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Johann Gottfried von Herder on History

Historical Writings as Art For Herder historical writing was a form of art, not a science: the “wahre historische Künstler” was the “Schöpfer einer Welt von Begebenheiten” as a “schönen Ganzen” (true historical artist; creator of a world of events; a beautiful whole). Accordingly, “Muster der Geschichte sind eher gewesen als Regelneiner historischen Kunst” (For an art of history it has always been more a matter of exemplars than of rules) (p. 71) Author with Historicity For Herder, the uniqueness of an author was always a  function of his historicity. (p. 72) Am meisten ists nötig, daß man von einem Autor abzieht, was seiner Zeit oder der Vorwelt zugehört, und was er der Nachwelt übrig läßt. Er trägt die Fesseln seines Zeitalters, dem er sein Buch zum Geschenke darbeut: er steht in seinem Jahrhundert, wie ein Baum in dem Erdreich, in das er sich gewurzelt, aus welchem er Säfte ziehet, mit welchem er seine Glied￾maßen der Entstehung decket. Je mehr er sich um seine Welt verdient mac...
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Johann Gottfried von Herder on Jesus

God's Kingdom into Reality through Jesus Since it is the basic tenet of Christian faith that Jesus of Nazareth was this messianic figure and as such converted the future kingdom of God into a present reality to be perceived by the faithful, Herder assigned to Jesus’s followers —  disciples, apostles, evangelists (p. 240) Jesus as Humanistic Teach presentation of Jesus as a great humanistic teacher for an audience in all p arts of the Greco-Roman world.   Hermeneutically, a reader’s attention  should again focus on the spirit of the respective works of each individual  evangelist. (p. 241)   Christoph Bultmann, "Herder’s Biblical Studies" in   A Companion to the Works of Johann Gottfried Herder . Edited by Hans Adler and Wulf Koepke. New York: Camden House, 2009.  Jesus as Historical Truth To sum up the present subject and move on to the two following sections, a sermon from 1788 illustrates Herder’s systematic construction of the first Trinit...
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Johann Gottfried von Herder's Biblical Studies

Method of Biblical Studies Herder advocated a critical historical approach to biblical texts. (p. 236) Bible is Human Menschlich muß man die Bibel lesen: denn sie ist ein Buch durch Menschen für Menschen geschrieben: menschlich ist die Sprache, menschlich die äußern Hülfsmittel, mit denen sie geschrieben und aufbehalten ist; menschlich endlich ist ja der Sinn, mit dem sie gefaßt werden kann, jedes Hülfsmittel, das sie erläutert, so wie der ganze Zweck und Nutzen, zu dem sie angewendet werden soll. ( Briefe, das Studium der Theologie betreffend  145)  [One must read the Bible in a human way: for it is a book written by human beings for human beings: human is the language, human are the outer means with which it was written and preserved; human, in the end, is indeed the sense with which it can be grasped, every means that serves its interpretation, as well as the entire purpose and use to which it is supposed to be put.] (p. 237) Christoph Bultmann, "Herder’s Biblical Studies"...
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Adolf von Harnack's Apologetics

  Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930) was a prominent German theologian and church historian associated with the liberal Protestant tradition. His apologetics sought to defend Christianity by emphasizing its historical essence, ethical core, and relevance for modern life, stripped of what he considered unnecessary dogmatic and metaphysical elements. His approach was rooted in historical-critical methods and sought to make Christianity intellectually credible to modern audiences. Key Features of Harnack’s Apologetics : 1. Focus on the Historical Jesus : Harnack argued that the essence of Christianity lay in the life and teachings of the historical Jesus, not in later theological developments or dogmas. He emphasized Jesus as a moral teacher and a bringer of the "Kingdom of God," focusing on Jesus' ethical and spiritual message rather than miracles or metaphysical claims. This aligned with his belief that theology should return to the simple, original gospel preached by Jesus and...
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Wilhelm Herrmann's Kantian Apologetics

Wilhelm Herrmann (1846–1922), a prominent liberal Protestant theologian, used Immanuel Kant's philosophy as a foundation to defend Christianity by focusing on the subjective, experiential aspects of religious faith. His approach emphasized the personal encounter with Jesus Christ as the core of Christian faith, aligning with Kant's emphasis on the limits of theoretical reason and the primacy of practical reason. Here are key points of Herrmann’s use of Kantian philosophy: 1. Focus on Religious Experience Herrmann argued that Christianity is fundamentally about a personal, transformative experience of God, encountered uniquely in Jesus Christ. This aligns with Kant’s notion that human beings cannot have direct access to the noumenal (ultimate reality) but can know the phenomenal world (appearances) through subjective experience. For Herrmann, God’s reality is not proven by external metaphysical arguments but is encountered internally in the moral and spiritual experience of fait...
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How the First World War Helped Give Rise to Political Theology

 https://politicaltheology.com/how-the-first-world-war-helped-give-rise-to-political-theology-ramon-luzarraga/ ~Theologians Supported 1914 War~ Thirteen of the signatories were theologians, Protestant and Catholic alike. They included Gustav Adolf Deissman, Albert Ehrhard,Gerhart EsserHenrich Finke, Wilhelm Herrmann, Anton Koch, Joseph Mausbach, Sebastian Merkle, Friedrich Naumann, Adolf Schlatter, August Schmidlin, and Reinhold Seeberg. The leading theologian in the group, and one of the leading intellectuals among the ninety-three, was Adolf von Harnack. ~A Lie of the Manifesto (1914)~ the  Manifesto  claimed the German army acted in Belgium out of self-defense against intense fighting by irregular forces. This claim was an outright lie, because what became known as “The Rape of Belgium” served no military purpose, and caused the deaths of innocent civilians and the burning of villages and towns besides Louvain. ~Barth's Understanding of Liberal Theology~ Barth had lon...
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Adolf von Harnack’s Dark Theology

 https://counter-currents.com/2017/02/adolf-von-harnacks-dark-theology/ ~Freedom~ "Harnack‘s theology is liberal theology in the sense that it emphasizes the imperative of freedom: the freedom of thought, the pursuit of truth, and freedom from external interference." ~Human Power~ "He was also confident in the power of human thought and the ability to transcend one‘s subjectivity to attain genuine objectivity. In him, scrupulous reasonableness and unshakeable religious faith were combined, resting on his awareness of one‘s dependence on the absolute spirit." ~Christianity for Harnack~ According to Harnack, true Christianity was something simple and sublime: “It means one thing and one thing only: Eternal life in the midst of time, by the strength and under the eyes of God.”  Gary Dorrien,  Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit: The Idealistic Logic of Modern Theology   (Chichester: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 326-327. ~Harnack on War~ Harnack’s thought was permeated wi...
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