THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT IN SCHLEIERMACHER'S ECCLESIOLOGY:

THE 1830 AUGSBURG CONFESSION SERMONS

by

Robert Thomas O'Meara

A Thesis submined to the Faculty of Theology of the University of SE. Michad's College and the deparunent of Theolw of the Toronto School of

Theology in partial fuifiilment of the requiremencs for the degree of

awarded by the University of StMichael's Coilege

Toronto 1998

Q Robm T. O'Meara

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In his 1830 sermons commemorating the 300th anniversary o f the

handing over of the Augsburg Confession, Friedrich Schleiermacher advocates

an ecdesiology that is Catholic in spirit wirhin die conton of rhe predominanc

Protert;ant spirit that imbues his theological vision. The thesis charts a path

beginning with desiological dements ffom the original Augsburg Confession

document of 1530 in order to show Schleiermacher's & i t y wirh one of the

founding symbolic books of Reformauon history. The argument then continues

to delineare the consistency with which Schleiermacher pursues an essentially

Cdthoüc view of the Church, fiom the burgeoning ecdesiology of die Speechez

to the mature theology of The Cbn'stran Faith. The thesis condudes with die

suggestion that in his A~gsburg Confession sermons of 1830, Schleiermacher

consuucts a converging "fÙgaln ecclesiology - Protestant at its core but Cacholic in ics sacramental, ministerial, eschatological and ecumenical anributes.

Essenudy, Sdeierrnacher's theology of the Church is an ecumenical one

seeking to constantly expand 'the ckde of Christian love".

"No one thercfore can bc surprised to find at this point the proposition that sdvution m blrzecdnr iiz in the Chzrrch done, and that, since blessedness cannot enter from without, but can be found wichin the Church ody by being brought into existence there, the Cburcb alone saves.

Friedrich Sdeiermacher, The Chri~tr'an F d h

Professors Iain Nicol and George Schner for their theologid guidance and inspiration.

& Pauicia and Mona for their support of this graduate project.

Inuoduaion

*Ecdesiology" in the Augsburg Confession of 1 530

The "Speeches" : Schleiermacher's " Burgeoning" Ecdesiology

Sdileiermacher's 1830 Augsburg Confession Sermons: The "Mature" Ecdesiology

1) The Context: Theology Serves the Pulpit 21 The Hermeneutics: The Architecture of the Sermons

S dileier macher's "Fu$" Ecdesiology : An Integrauon of the Pro testant and Catholic Visions

Bibliography

AppmdUc 1: Summary Chan of the Ten Sermons and Related Themes

AppendUc 2: Chart of Ham Frei's Typology of Christian Theology

AppcndUc 3: Chan of Sdeiermacher's "Fugaln Ecdesiology

Introduction

O n Sunday June 20,1830, a few days before the tercentenary commemorating the

Augsburg Codesion, Friedrich Schleiermacher addressed his parishioners with the

following cautionary sentiment: *Only if we approach this f i s u d in the knowledge

of our total fieedom fiom the letter ... only then will we be able to reckon this celebration to our blessingn.1 A few months later, on November 7, 1830, he

completed his series of ten sermons on the Augsburg Confession by achorting his

undschtigen F m n h to ddgently maintain "not a unity written in codes but die

'unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace' ".2 To fiee oneself kom the letter in order

to engage in "noble servitude"3 to the Spirit of Christ - this was the rdying cry of the pastor-theologian who became, for later generations of Christians, die founder of

modern liberal Protestant theology.

Though a romanticist at h e m for whom feeling took precedence over

knowing4 Schleiermacher's theological vision sought to preserve antithetical

elements in a dialogicd pair, never forsaking one at the expense of the orher. He

remained faithm throughout his life to the "coincidance of...contrariesn~ that

appears to undergird the deep mysterious structure of a human existence ennobled

and divinized by the saving grace of the Redeemer. He espoused the respectful

maintenance of an "equipoisen6 between such ancitheses as freedom and dependence,

sin and grace, humanity and divinity, emotion and reason, the whole and the

ii.agment, unicy and divenity, the individual and the community, the visible and the

invisible Church, and - the Catholic spirit and the Protestant spirit.

1 Friedrich Scblaermachcr, R+rmeti But Ewr RcjGnnmsSmnonr in &&tron ro Che Ce&& of rbc Handng Owr of the A~~ CÔn#mbn (1830) m. Iain N i d (LwLron: Edwin Meilen Press, 1997), p.22 ( F d c r cirations h m this work wili bc abbreviatcd CO Smnonr and the page number.)

S m ~ i y p.175 smns, p33 Friedrich Schleiamacher, The Chdzkn Frlith. edr. H.R Mackintosh and J.S. S m (Edinburgh: T&T

Clark), p.5 (Frurbcr citaaons WU be abbrcviaud CO CFand the paragaph (0) andor page number (p). 5 Jama Joysc, Finnqam W& (New York: Viking Press, 1939), 49 CE p.15

I

In the introduaory section to Thc Chnstàn Faith, Schleiermacher formulates

his dassical distinction between the Pro testant and Cath01 ic positions in

.. the former makes the individual's relation to the Church dependent on his relation to Christ, while the latter contrariwise makes the individual's relation to Christ dependent on his relation to Church.7

Note that on either side of this antithesis, Schleiermacher preserves a baiance

between the individual and the communal elements. He M e r warns that the

"greatest care musc be taken not to carry the antithesis too fir, lest we should fd

into un-Christian positionsn.8 When fàced with polar opposites, we are encouraged

to carry on the dialogue in a spirit of tolerance that seeks not to "constria the &de

of Christian loveng but rather to invite ail of humankind to rnernbership within the

vital fdowship of Christ the kdeemer.10 Ail are ulrimately destined to be eleaed

into the Kingdom of the Fathu. U n d such tirne, the Moravian pastor invites us to a

theological banquet that is emotive, critid and dialogid, where religious feeling

seeks understanding in a tolerant spirit of conversation with "the inhabiced earth".ll

For Schleiermacher, Christian faith is a search for bannony within the spirit of the

whok - a phrase that might summarize his position as a Christian theologian and his prayer as a Christian pastor.

Wi& this ecumenical/colloquial ethos, I will argue the following thesic

In his 1830 semons cornmemorating the 300th anniversary of the handing over of the Augsburg Confession, Friedrich Schleierrnacher adv ocates an ecclesiology that is Catholic in

' a s 2 4 CF, P 24, p. 107 Sc*mom, p.136

Io ff, § 93, p. 384; § 113. p.525 11 ï h e mot mcaning of ecumcnicai, fiom the Grcek occumrni(os 'of ihe inhabiud d*.

2

spirit within the context of the pndominant Protestant spirit that imbues his theological vision.

By the Protestant spirit, I refer to that trilithic core of principles that has

fiamed reformation theology since Wittenberg, namdy, s ~ ~ f ; k scn;bwra and

the priesthood of ail believers. Schleiermacher expounds this position throughout bis

sermons but parricularly in Semzon 2 of the Augsburg collection where, with

reference to the New Testament, he writes:

Thus, we have an important and permanent safeguard in scriphae insofar as we truly have concord in our faith in Christ, setting aside ail human authority, and acknowledge that no witness is valid for the development of doctrine and for the ordering of M e other than what is exprcssed in these writings.12

Later on he affirms "that di Christians shodd be priests" so that "the merence in

OU church becween those who prodaim God's word and those who hear it has &O

becorne smder and smaller." 13

As for the Catholic spirit, I dude ro Sdeiermacher's anrithetid views. On

the one hand, he uses the term Catholic to denote whac is "common to the whole

Church"l4, namely the universal, ecumenid, indusivist connotations implied in the

spirit of catbolicity. On the other, he adoprs the traditional Catholic position of

saivific exclusivity, namely, "no salvation outside the Church" or in

Schleiermacherian terms, no blessedness ourside the fellowship of Christ. In the

section on the doctrine of the Church from The Christian Frzith, he explicidy adopts

the position of St. Cyprianl5: No one thereforr cm be surprised to find at this point the proposition that salvation or blessedness is in the Chwch alone, and that, since blessedness cannot enter from without, but can

l2 S ~ O ~ L T . p.41 l3 smnonr , p.45 l4 CF, 5 2 1, p.96

h a c~claxanr dm. (No sabation mroidr the ChUrch) Sr Cyprian was bishop of Cardiagc. 248-258 C.E 3

be found within the Church only by king brought into existence the=, the Chwch alone saves. l6 (Emp hasis added)

This amithetical theme of an inciiuivist catholicity within a seemingly cxcfwivist

ecdesiology continues in the Augsburg Confession sermons as 'the goal toward

which the effort of the Evangelical Church is directedn.'7 AU are inviteci to job the

Church (the indusive thune) but unless you join, you rernain outside the cirde of

redeeming blessedness (the exclusive theme).

