In the first part, I will clarify the concepts of mediation and mediating theology, put them in historical perspective, and highlight central themes and developments. The second part sketches the theology of I.A. Dorner. The conclusion... more
In the first part, I will clarify the concepts of mediation and mediating theology, put them in historical perspective, and highlight central themes and developments. The second part sketches the theology of I.A. Dorner. The conclusion offers trajectories for further research.
Friedrich Schleiermacher’s thought set an important precedent for nineteenth-century mediating theology, both in its attempt to harmonize distinctively Christian faith with independent scholarly inquiry and in its innovative focus on the... more
Friedrich Schleiermacher’s thought set an important precedent for nineteenth-century mediating theology, both in its attempt to harmonize distinctively Christian faith with independent scholarly inquiry and in its innovative focus on the historical influence of Christ. Following Schleiermacher, many mediating theologians adopted a similarly christocentric emphasis yet desired to move beyond Schleiermacher’s apparently subjective method by reconciling the claims of Christ’s uniqueness with advancing social progress and objective historical fact. This essay examines this two-sided christocentric trajectory by attending to the work of J.A.W. Neander and Carl Ullmann. Neander’s Life of Jesus (1837) and Ullmann’s The Essence of Christianity (1849) both sought to formalize and expand Schleiermacher’s christocentric approach while also providing it a more stable foundation in outward historical investigation. In so doing, they illustrate both the promise and the lingering ambiguity of Schleiermacher’s theological legacy within nineteenth-century thought.
