Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit: The Idealistic Logic of Modern Theology

What role, if any, did Immanuel Kant and post–Kantian idealists such as Hegel play in shaping modern theology? In Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit , noted theologian Gary Dorrien argues that Kantian and post–Kantian idealism were instrumental in the foundation and development of modern Christian theology.  In this thought–provoking new work, Dorrien contends that while pre–Kantian rationalism offered a critique of religion′s authority, it held no theory about the creative powers of mind, nor about the spiritual ground and unifying reality of freedom. As Kant provided both of these, he can be considered the originator of modern religious thought. Dorrien reveals how the post–Kantian idealists also played an important role, by fashioning other forms of liberal religious thought through alternative solutions to the Kantian problems of subjectivity and dualism. Dorrien carefully dissects Kant′s three critiques of reason and his moral conception of religion, and analyzes the alternatives to Kant offered by Schleiermacher, Schelling, Hegel, and others. Dorrien goes on to provide a substantial account of the development of liberal theology in Britain , and the thought of Paul Tillich and Karl Barth, showing how these, as well as the dominant traditions of German liberal theology, and even the powerful critiques of liberal religious idealism proffered by Kierkegaard and the left–Hegelian school, were rooted in Kantian or post–Kantian idealism.  Presenting these notoriously difficult arguments in a wonderfully lucid and accessible manner, Dorrien solidifies his reputation as a pre–eminent social ethicist. Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit offers deeply illuminating insights into the impact of 19 th –century philosophical idealism on contemporary religious thought.

Preface and Acknowledgments ix 1 Introduction: Kantian Concepts, Liberal Theology, and Post–Kantian Idealism 1 2 Subjectivity in Question: Immanuel Kant, Johann G. Fichte, and Critical Idealism 23 3 Making Sense of Religion: Friedrich Schleiermacher, John Locke, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Liberal Theology 84 4 Dialectics of Spirit: F. W. J. Schelling, G. W. F. Hegel, and Absolute Idealism 159 5 Hegelian Spirit in Question: David Friedrich Strauss, Søren Kierkegaard, and Mediating Theology 243 6 Neo–Kantian Historicism: Albrecht Ritschl, Adolf von Harnack, Wilhelm Herrmann, Ernst Troeltsch, and the Ritschlian School 315 7 Idealistic Ordering: Lux Mundi, Andrew Seth Pringle–Pattison, Hastings Rashdall, Alfred E. Garvie, Alfred North Whitehead, William Temple, and British Idealism 378 8 The Barthian Revolt: Karl Barth, Paul Tillich, and the Legacy of Liberal Theology 454 9 Idealistic Ironies: From Kant and Hegel to Tillich and Barth 530 Index 574

Gary Dorrien is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including the highly–acclaimed trilogy The Making of Liberal Theology (2001, 2003, 2006), and Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition (Wiley–Blackwell, 2008, 2010).

“Dorrien′s book–which I cannot avoid calling brilliant–will hold the same enduring place in giving an historical justification for his "modern theology" that Barth′s Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century holds in setting the table for Barth′s dogmatics. Time will tell whether the future belongs to Dorrien′s theology, Barth′s (in historical or repristinated form), or some other.”  ( Themelios , 1 August 2013) “Graduate students and philosophy of religion students will find this book indispensable.  Summing Up:  Essential.  All libraries supporting graduate programs in theology and religion.”  ( Choic e, 1 February 2013)