Analysis of Friedrich Schleiermacher's On Religion
On Religion is a major text for the development of modern religious thought in the West and its author, German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, is remembered as the Father of Modern Protestant Theology, as well as for his contributions to philosophy, ethics and hermeneutics. Comprising five lively speeches, which defend religion as a universal element of human life, the text was addressed to the young intellectual elite of early nineteenth-century Berlin. It demonstrates Schleiermacher’s critique of Kant’s religious and moral thought, while also showing his indebtedness to the divergent movements of Enlightenment rationalism and Romanticism.
Dr Ruth Jackson did postgraduate work in theology and religious studies at the University of Cambridge. She is currently a Research Fellow in theology at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities in Cambridge, where she worked on the ERC-funded project "The Bible and Antiquity in Nineteenth-Century Culture."