.
Ritschl’s Theology
Ritschl’s theology was greatly affected by the philosophers of his time. Immanuel Kant had declared that the mind was incapable of understanding anything more than what could be experienced sensorially or was beyond ordered reason and logic. Similarly, Ritschl was influenced by the Tübingen school of theology, which he came to firmly oppose. Tübingen theology was extremely skeptical about Christianity, yet also promoted mysticism. Further, the school disregarded church history.1 Thus Ritschl’s theology would take a less extreme approach. He would reject mysticism on the grounds that theology must be firmly rooted in reality, particularly moral and ethical realities. On this basis he also rejected natural theology.2
Ritschl’s theology agreed with Kant’s philosophy to some extent. He agreed that the mind was limited to its experiences, but believed it could understand moral issues as they affected the individual.3 Thus everything was reduced to judgements of fact or value. Fact judgements could be proven objectively, but value judgements could not. Thus value judgements were left...
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Bibliography
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Walter Rauschenbusch is widely regarded are a great American theological leader who is regarded as the founder of the social gospel movement in America, that transformed the church and the society in general . His main belief was that religion was not an individual activity or a phenomenon that affected only a single person. Instead, he believed that religion affected the entire society and therefore, the impetus for social reform and raising one’s voice against any sort of social evils or injustice should also come under the ambit of religion and church1. In this write-up an attempt is made to understand the religious philosophies of Walter Rauschenbusch and elaborate his principles of the social gospel movement. The Social Gospel movement also had a significant impact on the Protestant stream of thought prevalent in America .
Rauschenbusch has introduced many new ideas into the theological point of view. He still uses many of the same ideas of the “old theology”, but has just made some important changes to add his own thoughts on what theology should be about and how it should be used to influence people’s daily lives throughout the world. Rauschenbusch says,
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Logos plays a relatively minute role in this paper due to logos being about rational or logical appeal and because this essay is about Thomas’s religious beliefs and the belief in God is not based rational or logical facts, it is based on faith and faith does not fall under logos. Also logos is hard to have in this case because everyone has different religious beliefs causing a religious statement to be true fact for some and ghastly lie to other. This makes religion views seen as that of opinion which ...
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One of the main reasons why human rights have been put in place is to protect the public life and public space of every individual being. One fundamental characteristic of human rights is that they are equal rights; they are aimed at providing protection to every person in an equal way. These rights have been entrenched through laws that are passed by states and international conventions. Human rights laws have evolved over time, and have been shaped by several factors, including philosophical theories in the past. This paper looks at the theories of two philosophers, Emmanuel Kant and John Stuart Mills, and how their teachings can be used to explain the sources of human rights. Kant’s moral philosophy is very direct in its justification of human rights, especially the ideals of moral autonomy and equality as applied to rational human beings. John Stuart Mills’ theory of utilitarianism also forms a solid basis for human rights, especially his belief that utility is the supreme criterion for judging morality, with justice being subordinate to it. The paper looks at how the two philosophers qualify their teachings as the origins of human rights, and comes to the conclusion that the moral philosophy of Kant is better than that of Mills.
Modernized Eschatology: In liberal attempts to devalue Jesus and in the vein of the Jesus Seminar, people like Albercht Ritschl, want to make Jesus just
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