Reinhard was correct in
his opinion that one or the other would have to yield. Just at the
crisis when these two systems were attracting greatest attention,
Schleiermacher published his _System of Doctrines_, 1821. In this work
he proved what had not been conceived by any writer save himself, that
there was another road to progress. As soon as it gained a hearing the
disputants saw that their arguments were no longer of value, that the
ground of the discussion was altogether changed, and that the cause of
faith must eventually triumph. The book was a complete surprise to all
parties. It was a stroke of genius, destined alike to recast existing
theology and to create a new public sentiment for the future.
The leading ideas developed in this master-piece of theology are Christ,
Religion, and the Church. The Rationalists had ever held that reason is
the criterion of truth, but Schleiermacher elevates Christian
consciousness to the throne. They had reduced religion to a mere formal
morality; yet he shows that religion and morality are very different,
and that the former consists neither in knowledge or action, but in the
sentiment or feeling of the heart.
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