Der beruhmte Vortrag Die Bedeutung des Protestantismus fur die Entstehung der modernen Welt (1906/1911) sowie weitere Texte zur Kulturbedeutung von Luthertum und Calvinismus aus der gleichen Zeit werden hier in einer textkritischen Edition vorgelegt. In die Auseinandersetzung um die Bedeutung des Protestantismus fur die Entstehung der Moderne hat Troeltsch zusammen mit Max Weber im ersten Jahrzehnt des vorigen Jahrhunderts nachdrucklich eingegriffen. Die in diesem Band vereinigten Beitrage haben eine intensive Diskussion ausgeloest, von der die konfessions- und kulturgeschichtliche Forschung bis heute bestimmt ist.

The critical edition of the complete works of the theologian and philosopher of religion Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923) is inaugurated by this edition of a classic text. In the work "Die Absolutheit des Christentums und die Religionsgeschichte" the theological and philosophical debate about the absolute validity of Christianity is joined with the question of value judgments in modernity, a question that has greatly agitated the cultural sciences since the beginning of the twentieth century. The work on absoluteness, the first and second editions of which are published here for the first time together with handwritten additions by Ernst Troeltsch, gives significant testimony to a constructive historicism that is aimed at establishing universally valid norms in the cultural comparison of religions, while acknowledging the individual forms of historical life. At the end of the twentieth century, the posing of the problem as developed by Troeltsch is of new global relevance in the debates of theology, the study of religion, history, and sociology.

The goal of this book is to provide readers interested in questions about medical research with orientation concerning the latest controversial developments in gene and stem cell research. It explains the scientific basis and processes, throws light on the possible benefits and risks, and provides an ethical evaluation. At the core of the book is a stage model with which the possible medical applications of gene and stem cell research are arranged in four stages of medical and ethical responsibility.