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It’s a mistake to think of Schleiermacher’s “feeling of absolute dependence” in subjectivist terms. It is not a private emotion, but the relationship God establishes by grace. It is God-grounded, not self-grounded.
A #Schleiermacher thread 1/7
A #Schleiermacher thread 1/7
I tried to stress this point in my “Schleiermacher in Plain English” book. For Schleiermacher, “feeling” is a technical term. Only a poor reading of his work would ignore how precisely he defines the phrase. 2/7
In contrast with the feeling of relative freedom and relative dependence (our relation to world/self), the feeling of *absolute* dependence implies a relation to God that does not depend on us but is wholly a relation established by God’s grace. 3/7
The way I put it in my book was this: “If we think of these terms relationally, then we will be much closer to understanding Schleiermacher’s point.” 4/7
“God-consciousness,” “religious self-consciousness,” and “the feeling of absolute confidence” are each uniquely complex phrases, but understanding them relationally and in terms of God’s grace is a vital step towards a better reading of his work. 5/7
C. W. Christian writes, “It is surprising how often superficial evaluations of Schleiermacher fail to grasp the profound sense of grace that suffuses his whole theology.” 6/7
Recapturing the preeminence of grace in Schleiermacher’s theology was a primary goal of my book. His work is far too important to allow misreadings to persist. 7/7