Finally, by the term ecclesiology, I point to the structure and role of the

Christian Ch& in the life of Gth. For Schleiermacher, the individu111 life of faith

springs from the communal Me of faith grounded in the reconciling work of the

Redeemer. Church as "the fdowship of believers"i8 arises from the redemptive work

taking effea within individuds. Ultimarely, the fiinaion of the Church is to make

the life of Christian piety possible. In Schleiermacher's vision, piety is an inherendy

ecclesial acuvity and Christian prayer is primarily communal.

The thesis WU comprise four inrerrelated chapters. Firstly, I wiU examine

ecdesiologid elements from the original Augsburg Confession document of 1 5 30 in

order to show Schleiermacher's Sn i ry widi one of che founding symbolic books of

Reformation history. The second chapter will consider Speech 4 from

Schleiermacher's collection, On Religion, ' 9 as the groundwork of his ecdesiology.

The third and most substantive chapter will involve a critical analysis of

Sdeiermacher's 1830 collection of sermons on the Augsburg Confession in order to

reconsuuct his ecdesiology and position irs role within his broader theological

program. As I analyze these sermons, I will atternpt to integrate into the argument

l6 CE 5 1 13, p.527 l7 The d e of h n 10. l8 CE 1 113. p.525 19 F k d k h Schkiamacher. On Rcli@on: Sperrba m ia Cukund Desphen, m. and cd. Richard Cmum (Gmbridgc: Cambridge University Press, 1 988)

4

Schlciermacher's related insights from his other works, pmidar ly The Chrtitian

Faith. In addition, this chapter will indude a section on the critical response to

Schleiermacher's theology fiom both Protestant and Catholic perspectives. The

fourth and 1s t chapter wiil engage the sdient features of Schleiermacher's mature

theology of the Church. I intend to delineate the consistency with which he pursued

his ecdesiology fiom his earliesr writings to hhis latest sermons - essentidy a Catholic view within a Protemnt theological framcwork.

Cb'ptct 1

"Ecclesiology" in the Augsburg Confession of 1530

In the spring of 1530, the German Emperor Charles V convened a Diet in the

city of Augsburg ordering the Luthcran princes to present a statement of their faith.

Intending to settle the religious canuoversy berween Catholics and Protestants so

they could maintain a united front against the Turks, the Emperor had hoped for a

peaceful settlement among the divergent parties. With the approval of Luther, Phüip

Melanchthon prepared and wrote the document. The confessional statement was

signed by the German princes and presented ro the assembled Church and Stace

representatives at Augsburg on June 25, 1530.

This presentation of the Augsburg Confession ro the secular and sacred

authorities of the day was considered a courageous act of &th on the part of the

protesters "in view of the immense polirical and ecdesiastid power of the Roman

Church at rhat ùmen.20 In the foreword to his collecuon of sermons on the Augsburg

Confession, Schleiermacher echoes this view when he daims that the jubilee of 1830

celebrated "more the act of handing ovcr &e confession than the work or the content

of that document itselF.21 A s m d Christian fellowship expressing ics faith and

confessing it openly for the purpose of extending the cirde of Christian love - this for Schleiermacher is the essence of being the Church of the Redeemer.

Though we may art01 the act of presenting h e confession, the document itself

was obviously not a blank manuscript, in spite of anecdotal reports that the Emperor

slept through its delivery. It is a carefdly crafied theological statement comprising

twenty-two Artides of Faith in Part I and seven articles d d i n g with ecdesiastid

abuses in Pan II. Its tone is reconciliatory; its theology is catholic; in aim is unity - as a reader c m surmise fcom Melanchthon's summation in Artide XXII:

20 Philip S M , A H* ofh C d of CbMordom (London: Hodder & Scoughron, 1877). p.226 21 Friedrich Schleiamachcr, Foreword. hmunc, p.2 (Emphasis dd4.

6

This is about the sum of doctrine among us, in which can be seen that there is nothing which is discrepant with the Scriptures, or with the Church Catholic, or even with the Roman Church, so far as that Church is known from writers [the writings of the Fathers]..But the dissension is conceming certain abuses. which without any certain authority have crept into the churches ... they should bear with us, since not even the Canons are so severe as to demand the same rites every where. nor w m the rites of ail churches at any tirne the same."

The priority of Scripwes, the importance of a unified uuly "catholic" Church, the

notion of corrective development, the plea for tolerance of the diversified

manifestations of the Christian Church - themes cenual to the proponents of the Augsburg Confession of 1530; themes equally important to Schleierrnacher's

Augsburg Sermons written in 1830 to commemorate this founding act and

document of the reformed chucch, mer reforming.

The next step to be taken is an examination of those Articles dealing with

Church issues in order to discern the type of ecclesiology that animates this

confessional symbol, an ecclesiology resonant with and yet distanced from

Sdileiermacher's own theologid oudook.

In the Preface irself. we encounter an ecumenical ecdesiology similar to that

espoused by Schleiermacher in his sermons. We note a concern to ernbrace the true

religion "as we are subjecrs and soldiers of the one Christ, so also in uniry and

concord, we may Iive in the one Chrisuan churdi".23 The aim of the Augsburg

Confession is die removai of dissension so rhat dl parries can return "to confess one

ChrisP.24 This suiving for unity, for invithg al1 belicvers to the one Christ underlies

22 con+% f i d e XXI, p. 27 in Thc Cm& of the E v a n g c I ; c a I ~ t ~ n t Chtrtrhcr, mnr. Pbilip Schaff, (Ladon: Hodda & Stoughoon, 1887).

Augs6urg Confcrtion, p.4 24 Ibid p.5

7

most of the document, as it drives most, if not all, of Schieiermacher's theologicai

projm.

Artides V, VII, VIII, XIV and XV explicitly address ecdesiasticd topics:

Ministry of the Church; Of the Church; What the Church 1s; Of Ecdesiastid

Orders; and Of Ecdesiastid Rites. In addition, Anides IX through XII1 take on die

sacramenu as essentid components of ecdesiology. Two related questions need to be

posed at diis point. Firstly, what aspects of these Articles' ecclesiology does

Sdileiemiadier accept? Secondly, what features does he reject?

We can argue convincingly that the only feature Schleiermacher is

uncornforrable with is the condemnatory tone towards those who believe differendy.

The "Damnant Anabaptistas" of Artide V or the "Damnant Donaristas" of h i c l e

VI11 are phrases that Schleiermacher considers incompatible with the religion of the

Redeemer. As he indicares in S m n 8 of his Augsburg collection, to condernn others

is to ignore Jesus' exhonation not to judge or condemn others but to forgive thern.25.

Schleiermacher goes on to opine: Jesus' waming against judging and condemning equdly applies to what we rake to be mistaken about the notions and opinions of others. as weli as to what we must consider to be wrong in the conduct of a person's life.26

Mu& better and more effective, Schleiermacher would argue, is to invite dissenrers

into dialogue. Conversation is Christian; damnation has no place in o u religion - so Schleiermacher would condude.

As for what Schleiermacher would agree with, we can delineate five resonating

features in the ecdesially relevant Artides. Firstly, there is the notion that the essence

of Spirit-inspired ministry consists of the two-pronged activity of preadiing the Word

and administering the Sauaments. To quote fiom Artide V: "Nam per verbum et

Sacramenta, tanquam per insuumenta, donatur Spiritus Sanctusn.27 P r e a h g the

Gospel and administering the Sacraments are signs of the continual and perpetud

presence of Christ in the Church.

