The Rebirth of Revelation: German Theology in an Age of Reason and History, 1750-1850

Description

Despite being a pillar of belief in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the idea of revelation was deeply discredited over the course of the Enlightenment. The post-Enlightenment restoration of revelation among German religious thinkers is a fascinating yet underappreciated moment in modern efforts to navigate between reason and faith. The Rebirth of Revelation compares Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish reflections on revelation from 1750 to 1850 and asserts that a strategic transformation in the term’s meaning secured its relevance for the modern age. Tuska Benes argues that "propositional" revelation, understood as the infallible dispensation of doctrine, gave way to revelation as a subjective process of inner transformation or the historical disclosure of divine being in the world. By comparatively approaching the unconventional ways in which Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism have rehabilitated the concept of revelation, The Rebirth of Revelation restores theology to a central place in modern European intellectual history. Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One Historical Revelation in the Protestant Enlightenment Chapter Two The Comparative History of Religion, 1770–180 Chapter Three God’s Word in Comparative Mythology, 1760–1830 Chapter Four Revelation in Nature from Physicotheology to G.H. Schubert Chapter Five The Philosophy of Revelation: Schleiermacher, Hegel, and Schelling Chapter Six The Epistemology of Grace: Revelation in Catholic Theology, 1770–1850 Chapter Seven Revelation in Jewish Religious Thought from Mendelssohn to Geiger Chapter Eight Revelation Imperilled in Protestant Religious Thought, 1820–1850 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index