Schleiermacher is the "Father of Modern Christianity". Discuss.

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Schleiermacher is the "Father of Modern Christianity." Discuss.

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was born in 1768 in what is now the modern country of Poland. On the question of Schleiermacher being the "Father of Modern Christianity" James states "Schleiermacher's bountiful theological legacy, which has influenced the later Protestant theologians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, earns this prestigious title for him."(James. 2000)

He was sent to live in one of the Moravian communities in the area after his mother's death. His mother died when he was aged around fifteen and his father was a soldier in the Prussian army and they were never reunited but remained in contact after this time. Due to his almost orphaned status the Moravian community took over his parenting. Schleiermacher was born towards the end of the Enlightenment and during the Romantic period. This gave him an interesting perspective. "As a result, modern Protestant theologians often regard him as the most important theologian between John Calvin and Karl Barth" (Livingston.1997.p93). The Enlightenment had changed many views of Christianity and the practises of Christianity particularly the church's reliance on structure and organisation. This change in view did not affect most Christians, who were completely unaware of the debates that were going on, and most carried on worshipping as normal. The intellectuals, however, found it impossible to ignore the philosophical advances. The Romantic Movement brought new ideas about the universe and Man's place in it. Schleiermacher tried to merge the fairly new ideas of the Enlightenment with the new ideas of the Romantic period to create his own philosophy. "Whether accepted or rejecte...

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...://www.island-of-freedom.com/SCHLEIER.HTM">http://www.island-of-freedom.com/SCHLEIER.HTM

Overview of 18th & 19th Century Philosophy A Study and Critique. 2000-2001.

http://radicalacademy.com/adiphilmodessay2.htm

The Methodological Hermeneutics of Schleiermacher and Dilthey. 1994. http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/jcma/papers/1986-ai-memo-871/tableofcontents3_1.html

The Philosophy of Freidrich Wilhelm von Schelling & Friedrich Schleiermacher. 2000-2001. http://radicalacademy.com/philschelling.htm

The Successors Of Kant. 2000-2001. http://radicalacademy.com/adiphilsuccessors.htm

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