In The ChtiztKrn Faith, Schleiermacher rdects this view where he proposes six

essential doctrines related to the immutable aspect of the Church.28 Preadiing the

Word, administering Baptism and distributhg the Lord's Supper stand as the most

important activities of Church minisuy and membership. The Minisrry of the Word

of God as a "living witness to Christ" is "taken univenally as the dury and calling of

every member of the Churchn.2g Preaching is "the most spiritual Minisrry"; it is "the

ordered presencation of the Word of God ... from which all radiates out and to whkh all is in relationn.30 The Word and the Sacraments form and sustain ecclesid

fdowship. In this respect, Sdeiermacher's ecdesiology lies within the sarne vein as

that of the Augsburg Confession.

We note similarities as well with the second and third salienr features of

Augsburgian ecdesiology, namely, the Church as "congregatio Sanctorumm,3' the

congregacion of saints and the locus of Church as wherever "the Gospel is righdy

taught and the Sacraments rightly administered."32 For Schleiermacher also, the

Church is essencially "the fdowship of believers" who concinue "the work of

redemptionn33 initiared by Christ. This "work" is the evangelical and sacramental

activity "in behalfof the Kingdom of God which embraces men together in the grasp

of the love flowing from Hirnm,34 the Redeemer. Wherever there is a "coming

27 Au@& Çon+n, p.10 'For by the Word and Sammcnr, as by insmimcnrs rh Holy SpLit is @ai" 28 CF. 5 127, p. 586 29 CF, p. 588 3O p. 616 31 A~~ Confiion, p. I l 32 hi&, p.11-12 33 m. p.577 34 CF, p.576

togethu of regenerate individuds to form a system of mutuai interaction and co-

operationn,3s there is the hm of Church.

Tolerating the diumity with which the Christian faith can be expressed in

multifanous human traditions constimtes a fourth meeting point between Augsburg

and Schieiermacher. The confession emphasiw that customs, rites or cerunonies "ab

hominibus institut as"^ (iitituted by men) need not be al l alike everywhere. Quoting

from the letter to the Epbaiam, the document rerninds us that "these is one &th, one

baptism, one God and Father of a.Un.37 Expressing this divine onenus through

human divcrsity, however, is the n a d outcome of a fàîth incarnated within history.

Ulumately, we are unified as Christians by the Gospel and the Sacraments: "And

unto the uue unity of the Chur&, it is s&cient to agree concernuig the doctrine of

the Gospel and the administration of the Sacramentsm.38

In his discussion of the putative differences between the Lutheran and

Reformed theological positions with respect ro confessions, Schleiermacher works out

of this Augsburg spirit of uniry within diversity when he condudes: "1 did not at all

find that 1 stood in a different relationship to this festival from thar of my Luthman

hothm in the rniniscry on account of my belonging to the Reformed schooln.39

Schleiermacher always underscores the prioricy of perceiving through the cornplex

historid-cultural tapestry of humanity a udying thread, namely, die common spirit

of humankind as responding to the redemption accomplished by Jesus of Nazareth, a

resDonse leadine to a vital fdowshio with Christ the Redeemer.

Lasdy, the efficacy Sacraments as ordained

emerges as a

and commanded by Christ

theme common to both the

conféssion's and Sdileiermacher's sacramental theology. Implicit in this position is

the prioriv of &th-righteousness over works-righteousness. God &OB& Christ

alone brings goodness - no manu what the odds. Christ's definitive victory over the dark forces of evil is such that even "the minisuy of mil men" is neither "inutile

(useless)" nor "inefficax (in&ective)".41 Sacramental power works through and in

spite of evil to effect its goal of inviting aIl of humankind to fdowship with the

Redeemer. A common ground appcars to surface at this point between the classicai

Protestant principle of sulafide and the traditional Catholic notion of ni opme operato

42 - in that both principles undergird the absolute eEcacy of the Sacramena as channels of Christ's redemptive presence in the world.

To sum up then, the Augsburg Confession of 1 530 as a foundatiod symbolic

document of Protestantkm ernbodies an ecdesiology echoed in Schleiermacher's own

theology of the Church as evangelical, sacramental and ecumenicai. In short, both are

really committed to the good of the ecclcsia catholira, the univerd, Catholic Church.

4i ~ugsbwg C o n t o n , p. 13 42 'A tcrm uscd by thcol&uir to express the csscnUaIly objective mode of operation of the Sacramena and irs indcpenduia from the nibjmive aGnidcs of ùcher rbe minlrcr or che rccipienr.' The Con& O+& DKtionq of *iu Chturian Churrb cd. Elizabeth A. Livingstone (New York Orford Univa-sjry Press. 1977)

11

c/Jpm2

The Speeches Sdeiermacher's "Burgeoni.ng" Ecclesiology

In his attempt to reach out to the "cultured despisers" of religion,

Sdileiermacher published in 1799 a series of five speeches on the subject of

religion.43 His purpose was ta reach out to &ends and acquaintances in order

to demonsuate that one can be bot . culturally sophisticated and religiously

&ected without having one in codict with the other. In ha, Schleiermacher

goes one step f i d e r and argues throughout the collection that a human being

canno t help but be "religious", rhat is, cannot help but be touched in some way

by an intuition and feeling for the infinite. We each of us arperience in either

impliUt or explicit ways a taste for the infinite, a yearning for a different redity

fiom the one we are engaged in widiin our quotidian context.

The Speeches then as they have corne to be known are essentially an

experiment in uanslacing the "religious experiencen of humanity into a generic

vocabulq that wodd be meaningfd and relevant for Schleiermacher's

contemporaries. In Speech 2, for example, he speaks of being "religiousn not as a

cognitive activity of assent to beliefs but rather as an affective experience of

tasting divinity in and through humanity's communal living. We don't look to

the douds for a God "out there"; rather we enter wi& the imer sanctum of

our consciousness to discover the "God withinn, the divine presence wirhin the

interior casde of our sou1 - to borrow fiom St. Teresa. Wirhin this rnauix of relevant theoIogical uanslarion, Speech 4appears as

the groundwork for Sdileiermacher's ecdesiology. The f o d speech contains

in a nascent form Schleiermacher's theology of the Church, a theological

position that cornes to fnlltion and manrrity in his lacer work, The Chrisdan

Faith. In this chapter, we will consider cwo aspects of Schleiermacher's

*3 Friedrich Schieicrmuher, On Mgion: Spc& ta ia Cuhred Dnpirm 12

burgeoning ecdesiology: the hmeneutriaf viewpoint ( or the view "from

without") and the c o n d v i e w (or the view "fiom within").

A) The Hermeneutid Wewpoint

An examination of the structure of the Speeches may well lead one to ask

the foIlowing question: Does the order of the Speeches contain a due as to the

theologid intent of Schleiermacher? One could indeed argue affirmauvdy that

Sdileiermacher intends a "movemen t " in religious unders tanding fio m the

isolateci individual to the interacting community, fiom introspection to societal

vision, fiom the self to the world. This intentional undertow in the collection

can be represented as a series of concentric &des - moving away fiorn die self as "monad" to the self as "manifestation" of humanity. Ultimately, the

"rdigious" self is ineluctably a "communal" self. For Schleiermacher, chue is no

religion without community.

Within the innermost circle lies the self of Speech I crying to End a

religious sense within segregated consciousness. In Speech 2, the self encounters

the Other wirhin others. Speeches 3 ,4 and 5 move progressively ourwards from

persona formation of the religious sense to social and universal development.

The encounter between self and religion is mediated through the selfs

relationships in communicy. By the end of the Speeches, SSdileiermacher has led

us away fiom the dangers of a solipsistic pierism to a community-driven and

cornmunity-defined notion of life lived within a "religious" ethos.

