Nationalism and the Making of Modern Protestant Theology
Forging German Unity by Theological Networks and Discourses (1820-1870)
By (author) Johan Smits
Hardback (Forthcoming)
(August 1970)
ISBN: 9783162003256
6.1 x 9.13 inches
Price: $210.00
Over the course of the nineteenth century, German Protestants loyally supported the emerging German nation. Johan Smits demonstrates how new and established institutional networks made this connection possible and how religious and theological ideas helped to shape national thought.
Johan Smits answers the question of how professors of theology as a central Protestant elite related to rising nationalism both on an institutional and on an ideological level. The author first focuses on the institutional dimension of nation building. This landscape and its constitutive actors and institutions are mapped by means of methods from social network analysis. Protestant associations and theological journals contributed to the genesis of networks which, indifferent to state borders, connected theologians to each other and to other Protestant elites. Bodies of church administration and theological faculties remained embedded in individual states. The author then addresses the ideological dimension of nationalist discourse in academic theology. The sub-discipline of theological ethics, which was a central part of nineteenth century theology, offered an ideal context for reflection on the position of the nation in a Christian worldview. The presupposed German people and the aspired-to German nation played an important role in the historiography of religion and theology. The case of writing the history of rationalist and supernaturalist theology shows that nationalist stereotypes helped to downplay the role of other nations and peoples and to shape the (religious) identity of the German nation. The relatively young discipline of practical theology contributed to including liberal and nationalist ideas and obtained a crucial position in reflection on the practices of religion and church.
1. Nation and religion in the historiography nineteenth century Germany
1.1 A Protestant nationalist worldview?
1.2 Towards a German nation
1.3 Religious transformation in the nineteenth century
1.4 Revisiting the historiography of theology
1.5 Purpose and structure of this study
Part One: National Networks of Theologians
2. A national elite of theologians
2.1 Establishing the national elite
2.2 Characteristics of prominent theologians
2.3 Interlude: Theologians and their fatherlands
2.4 Tracing discourses
2.5 Writing the nation
3. Theological scholarship between state and nation
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Theodor Albert Liebner and the service of the state
3.3 Isaac August Dorner and international cooperation
3.4 Wilhelm Hoffmann and the future of Germany in the world
4. Theological faculties: scholarship in a proto-national context
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Academic theology for a new era
4.3 The academic hierarchy
4.4 The hierarchy of academies
4.5 Understanding the dynamics of German academic theology
5. Church administration and associations: caught between state and nation
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Church administration
5.3 Protestant associations
5.4 Understanding the dynamics of church and association
6. Theological journals: national communities of theology
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Organization
6.3 Scholarly aims
6.4 Community formation
6.5 Journals and positionality
6.6 Journals between church and scholarship
Part Two: Theological Discourses on the Nation
7. People, state and nation between good and evil
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Ethics for a modern era
7.3 People, state and nation in ethical systems
8. People, state and nation in ethical reflection
8.1 Introduction
8.2 The bond of blood
8.3 The Janus-like nature of law
8.4 Appropriating particularity
8.5 Pursuing universality
8.6 The anatomy of conflict
8.7 The individual and his nation
8.8 Transcendent churches
9. Narrating the identity of German theology
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Constructing rationalism and supernaturalism
9.3 The international genealogy of rationalism and supernaturalism
9.4 The particularity of German theology
10. Revitalizing the German church
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Rise and fall of a movement
10.3 Staging the nation
10.4 Popularizing theological scholarship
10.5 Academic discourses at the assemblies
11. Conclusion
11.1 Summary
11.2 Engaging with the nation
11.3 Theologians on the margins?
11.4 Postscript
- By (author) Johan Smits
Other Titles in this Series
Der Lebensweg des Theologen Otto Piper (1891-1982)
Eine Biographie mit einem Schwerpunkt auf der Weimarer Republik
Wahrheit – Geschichte – Erleben. Grundzüge der Theologie Wilhelm Herrmanns
Mit einer Edition der Vorlesung Wilhelm Herrmanns 'Die Wahrheit der christlichen Religion' von 1887 (deutsche Erstveröffentlichung)
Volume 10
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