Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion
Friedrich Schleiermacher is often credited with playing a foundational role in the development of the modern concept of religion. His epoch-making <i>Speeches</i> on religion, published in 1799 amidst the widespread social and intellectual upheaval of the <i>Sattelzeit</i>, p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/311 |
| _version_ | 1797239500133367808 |
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| author | Kevin M. Vander Schel |
| author_facet | Kevin M. Vander Schel |
| author_sort | Kevin M. Vander Schel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Friedrich Schleiermacher is often credited with playing a foundational role in the development of the modern concept of religion. His epoch-making <i>Speeches</i> on religion, published in 1799 amidst the widespread social and intellectual upheaval of the <i>Sattelzeit</i>, present a novel description of religious feeling and religious communication, which mark a turning away from the rationalistic treatments of religion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and which served as both inspiration and foil for scholars of religion throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This essay suggests a reading of Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> that is organized around two interrelated claims. First, the text does not proceed as speculative philosophical treatise aiming to establish an overarching theory of religion but as a critical dialogue that inquires into the distinctive particularity of religion and religious expression. Second, religious piety, as depicted in the <i>Speeches</i>, is not found in the isolated inwardness of individual experience but in coordinated tension with sociality, in communications of religious feeling that are bound together with a living apprehension of the world. On this account, religion for Schleiermacher, though rooted in feeling and self-consciousness, is nonetheless no private affair; it is realized within the developing complex of social and historical living. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:52:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2960152458b44fc7a0849bd0154400bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:52:31Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-2960152458b44fc7a0849bd0154400bd2024-03-27T14:02:12ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-02-0115331110.3390/rel15030311Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of ReligionKevin M. Vander Schel0Department of Religious Studies, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258, USAFriedrich Schleiermacher is often credited with playing a foundational role in the development of the modern concept of religion. His epoch-making <i>Speeches</i> on religion, published in 1799 amidst the widespread social and intellectual upheaval of the <i>Sattelzeit</i>, present a novel description of religious feeling and religious communication, which mark a turning away from the rationalistic treatments of religion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and which served as both inspiration and foil for scholars of religion throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This essay suggests a reading of Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> that is organized around two interrelated claims. First, the text does not proceed as speculative philosophical treatise aiming to establish an overarching theory of religion but as a critical dialogue that inquires into the distinctive particularity of religion and religious expression. Second, religious piety, as depicted in the <i>Speeches</i>, is not found in the isolated inwardness of individual experience but in coordinated tension with sociality, in communications of religious feeling that are bound together with a living apprehension of the world. On this account, religion for Schleiermacher, though rooted in feeling and self-consciousness, is nonetheless no private affair; it is realized within the developing complex of social and historical living.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/311SchleiermacherGerman Romanticismcritiquecharacterizationfeelingintuition |
| spellingShingle | Kevin M. Vander Schel Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion Religions Schleiermacher German Romanticism critique characterization feeling intuition |
| title | Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion |
| title_full | Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion |
| title_fullStr | Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion |
| title_short | Schleiermacher’s <i>Speeches</i> and the Modern Critique of Religion |
| title_sort | schleiermacher s i speeches i and the modern critique of religion |
| topic | Schleiermacher German Romanticism critique characterization feeling intuition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/311 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kevinmvanderschel schleiermachersispeechesiandthemoderncritiqueofreligion |