At rhis point, we can dso ask a second herrneneutical question,

particularly in reference to Speech 4 Does the "title" of the fourth speech give

us a due to Schleiermacher's theological projea? Once again, we answer in the

affirmative for Schleiermacher intends to lead us from the social element in

religion to the ecdesial factor in Christianity. The argument is positioned as

foUows: Religion as essentially a socid phenorneno n develops in to Chris tianiry

13

as essenùally an cccksiai phenomenon - where aIl members are expected to be pr ie~ t~ for one another. To be Cht.frttan for Schleiermacher is co be Chrch.

The C o n t d Perspective

Having briefly examined the Speeches "60m without", we can now focus

on the text of Speech 4 itself in order to discun "from within" the underlying

ecdesiology that imbues this section on the social nature of religion. We shall

consider twehe key themes upon which Schleiumacher's contaal perspective

We begin with a summative statement at die outset, a dedaration that

sets the tone for the enüre speech: "Once there is religion, it musc necessarily

also be sociaY.4 This is Sdileiermacher's resounding theme, namdy, t h there

is an inherent, innate "social" nature to religion. To put it in terms of the

contemporary Catholic spirinia theologian, Henri Nouwen: communion with

the divine inevirably leads to the community of those who have experienced the

divine and wish to share that experience with each orher. T o encounter God is

to encounter the human fdowship of those who are so touched by a sense of

the infinite that die "touch" brings them together to worship in community.

In tasting the infinite, humanity becomes in a sense divinised or deified. In

encountering God, we become like God. We experience what the Eastern

Christian traditon cals theosis or participation in divine life. Recovery of this

concept is a dominant therne in curent Cacholic spiritud/ethid theology as

evident in Mark O'Keefe's Becoming Go04 Becoming H0ly.45 Today's spiritual

theologians may very well find a resonant conversation partner in

Schleiermacher with his notions of religious fdowship.

44 Spmba p. 73 (AU page r d e r m m in rh. thesis rcfer to rhe Crouter mnslauon & edition, 1988) 45 Mark O'KKfe, Brromhg G d kcoming Hob (N.Y.: Paulist Press, 1995)

14

A second theme in Speech 4 cenues around the image of the "city of

GodY ï h e social, commuaal expression of religion fùnctions as a preview and

foretaste of the *heavenly bondw47 among humans who experience mutuality,

cordialiry and "most perfect equaütym.48 The "practiced sense of community" 49 U brings the hearts of al l rdigious persons on to a common sragen.5* This

"common stagew wiil metamorphose in The C M n Faith into the worshiping

stage of believus embraced by the Redeemer, chat is, the Church.

A third element focuses on one of the pillars of Reformation theology,

namely, the "priesthood of aIl beiievers". Religion as a socid phenomenon

engenders for Schleiermacher a society of "priestly people" .5 * An authentic religious community is a sacerdotal demouacy where members function both as

priesrs and laity, "where each alternately lads and is led; each follows in the

other the same power that he also feels in himself and with which he rula

others."52 Indeed for Schleiermacher, the Church aims to become "a perfect

republicn53, a concept reflecting Schleiermacher's Platonic interests as well as

duding to the "royal priesthood, holy nationn% statu to which God's people

are called.

T d y religious associations are cded to an egalitarian mode of living

that overcomes "discord and dissensionn55 by concentrahg on the notion of a

unified spirit underlying superficial differences. As Schleiermacher puts it in

Speech 4 "1 see nothing except rhat alI is one and that d disUncrions that really

46 Spemha, p. 75 47 %id p. 75 48 Ibid 49 &id. So Ibid

Ibid. p. 76 s2 Xbid. 53 Ibid. s4 1 Pcur 2:9 55 S p m k p.76

e x i s t in religion flow smoothly into one another through the social

association".s6 A universal priesthood engenders a communal spint that

becomes a brce of unification in the world.

In his 1830 Augsburg Confession homiletic collection, Schleiermacher

continues this e!galitarian theme in Smnon 6 under the topic of confession. In

that sermon, he espouses the blessings and benefits of an equal mode of

confession where members confess cheir sins to each other57 such that the

confessional trust among brethren enhances "the unifymg power

faithn.s8 In a sense, confession becomes an ecumenical witness

Church.

of Christian

to a unified

Unity underiying dittmity is a fourth important thune in Speech 4 The

fragments of Me are dl "inseparably bound up with the wholen.sg In so far as

human persons are inexuicably in contact with others, "one bond encloses

them allw60 so rhat we are all "flowing, integraring part(s) of the whole..".61

Later, in his mature theology, Sdeiermacher will ident* the whole with the

redeeming Body of Christ Le. the Chutch - to which all of humaniry is called. In essence, the individual believer has no life apm from che whole community,

rhat is, apart fiom the Church.

The call for religious tolerance constirutes another therne in Speech 4 and

becornes the leitmotif for mosr of Schleiermacher's work. If one had to select

the key principle that motivated Sdeiermacher throughout his life as both a

theologian and pastor, it would be that of tulerance for all creanires great and

small. In Speech 4, he warns against wresting from a puson whatever "portion

s6 %id. 57 Taking hir cue hom jrrmes 5: 16

Smons, p. 104 59 Spmha, p.?7 60 ibid 61 Ibid.

of religionn62 chat person has chosen for it is society's role to enhance the

religious sense in whatever form it chooses to appear. In S m o n 8 on the

Augsburg Confession, he specifically pleads against condemning those who

believe difKerently for to condemn others is to "wantonly constrict the urde of

Christian lovene and in essence irnplies a condemnation of ourselva. We are

called rather to a *loving forbearance"64 towards d of humanity, caking our cue

from the redemptive love of Jesus of Nazareth.65

Distinguishing between the "uue" church and the *cornmon" church is a

sixth preoccupation in Speech 4 For Schleiermacher, the "tnien church exists

wherever there is a true mutual communication based on a shared affective

experience of the infinite. This "uue" church is the "church uiumphantn, not

the church "that still suuggles against all the hindrances of religious culturen

but the church "that has already overcome everychuig that was opposed to it

and has ucablished itself."66 By contrast, the "common churchn is of'ten a

hierarchic rather than a democratic assembly and la& mutuality. Church goers

remain passive recipients of doctrines, rules and "dead concepts" and fail to

experience the "living intuitions and feelings from which they were origuially

derivedn. 67 We sense at this stage in Speech 4 the beginnings of an ecclesiology

based on an inclusivist sense of the work of the Spirit: The Church is for all and

all are destined to become Chur& h o u & the sustaining and indwelling work

of the Spirit. In a sense, for Schleiermacher, we do not so much belong to a

church as much as we become the Church in our religiously affected fdowship.

62 Ibid p. TI 63 Smnonr. p. 136

Ibid. 65 CF.§ 11.p.52 66 Sp'~~:ha, p. 78 67 Ibid., p.81

The seventh theme appears as a reprise of the who& in thefiagmrna The

prolifération of "churches" doan't bother Sdileiermacher since he views the

rnultif~ious forms of Christian communities as simply "detached fwment(s)

of the m e and universal church, which is just maruring quietly and slowly

toward its union in spirit witk this great who1eB.68 This undercurrent of

"catholicity" in Schleiermacher's ecdesiology points towards a "Catholic" view

of the Church rather than the uaditional Protestant one. There is only one,

holy, catholic and apostolic Church. However, it resides neither in Rome nos in

Berlin but in the redeemed heans of those united around the one Redeemer

who maintains his presence and power in the very process of affective religious

fellowship. For Schleiermacher rhere would appear to be many roads co

Emmaus; it is the common goal which unites us - the coming of the Kingdom of God in full consummation.69 Until this point of hal completion, we are a

Chuch "on the way", a Church whose goal is unity and peace.

