Church and Theology in the Nineteenth Century

The last volume of Baur's church history, based on lectures delivered during the 1850s, covers the nineteenth century. They were edited and published by Eduard Zeller after Baur's death. Since the lectures devote equal attention to theological and ecclesiastical matters, the title in English is Church and Theology in the Nineteenth Century. Baur provides critical analyses of the philosophers and theologians of the nineteenth century (Herder, Schiller, Goethe, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Jacobi, Schleiermacher, Marheineke, Neander, Mohler, Hegel, Strauss, Feuerbach, and many others), as well as details about European Catholic and Protestant church history from 1800 to 1860. What he produces is a participant history, written by a scholar very much engaged in the issues of his time. Ferdinand Christian Baur was a professor of theology at the University of Tubingen from 1826 to 1860. He is known for his path-breaking studies in New Testament literature and historical theology. Recent translations of his work by Brown and Hodgson include History of Christian Dogma and Lectures on New Testament Theology.The series of Baur translations expertly introduced and edited by Professor Hodgson is helping English-speaking students to a deeper understanding of the Enlightenment and Idealist contributions to modern western Christianity. . . . It throws fresh light on perennial issues: the relationship of philosophy and theology, tradition and modernity, church and state, governance, ecumenism, academic freedom.--Robert Morgan, University of OxfordThe lectures on the nineteeth century are one of Baur's most valuable works. The author here describes the history of church and theology as a contemporary. The pages concerning himself and Strauss are highlights of his report and make the work precious as a primary source. In his foreword the learned editor gives a short survey of the history of this book and its essence just as well-informed remarks on Baur's conception of history.--Ulrich Kopf, Professor, University of TubingenThe value of this volume for students of nineteenth-century German theology and church history, both Protestant and Catholic, consists in the unique insights it offers on major thinkers who shaped the theological debates of this period. These are the insights of a towering theological figure who was himself a participant in these debates, and whose legacy we are now in a better position to appreciate due to the recent and ongoing efforts of Hodgson and Brown.-- Todd Gooch, Professor, Eastern Kentucky UniversityPeter C. Hodgson is Charles G. Finney Professor of Theology Emeritus at the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. He has specialized in works by Baur and Hegel, as well as in contemporary issues of constructive theology. Robert F. Brown is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Delaware. He has specialized in the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion, with a focus on German idealism.