Studies in Philosophical Theology – serie

Religious feeling lies at the heart of Schleiermacher's theology. In his earliest monograph, the Speeches, he famously writes that "religion's essence is neither thinking nor acting but intuition and feeling." He portrays religious feeling as an eternal and universal state of consciousness, which cannot be generated by individuals, the world or anything within it, but must have a transcendent "whence", namely God. Yet his critics have often missed this point, assuming that his emphasis on feeling makes religion transitory and individualistic. This misinterpretation is furthered by philosophical, psychological, anthropological and popular understandings of feeling, which characterise emotions as selfish and moods as inward looking.This book traces the development of Schleiermacher's concept of feeling, comparing the first edition of the Speeches with his later works, especially The Christian Faith. It points to a fundamental continuity in Schleiermacher's stance, despite the increasing orthodoxy of his language, and his growing interest in the collective feeling of the religious community. Taking account of recent developments in psychology and philosophy, this study sheds light on the elements of Schleiermacher's account that are tenable today, clearing the way for future reappraisals of his theological project.

Can there be an objective morality without God? Derek Parfit argues that it can and offers a theory of morality that is neither theistic nor naturalistic. This book provides a critical assessment of Parfit's metaethical theory. Jakobsen identifies some problems in Parfit’s theory – problems concerning moral normativity, the ontological status of morality, and evolutionary influence on our moral beliefs – and argues that theological resources can help solve them. By showing how Parfit’s theory may be improved by the help of theology, Jakobsen demonstrates the relevance of theology in philosophical and metaethical debates and argues that Christian theism offers a better explanation of morality than what Parfit’s non-naturalism does.

Miracle narratives are an essential part of nearly all religious traditions. The importance of miracles also applies to Christianity. The Gospels record thirty-five miracles that Jesus is said to have performed, including twenty-three miraculous healings and nine nature miracles (for example, stilling a storm and turning water into wine). At the heart of Christian faith lies the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. However, the factuality of these events has been increasingly problematised, especially since the period of the Enlightenment. In this study, it is argued that the current debate between science-oriented critics of miracles and their religious opponents focuses predominantly on the question of factuality and evidence at the loss of the religious meaning of miracles. The suggestion that science and religion would be opposite approaches is denied in a proposal of a balanced hermeneutical approach of miracles that does justice to scientific findings, religious texts and experience.

Die Hermeneutik setzt sich mit dem Subjekt auseinander, sie entdeckt dessen List und Täuschung, sie schafft es aber nicht ab.Sie überlässt es vielmehr der geduldigen Arbeit der Interpretation den Faden der Ariadne zu probieren, der uns nicht aus dem Labyrinth der Welt herausführt, sondern es in einen bewohnbaren Ort verwandelt. Um dies zu tun, muß man am Subjekt gesichert arbeiten und sich gleichzeitig zu seinen äußersten Grenzen vorstrecken: wieder das Subjekt denken aber, zur gleichen Zeit und trotz dem Subjekt, über das Subjekt hinaus denken.Das Buch verfolgt die Etappen, den Wechsel des Subjekts der Modernität und kreuzt damit das Endliche und die Zeitlichkeit, den Wunsch und das Bedürfnis, die Erinnerung und das Zeugnis. Es entsteht die Möglichkeit eines neuen Subjekts, das nicht mehr verschlossen und selbständig ist, sondern von einer Komplexität und einer Andersheit durchquert ist, welche es gründen und bilden; ihm kann die Aufgabe der Philosophie als Suche nach der Wahrheit wieder anvertreut werden.

Ohne Übertreibung kann man sagen, dass der Philosoph Wilhelm Friedrich Weischedel (1905-1975) - ein Schüler Martin Heideggers - im Problem des Nihilismus, d.h. des Todes Gottes und des damit verbundenen Sinn- und Seinsverlusts, die tiefste Herausforderung des Denkens sah. Vor allem seine Philosophische Theologie entfaltet dieses Grundproblem.Über verschiedene denkerische Schritte gelangt er zu einer ihm plausibel erscheinenden Antwort auf den Nihilismus, zum Gott der Philosophen. Diese Schritte aber wurden Gegenstand heftiger Kontroversen. Sowohl theologische wie auch philosophische Kritiker haben sie abgelehnt.In der vorliegenden Studie setzt sich der Verfasser mit dem historischen Nährboden, der Entwicklung und den Schwierigkeiten der Weischedelschen Gotteslehre auseinander. Denn nur auf der Basis einer solchen Auseinandersetzung lässt zich klären, ob diese Lehre heute ein Licht im Schatten des Nihilismus sein kann.

As finite humans, we are dependent, limited, situated, and vulnerable, and our understanding of ourselves and the world is constantly facing boundaries and restrictions. This book explores how finitude's different dimensions, and its ambiguities, may be understood within the framework of Christian theological anthropology. This study inverstigates different understandings of finitude's role in human life, and argues why these may benefit theological anthropology. An analysis and discussion of recent contributions and the possible relations between them not only help us to gain a richer picture of finitude's impact on human life, but may also contribute to a deeper understanding of the anthropological dimensions of religion. A further outcome of the analysis is that we are then able to define more clearly on what terms there is, from a phenomenological point of view, a possible relation between common human experience of finitude and the understanding of the world present in religion.

Religious statements can be true or false, and are not merely arbitrary or personally meaningful. That is the core thesis of this work in pragmatist philosophy of religion. Other contemporary approaches are deficient, as they have problematic ways of understanding truth and experience. The argument in this study draws on Hilary Putnam's work in such fields as ethics, epistemology, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, however, Putnam doesn't fully acknowledge how religious statements, similar to other statements, depend on an interaction of our language and the world. This would make religious truth a matter of convention. Drawing on another source of inspiration for Putnam, William James, Niek Brunsveld shows how religious claims can have truth value.