In S m o n I O of the Augsburg collection, Sdileiermacher pursues this

theme of the unifying goal of the Church. The Church in this last sermon is

presented as God's work of continuous sanctification enacted in human form

and fashion and guided by the Spirit.70 This collaborative work calls us to

become not passive spectarors "expecting something fiom beyond", but radier

to engage the world as active participants, as CO-redeemers of Our own

humanity. This would appear to be a Jarnesian influenced works-ethic

"Catholicn theology of the Church rather than the uaditional Pauline inspired

faith-ethic of "Protestantn theology. To be fair to Schleiermacher's overd

theological vision however, it would be more accurace to Say that

68 ibid., p.83 69 CF. 1 157, p. 696

Scnnonr, p. 156

Sdeiermacher ho16 the Jarnesian and Pauline ecdesiologies in a dialogical

pair.

In many ways, Sdeiermacher is both Catholic and Protestant at the

same Ume. He is cornfortable Living with ambiguiry, with the juxtaposition of

opposites. He is not so concerned, as Hegel was, to synthesize amitheticai

rdities. We live in both a s a and a graceful world - where light is the lefi hand of darkness, where divinity appears when and where we lest expect it. We are cdled to be in constant dialogue with al1 aspects of a world already

redeemed and yet to k redeemed in full glory.

The eighth theme is a variation on the tme churchlfalse church

dichotomy. In essence, Schleiermacher points out the way in which the spirit of

the uue church can become institutionalized into a "false" church where the

initial affectivelprophetic energy wanes into p e b c t o r y routine rituals. Here

he anticipates the sociology of religion work developed by the mentieth century

author, Max Weber. In his book, The Sociolon ofReiz"''on, Weber idencified

what he termed "the routinization of the charisman7' whereby

inscitutionalization can lead to die de-spiritualization of the church.

As a pastor involved in the socio-political structures of his day,

Schleiermacher was well aware of the dangers when a [rue church of the spirit

becornes "politicized" into a Use bureaucratie entity. The trappings of e a d y

riches can easily replace uue religious feeling, as he writes in a somewhat

rhe torical, poetic W o n : Indeai, if only no prince had ever been aiiowed in the temple before he

had laid d o m in front of the portal the most beautifui omaments, the

nch cornucopia of all his favours and tokens of honoia! But they have

taken it with them: they have presumed that they could decorate the

simple nobility of the heavenly edifice wiâh the tarrers of their earthly

71 Max Weber, Th SbcioI;ogy ofRhcügion (Boxon.1963) as quored in fmmote 12 on page 84 of rhe Crouter edition

19

splmdor, and instead of a sanctified heart they have left behind worfdly gifts as offerings to the highest t~eing.~z

Indeed with institutionalization, "the vitniosos of holinessn who embodied the

uue spirit of religion are replaced by " v ~ o s o s of political bureaucracy" who

instantiate the Çdse spirit of a false church. Schieiermacher pleads against

politid intrusion into religion The resulc of such fore@ importation is the

defilement of uue relqpous füowship. In this appeal, Schleierrnadiu appears as

a modern day prophet c a l h g his flock back to thek original covenant with the

Redeemer. Ultimately, the true chuch as a community of freely chosen

mutually caring reiationships needs nothing ëxcept a language in order to

understand each other and... a space to be togerher , chings for which they need

no prince and his favourn.73

A quadruple litany of pleas comprises the ninth concern in Speech 4.

Firstly, a plea for religious tulerance as there are thousands of individual

intuitions and "different ways in which these intuitions might be put together

in order to illumine each other? As he so eloquently and forcefully describes

ic:

Master and disciple must be allowed to seek out and choose one

another in perfect -dom, otherwise one is lost for the 0 t h ; one must

be pennitted to seek what is beneficiai to all individuais. and no

persons must be compelled to give more than they have and uncimtand75

If reLgion isn't fieely chosen for Schleiermacher, chen it isn't m e religion.

Secondly, a restated plea for a ciro~aticp~estbuudof all believers such that the

distinction between priests and la ig can be "sofknedn to the point where lairy

can be at the same cime priests. This egalitarian notion of the Church as the

72 SpcmQ4 p. 85 '3 lbid., p.88 74 Ibid., p.89 '5 Ibid.

people of God anticipates, a century before its cime, the democrauc concept of

the Catholic Church resurrected with Vatican II in die 1960's.

A &rd plea calls for an ecumenical spirit that will overcome "the

malicious spirit of sectarianism and proselycizing, which always leads fùrther

away fiom the essence of religion"? T d y religious people do not feel that rhey

belong to hermetically seded "distinct" cirdes. They may identify with a

particular manifestation of the religious experience but they do not d u d e

thunselves nor do &ey ordude others fiom the common taste for the infinite

resident within each member of humanicy. The taste for the infinite in the

Speeches which becomes the feeling of absolute dependence as the "essence" of

religion in The Chnktiian Faith moves on to become the personal relationship

with the Redeemer as the "essence" of Christianiry.

The final plea is an invitation to form a religion of action rather than a

religion of empty words, a religion where one's entire Me becornes a "priestly

work of art". Schieiermacher writes: "If their whole life and every movement of

their inner and outer form are thus a priesdy work of art, then perhaps, by this

mute speech, the sense of what dwells in them will open up in rnanyn.n Indeed

chis is none other than the priestly prayer of Jesus in John's gospel: The world

wiU corne to know you by the love you have for one another.78

The importance of rhefamily as the tirst and last source of true religious

spirit brings us to the tenth theme. "If sounds of love accompany dl

movements", Sdileiermacher writes, "the family has the music of the spheres in

its domainn.79 Pious dornesticity becomes prepararory ground for mature

religious feeling. Indeed, if pushed to the wall, Schleiermacher would concede

76 Ibid., p.91 77 Ibid, p.92 78 john 140 5 79~peccb4 p.9 2

that the priesthood of the fàmily is ultimately the Ü u e " church. ALI other forms are immateriai: " This priesshood was the first in the holy and childlike

primeval world and it will be the last when no other is any longer necessarym.8O

In Smnon l o f the A u g s b q wliection, Schleiermachu identifia the W y as

the Boden, the foudation of a virtuous society. Though churches may be

scattered, the spirit reigns suprane wherever two or three are gathered in the

name of the Redeemefl* who brings eternal life to all humanity through

community, however smdl and insignificant that community may seem to the

outside world.

The penulumate theme in Speech 4 centres on the notion of what later

came to be known in mentieth cuiniry theology as p u n - m - t h ~ . 8 ~ This is the

recognition of the Pauline position that the coming of Jesus as the Christ

reconciles all creation back to God83 so that in effm, as Sdileiermacher writes

at the end of Speech 4 : "Everydimg human is holy, for everydiing is divinen.84

To recognize infinite divinig within &ily humanity becaux die Word became

flesh and dwelled arnong us - this is Schleiermacher's reminder. We cannot

denigrate ueation for the Redeemer completes the creauon begun by the Father

and brings humanity to Godtonsciousness, to participation in divine Me.

Appropriately, Schleiermacher brings Speech 4 to a dose with the reprise

that there is noching nobler in human life than community where ëach is

simultaneously conscious of the otherm.8s We are calIed to become and to

continue to be a "band of brothers [and sisrers]" thar together form a choir of

fiiends singing the praises of the God that lives within human fdowship, the

8o Ibid., p.93 81 M& 1820 82 q. P d Ti&. ~ I ; O s . Vehme In 83 Cid 1:19-20

S'ha, p. 94 85 Ibid, p.94

22

God that caa be touched here and now. In this way and only in this way are we

'on the way to uue immortality and eternit.."

Chaper3

Schleiermachet's 1830 Augsburg Conféssion Sermons: The "Mature" Ecclesiology

1) The Con- Tbeology Smfi aSc Pdpit

On the fourth of April in 1830, King Friedrich Wihelm III issued a royal

directive for a festival to ammunorate the presentation of the Augsburg Confission.

Considering this symbolic document as the "principal foundation of the Evangelicd

church",87 the govanment intended to promote a spirit of unity arnong chuch

members and hopefùlly consolidate the ecumenical work of the Lutheran-Reformed

union begun in 18 17. This unification process had unfortunately corne to an impasse

with rhe radical muenchment of the confessionalists on one side and the rationalists

on the other. The former appeared committed to suingent doctrinal uniformity and

rectitude in a blind, unchanging sok fi& seemingly without thoughr; the latter rernained coldly isolated in a "calculated policy of soia ratio in al1 matters

theologicaIn,*8 seemingly without &th.

