Schleiermacher’s Preaching, Dogmatics, and Biblical Criticism: The Interpretation of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John

Friedrich Schleiermacher, the father of modern theology, found his voice first in preaching. This book demonstrates how Schleiermacher moved between the critical reading of Scripture, the proclamation of Christian faith to congregations over a forty-five-year period, and, eventually, the work of theology in all its disciplines. Schleiermacher’s Preaching, Dogmatics, and Biblical Criticism is the first work to fully unveil this interaction by focusing on Schleiermacher’s 228 known sermons on the Gospel of John. Kelsey shows in detail 1) how the central insights of his theology emerged first in his preaching, and 2) that his dogmatic writings provided a context within which these insights could be related to all the major doctrinal themes of Christian faith. The study concludes by drawing implications for theological reflection and its relation to worship life in our own time.