Known as the 'Father of modern theology' Friedrich Schleiermacher is without a doubt one of the most important theologians in the history of Christianity. Not only relevant to theology, he also made significant contributions in areas of philosophy such as hermeneutics, ethics, philosophy of religion and the study of Plato, and he was ahead of his time in espousing a kind of proto-feminism. Divided into three parts, this Companion deals firstly with elements of Schleiermacher's philosophy, such as metaphysics, epistemology of religious knowledge, ethics, hermeneutics, and contributions to Plato scholarship. It goes on to discuss theological topics such as sin and redemption and Christology, and the final section is devoted to Schleiermacher's understanding of culture. This is the first book in English introducing readers to all the important aspects of Schleiermacher's thought in a systematic way, containing essays by some of the best Schleiermacher scholars in Germany and in the English-speaking world.

Known as the 'Father of modern theology' Friedrich Schleiermacher is without a doubt one of the most important theologians in the history of Christianity. Not only relevant to theology, he also made significant contributions in areas of philosophy such as hermeneutics, ethics, philosophy of religion and the study of Plato, and he was ahead of his time in espousing a kind of proto-feminism. Divided into three parts, this Companion deals firstly with elements of Schleiermacher's philosophy, such as metaphysics, epistemology of religious knowledge, ethics, hermeneutics, and contributions to Plato scholarship. It goes on to discuss theological topics such as sin and redemption and Christology, and the final section is devoted to Schleiermacher's understanding of culture. This is the first book in English introducing readers to all the important aspects of Schleiermacher's thought in a systematic way, containing essays by some of the best Schleiermacher scholars in Germany and in the English-speaking world.

Often referred to as the father of modern theology, F.D.E. Schleiermacher occasioned a revolution in theology having a decisive impact on all subsequent theology. In this original study, Jacqueline Marina argues that Schleiermachers philosophical ethics constitutes a completely original project, and is arguably his most important achievement. Marina examines Schleiermachers claim that the self relates to the whence of all that is through the ground of self-consciousness, and shows how this understanding allowed him to develop a philosophical system integrally linking religion and ethics. Because this whence relates to self-consciousness in the way of a formal cause, the most important criteria for what constitutes genuine religion are the ethical fruits expressive of a proper relation to the divine. In Christian Faith Schleiermacher argues that insofar as the personal self-consciousness has been transformed through openness to this whence, the actions that arise from it, too, will be different from those of the former self. This book is an analysis of how Schleiermacher conceived of this transformation, the conditions of its possibility, and the nature of its effects. This is accomplished through an examination of his metaphysics of the self, especially Schleiermachers understanding of the immediate self-consciousness and its relation to the divine causality, the nature of self-consciousness and personal identity, the nature of agency, and the relation between self and society. This book demonstrates that Schleiermachers achievement offers a compelling, live option for contemporary debates concerning the relation of religion and morality.