Into this dichotomous arena, Schleiermacher emerges as a mediator,

anempting to inject a dialogid spirit into the controversy. He calls for a balance

between &th and reason; he advocates M r y wichin diversity; he incends primarily to

heal the divisions wichin his own ch& in Berlin. As Iain Niwl has aptly argued in

his introduction, Schleiermacher's 1830 response to the Augsburg Confession was

not so much an acadernic one benr on resolving the Halle dispute berween the

confessiondisa and the rationalists, but more a partoral one intent on h&g the

disorder in his own congregation. With this goal in mind, Schleierrnacher puts

theology at the service of the pulpit and delivers a series of ten sermons in the

summer and f d of 1830 on the subject of the Augsburg Confession.

87 Quopd ti I i n Nicol, introduction. h n r , p. a8 Ibid, p. ix

24

As we h ten to this collection of sermons, we can &cem three key intercalated

presupposiuons in Schleiermacher's presentation, The h s t presupposition States that

Christian doctrine as a human, historid formulation of Spirit is subject to a

continuous process of development. There is therefore no furcd body of docuinal

knowledge; docuine is forever cvolving.

The second presupposition daims that the Church as "an organic

of faith and life is, essentially, a living and dynamic historical

wmmunity

" 8 9 process

Consequently, the ecdesia is noc a fxed, unchanging institution; like its own

doctrine, the Church &O evolves over Ume undu diverse manifestations.

A third presupposition posics a threefold didectic of spirits underlying the

historical development of the Chrisuan Church. Firstly, there is the "original"

Christian spirit of the Gospel preached by the early diurch. Secondly, there is the

Catholic spirit as manifested in Roman Catholic traditional documents. Lady, the

Protestclnt spirit surfaces as embodied in the confessional wrirings of the Lutheran and

Reformed churches.

In this dialectic, all historical manifestations of the spirit of Christianity,

Catholic or Protestant, are to be "measured and judged"g0 against Scripture. In the

foreword to his collection of Augsburg sermons, for example, Schleiermacher

indicates his ailegiance to the Confssio Sigismandi of 161 4, "as long as it is in

agreement with holy scripnirem.9i Scripture aione is the n o m non nomanda, the

unnormed norm - a tmer of &di and argument held by most (if noc all) Protestant and Catholic thinkers throughout the history of theology. For Aquinas in m e d i d

times, for Luther in the Reformation era, for Schleiermacher in the Romantic puiod

and for Barth or Rahner in our own cencury, Scripture is the theological cenue and

- p.

Ibid., p.xvii Ibid.. p. n

91 Schleiermacher, Forcword p. 4. noo 6 25

within Scripture , Jesus as the Word and the Christ is the "ascriptive subjectm92 of the

Christian f i t h cxperience - explicidy or implicitly. We would do weil to remember this common evangelical ground when hced with ciassical Catholic-Protestant

theological debates. For Schleiermacher, diverse eccIesiologies are welcome

multifàrious epiphanies of the urilfying spirit of Jesussf-Nazareth-asasRedeunu. From the presuppositions stated above, a number of implications suggest

themseives.

Firstly, one of theology's task is the continuous reformulation of tradition,

assisting the process of doctrinal deveiopment rather than arresting ireg3 What was

"theirs badc then" cannot "be ours now" in the same sense. We need to maintain

continuity with the past while redescribing it for the present, neirher kidnapping a

ton from the past nor leaving it buried there. To the ment that Christian doctrine is

subject ro development and that the Spirit must be freed continually from the letter,

then the process of reformulation is never-ending, can never be brought to closure,

can never lay down its head until the eschaton and the final corning of the Kingdom

of Christ. Consequently, doctrinal documents like the Augsburg Confession are

syrnbols "surcharged with meaning", to borrow from Ricoeur, and confessional

interpretations can never be exhausred or condusive. In fact, on-going debates are a

sign of doctrinal health for Schleiermacher. Diversity of the letter within a unified

spirit of Christianity is co be encouraged.

A second implication is the emergence in Sdeiermacher's ecclesiology of an

eturnenical approach avant Ir temps. D o m i d differences are co be resolved not with

anathemas but in Smit und Liebe, in controversy and love. Evangelical freedom

arising fiom the spirit of Protestantkm can sustain "a plurality and diversity of

92 Hans Frei, T~pcr of Cht;Mn Thcology, eds. George Hunsingcr and Waam C Plachcr (New Haven: Yale Uniwticy Press, 19%) 93 Niad, li=oduuion, p. xvii

26

doctrine and pracricen?4 Within the same Christian fold devoted to the Spirit of

Christ, there is a place for the "plurality of voices" to put it in twentieth centwy

terms. Schleierrnacher exudes an inspiring confidence that the fieedom inherent in

the GospeI WU bring humanity together, mting that Christ is present wherever two

or three are gathered in His name whatever the words of the prayer or hyrnn may be.

As Nicol condudes: "Sdeiermacher may weU have prophesied the advent of the

Ecurnenid Movernent of the twentieth ~entuq?"'~~

The third implication arising from Sdeiermacher's presupposirions is that by

irs very developmental nature, the Chur& is indeed r@mata semper r(omczn& a u reformed church, ever reforming. This ever reforming" spirit applies to its

confessions, its liturgies, its theologies. The church lives in a dynamic state of

permanent dialogue. It is a church in perpetuai motion, subject to no human

document or institution, Save to Christ and His Spirit.

Christian faith calls us to be "pilgrims on the way to an

church forever on the horizon. We can take hem about

for Christ has promised to be with

For Schleierrnacher, the

Emmaus c h u r ~ h " , ~ ~ to a

being immersed widiin a

us to the very end of the

2) The Hèmzmeuh'cs: T h Architecture of the Snmons

Prior to a detailed invesrigation of the acmal contents of the Augsburg

Conlession sermons, we WU examine the underlying architecture upon which t h i s

collection is based. This query involves looking at three hermeneutical areas: the

s@tural, the ordinaIand the structural

From a scriptural viewpoint, Schleiermacher's choice of introductory New

Testament texrs for each sermon is significant for the dwelopment of his argument.

% Ibid., p. xxiiï 95 Ibid. p n i v 96 Nd., nv '' Ma.2820

We note the following selections, the combination of whidi reflects the dialcctic of

spirits that generates and sustains Schleiermacher's ecclesiologica discourse.

S i x of the sermons are based on Pauline letters - 1 and II Corinthians, Gahtiuns, Ephesians and PhiIippians. Hcbrews is also induded as the source for

Snnion 5 on the uonce-for-all" sacrifice of Christ. These passages dearly represent the

Prot~skmt spirit. Constiniting seventy percent of his choices, there is no denring that

Schleiermacher wem his uue coloua as a theologian working within a traditional

Pro testant h e w o r k .

As for the remaining epistolary selections, however, both are caken from the

"Catholic" epistles - 1 Peter and James. The choice of chese New Testament texts rdects an authentic concern for the C'tholic spirit - the Peuine drive for a unified Church as well as the Jamesian cal1 for a "good worksn cornponent to faith.

Interestingly, in S m o n IO, Schleiermacher underscores the importance of being

active participants rather than passive specrators as believers involved in ecdesial life.

Instead of "expecting something fiom beyond", he writes, "we ourselves need to get

involved" for "the divine completion of this work is always at the same Ume a human

onem.9* Christ alone redeems, but as members of his vital fdlowship we are cded and

ordained to extend the redemptive cirde ro humankind in our daily lives. In this

particular instance and in fact throughout his ecdesiology, Sdileiermacher conrinues

to hold faith-righteousness (the Protestant spirit) and works-righteousness (the

Catholc spirit) in a didogica pair.

