Christ and the Perfection of Creation in Schleiermacher's Dogmatic Theology

Kevin M. Vander Schel

doi:10.18290/rt.2017.64.2-3

Kevin M. Vander Schel Gonzaga University, Department of Religious Studies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rt.2017.64.2-3

Keywords: Schleiermacher; Christology; supernatural; grace; history; rationalism

Abstract

To many of his critics, Schleiermacher’s Christology signals an explicit weakness in his theological system, as his emphasis on religious feeling and subjectivity seems to undermine any claims of the distinctive revelatory or supernatural character of Jesus Christ. This essay by contrast underscores both the originality Schleiermacher’s understanding of Christ in history and its centrality to his overall thought by attending to the subtle theme of the “supernatural-becoming-natural” in his Glaubenslehre and Christliche Sittenlehre. Here the appearance of Christ yields a transformative influence that operates within natural and historical processes, inaugurating the reign of God that does not abolish the natural world but draws creation to its completed perfection.

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