A Prince of the Church: Schleiermacher and the Beginnings of Modern Theology

Although Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is commonly regarded as the father of modern theology, many contemporary Christians think of him only as a difficult and outmoded German theologian. With this work, B.A. Gerrish offers a fresh view of Schleiermacher that breaks through the stereotypes and places Schleiermacher’s work as a theologian into a broader context. Gerrish examines the elements of Schleiermacher’s twofold theology - a specifically Christian relationship with Christ and a universally human consciousness of God - in the hope that this view of Schleiermacher’s theological enterprise will lead contemporary Christians to reappraise him as a church theologian in the legitimate succession of Luther and Calvin.