The only Gospel text selected for this collection of sermons is that of Luke

637. Considering Schleiermacher's predilection for John i Gospel in most of his

writings, it is most notable that on this occasion, he selects Luke. Why? Because

Lukei is the irenic gospel of tolerance, forgiveness and universality, chemes central to

his Augsburg sermons.99 Further, Lake's gospel and its sequel, Act% constitute the

sacred books chat establish the Church as the conünuauon of Christ's redeeming

work for humankind. LuAeMcts is the CatholiclEcclesiaI text suited to

Schleiermacher's Catholic-leaning ecdesiology and so he makes use of Luke ro

underpin these sermons d&g with the meanhg of being Church.

AS a theologian hl ly cognizant of hermeneutical infrastructures,

Sdileiermacher's placement of the Augsburg sermons in the panicular order in which

they occw is consequenrid. As with the Speeches, SdileiermacherS ordinal choice

with the Augsburg Semons dearly reflem an ecdesially-driven crajectory towards a

d y spiritual Church. The concern for avoiding inauthentic servitude to the Letter

of Smnon I leads to the championhg of m e ecdesial unity in S m o n IO, a uniry noc

written in codes but in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

Beginning with the Pauline exhortation to be suvants of Christ and the Spirit,

not slaves to men and leaers (Snmon I ) , Schleiermacher nert c d s upon the Peuine

challenge to defend the "hope that is in youw, but widi gencleness and reverence.

( S m o n Z). The handing over of the Augsburg Confession in 1530 is a dassic

example for Sdileiermacher of defending the Christian f ~ t h and cxpanding its hope

to d widrin an acmosphere of colaance and forbearance.

Snmons 3 and 4deiineate the implications of the Christian faith. We are fmr

justified by faih in Chrisr and rhrough this fith-righteousness, Christ cornes to live

in us. We then share his God-consciousness and participate in His divine Me. Rather

chan being reduced to doctrines, faith becomes a living, communal redicy. This c4 sharing and participation" howwer does not occur in a ghostly vacuum. It becomes

incarnared in the sacramenrd action of the Eudiarist (Smnon 5) and Confession

( S m o n 6). Confessing our sins to one another and s h a h g the Lord's Supper are

g9 Only Ucmnczins such unique pasages as rhc parable of the Prodigai Son (Lk 15:I 1-32), rhe thief who enurs paradise wich Jesus (Lk 2343) and the wrds: "Fathex. hrgive thcm for thcy know not what chcy don.(Lk 23.34). surely rhe cpitomc of rhc Spirit of forgiveness - CO forbcar one's o m accurionen.

29

signs of the presence of the Spirit in our communally- expressive faa . Although as

Christians we are al l called to be spiritual priests for one another, there is scill the

necessiry for public minisuy (Smnon 3, for a d e r i d priesthood ro oversee the f ~ t h - community - protecting, encouraging and enhancing the fellowship with the

Within this sacramentallecclesial community, there is no room for

condemnation of those who believe differently (Smnon 8 nor for a wrathf'ul, vmgeful God ( S m o n 9) to frighten humans into a fear-ridden belief. Rather the

Church as the Redeemer-cenued community lives with tolerant kindness and prays

to a loving, forgiving God. (Smnon I a)

Findy, the ultimare goai of the Christian life is not perfect adherence to

human rules and rimais (the Letter) but rather a love-abounding ecclesid unig (the

Spirit) that instantiates in human form die divine completion of the sanctification of

the world. This sanctification is enacted through the service of human beings.

To sum up then, Schleiermacher's hermeneutid ordering of the ten Augsburg

Sermons erects a matrk upon which his thematic arguments WU lie. The very order

of these sermons reveais Schleiermacher's theological, pastoral intent - to coax and coach his parishioners away from a self-preoccupied, letter-enslaving, exclusivist

pietism towards an ecdesially-cenued, S pirit-driven, inclusivis t faith.

The f d hermeneuticai aspect to be considered in Ais section is that of the

consistent structure with which Schleiermacher builds each sermon. He begins with a

s c r i j m r a l tnct, spells out its theologicai impCicatiom and suggests its ethicai applicationr

for the Christian Me of communal piety.

Consider, as an example, S m o n Gon rhe exhortation to confess our sins.

Based on the James 5: 16 tan, Schleiermacher's introduction immediately situates

confession within die conrext of the Eucharistie sacrament. Confession is not

wncerned wih "an enmeration of panicular trespasses".'* Rather the confession of

sias "belongs to our partaking of the supper of our Redeemer as a fiesh reassufance of

the divine f~r~iveness".'~' The theological iimpiicah.on of the Jarnesian text is that

confession is really a "subject of prayer"l02 and is meant for healing and

remnciliation, not for piuiishment and atonement. The blesings of confession in an

d i t a r i a n mode reflect the priesthood of all believers. Ultimacely, confasion

becomes an ecumenical witness, a witness co the "ulufying power of Christian

fàith".'03 The ethical appIicatioon of James' exhortation for Schleiermacher is to act in

such a way that brotherly and sisterly ~t is ro undergird aIl our relationships with

each other as a refleaion of our uusting relationship widi C.hist.

This three-fold movement of scriptural text, theological implicacion and

ethical application aco as the homiletic paradigm for all of Schleiermacher's sermons

in this collecüon. As a model, rh is structural componenr of each sermon rweds a

theology concerned about and devored to the pastoral needs of the rccksia, a theology

gui* parishioners towards a bdief-and-behaviour mode refleccive of their common

faith in the Redeemer.

3) The Te, At Lad : T h m s and Variiations

Having considered the contemual and hermeneutical framework for the

Augsburg sermons, we can now oramine the text itself in order to tease the fàbric of

ecdesiai themes and variations wntained herein, a capestry cornprising an essenudy

Cathotic ecclesiological foregound w i t b a Protestant theologid badcgroundP

Smnon I : Admonition Concming Serf-Induccd Smi t zuù

For Schleiermacher, the "whole kernd of this confession"lO5 comprises the

Redeemer as the only-begotten Son of the Fathes and the Spirit "whose outpouring

on his people he first requested of the Fathern.106 In other words, it is the expression

of a Redeemer-centred cornmunitarian faith, a faith chat generates, sustains and

celebrates a communal life refleccive of the divine life of the Trinity.107 The

communal iife of the eccksiia acts as a window to the communal life of 3ie Father,

Son and Holy Spirit.

What are the feamres of this ecdesial life? It is characterised not by a self-

induced slavery to institution or confessionaf document but by a "noble, spirirual

servinide in Christ".l08 It is animateci by an egalitarian spirit of friendship where none

c d each 0 t h masrer, for the only master is Christ. It c d s al1 of us to share in the

work of Christ who transfers us fiom the "kingdom of darkness" ro the "kingdom of

lightn.lOg Christ has already accomplished die wosk of salvation and in faith we

gracefùlly receive the fnrits of His labour - Protestant spirit territory. But, as noble s e m t s of the Redeemer, "we too are part of this stniggle and ic behooves us too to

share in paying the price to be paid for odiersn.l10 There are " M e r bades" to be

A s u r n r ~ ~ ~ rhut of the ren wrmonr rnd rhur rdevant themer ir provided for the rcadcr in Appuidix 1. los h m , p.23 *O6 Ibid. lo7 For Schleicrmachcr, the Triniry' is m d l y &n in the modalistic seme of Srbellius. Sec p.750 of chc CE IOr, Ibid. p 3 3

%id. p JO Io Ibid. p 3 1

32

fought and more suffiring required "to complete Christ's afnictions"~~~ - Catholic spirit terrain. Schleierrnadier appears to wak a ughuope: as a Protestant, he can

never let go of fàith-righteousness; yet, the im plici t necessity of worlcs-righteousness

haunts him like a spectre. His Protestant side assures hirn of the Redeemer's victory;

his Catholic side calls him to the everlasting stniggIe und we do achieve the

"uninterrupred enjoyrnent of al l blessiqp of the kingdom of Godm.1l2

Unfomuiately, while we toil on this side of paradise, we are faced widi not

only a divided world but a divided diurch. This divisive ecdesial condition shodd

not lead us to grievous despair but rather should evoke a 'loving forbearancen and an

"&hg compassionn~~3 for uuly we know not what we do. We conrinue to live in die

shadow of Calvary, with the cries of the Redeemer redounding in our ears. Yet, we

cake hem that we will be with him in paradise. In the interim, we act to "ensure that

the bond of the unity of the Spirit will not be dissolved by these divergent

tendencies". '4 We live as fiee suvants of Christ dedicated ro the Word, never forcing

others ro become "slaves

this: that all is ours, but

of any human word or prescription, for

we are Christ'sVs The Word of God

our freedom lies in

before the word of

By the end of this fxst sermon, Sdileiermacher has dearly delineated some

essential features of his ecdesiology. He cds his flock to a spiritual, egalirarian,

compassionate church where much work of service

fdow pastors to become leading examples to the

s r i l l needs to be done. He c d s his

flock, servants to the communiry

and "stewards of the mysteries of Godn.116

l3 Ibid. p 3 2 l4 ibid. p.33 '5 Tbid.

Ibid. p27

Smnon 2 : On the Handng Uuer of the GnfMOn

lu Giving an Accountfir the Ground of Hope

Tho* it begins with a Catholic epistle~~' exhoning us to ddend our &th,

the second sermon is for the most part a classical expression of the three pillars of the

Protestant spirit: justification by faith alone; scripture as the sole norm for Christian

doctrine and practice; and the priesthood of all believers.

Lest we suspect that he h a defmed to the Catholic camp, Sdileiermacher

unequivodly reminds us that neither extemal works nor any meritorious activities of

o u own can "bring peace with Godn.l18 Radier, righteousness cornes from God

through the one He has sent so that in communion with the Son we might have

eternd life. This communion involves a "living faith in the Redeernerm1I9 who done

brings salvation and peace. AU other things are to be rejected, even confessional

documents, for "the letter of the text" should nwer prevent "the advance and increase

of knowledgen120 of the life of the Spirit.

On this latter issue, Sdileiermacher departs from many of his confessionalisr-

oriented Protestant contemporaries for whom confessional symbols like the Augsburg

document were written in Stone with the same degree of normativity as die original

tablets of Exodus or the Bearirudes of the Gospels.12l O n the contrary, for

Schleiermacher, the understanding of Our faith evolves over tirne so chat the

articulation of this faith in written documents &O develops over urne. In shon, the

meaning of a tnct. even a scriptural text, depends on the hiscorical c o n t a It meant

something then in its own tirne; it means something different now to us in our own

l i7 I P e r 3 : 1 5 l8 Scimonr, p.38

1 19 Ibid. 120 %id. p 3 9 121 It is &rcsting CO note chat contcrnporary support for Sdikicrmrcher's notion of docuinal devdopmcnt came fiom thc Gtholic rheologian, johann S&artr;afi Drry (1777-1853). thc founder of the Gchoiic hculv nt the University of Tübingen. Drcy's rchnonship with Schieicrmubu's cheology is addressed in n rubsequent sedon of rhis thesis.

34

situation. Docuine, as the expression of &th in a given contua, ineluctably changes

and develops over time. The rask of the pastoral theologian is to discern, preserve and

enliven the spirit of &th thou& its letter may change over tirne. The husk may fd

by the wayside; the kernd m u t be protected and sown und the h d wming. Each

generation will address &th in irs own dothing so that it speaks relevantly to its own

rimes. The danger, however, might be that we lose sight of the core of our %th.

For Schleiermacher, the continual presence of the Spirit within the vital

fdowship of the Redeemer will dways Save us fiom any impending loss of sight of

our &th. The preaching of the Word ensures us of this presence. This preaching

aaivity is not limited to formal addresses fiom the pulpit. It is ofkn instantiated in

public actions such as the very act of handing over the Augsburg Confession in 1 530.

Schleiermacher cites thee praiseworrhy aspecrs surrounding this deed of living

&th. Firstly, it was an exemplary action of faithfulness, the faith of die Evangelicd

church in action in the real world of its own cimes. The procesrers in 1530 did not

cower in underground caves or escape to monastic enclaves to profess their faith.

Radier diey courageously stood in a public forum addressing the polirical-ecclesial

powers of the day to confess their religious bdiefs and practices.1~

Secondly, it was an atrempc to maintain unity within a diversified expression

of &di. The aim "was not ar ail to establish a new and separate community but was

simply to preserve their liberty of consciencen123 within a unified church.

Schleiermacher argues that had the Church of Rome been willing to dlow divergenr.

regionai tendencies within on overriding unity, the Reformation would perhaps no t

have spawned a schismatic but rather a renewed church.124

lu Srnnonr, p.39 Ibid. p.40

124 Infttcstingiy, the r c m d of rhc notion of diversified expressions of hich with VaScan II in the 1960's rcsonaoa 4th Schicicmachcr's insighc Schkiermachu wouid probably have beni a welmmc guesr ac &e Vatican II sessions.

35

Thirdly, the deed of 1530 d h t e d the principle of sokz s+nrra The Word of

God, Christ embodied in suipture, is the sole unnormed norm against which to

judge the development of doctrine and the ordering of the Chrisuan mord life. For

Schleiermacher. no witness is vaIid except for "what is atpressed in these writingsW.l25

In addition to his exposition in this sermon of the fuith-abne and srripture-

&ne principla of Protestant theology, Schkeiermadier also reiterates the democratic

notion of the u n i v d t y of Christian priesthood. He a f E m s :

.Aat aU Chnstürns . . should be priests and that m t s of Godos Word w a e d e d not to be rnasters of people's consciences but rightly to

divide the Word of God so thai everyone might freely mite use of it.

Lhwise, ever since ihen the difference in our church berween those

who pmlaim God's Word and thox who bear it has also becorne

smaiier and smaiier. lZ6

Does this mean that Schleiermacher eschews a derical ministry? Not at d, ro judge u fiom his observation at the outset of this sermon where he writes: Great care musc

be taken in selecting reachers for the new congregations and in nrruring th& propu

ovmighf .127 Sdeiermadier reveds his Cdvinist roors in espousing a cornmuniry-

driven notion of church. We don't express faith by ourselves; we srpress it in

communal worship. We don'r read scriptures by ourselves exclusively withour

communal oversight. We give an account of o u faith "noc rnerely each person for

oneself but also as one communiry"W

Once again, in spite of the predominanc Protestant theological landscape in

this sermon, we can reasonably dixern lurking in the tan ecdesial elemencs of a more

"Catholic" nature : not only faith-alone but works-with-others; noc oniy scriprure-

125 Srnnons, p.41 nid ~ . 4 5

ln Ibid. p 3 7 femphasl &&dl l* Ibid. p.44

done but worship within community; not only universal priesthood, but episcopai

oversight as wd.

Smnon 3 : The Rehtiumhip of Euangeiicd Fuith to the Law

Within the context of determining which Jements of a confession are

universal and et ernal and which are transienc, hist or icall y-condit ioned feawes , the

chird Augsburg sermon is euentiaily a reprise of the theme of the priority of faith

over works of the law. Basing his homily on the dassic Galarians tact "thar a man is n 129 not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ ,

Schleiermacher cautions his parishioners against the tendency for Law and the

works-righteousness mentality to seep badc into the church cornmunity through

idolatry to doctrines or confessional documents. A dear distinction has to be drawn,

Sdileiermacher warns, between living faith and doctrinal ietter."" As a Christian

communiry, we must avoid the reductionist tendency to distill a truly living fiith

into pe&ctory adherence to moribund doctrines. The "faith that matters" is not

concerned with "legalistic puriry of doctrine" but with Lebensgmpimch~fi, with the n 131 "living communion offered to us by Christ . Faith is truly dive and active in us

not so much through doctrinal beliefs as through loving action.

For Sdileiermacher, there is one unambiguous choice to make as a believer:

Do you have faidi in Christ or do you put your faith in arternal works? 1s Christ

alone sufEcient for you or do you rely on other things as "still necessary and

salutary"?l32 An immediate objection to diis dichocornous position aises as follows:

If &th is loving action within a living community, does it not by definition involve

external works as expressions of that faich? Otherwise, we end up with an

129 G~1Cathu2:16-18 I3O smnomi p.59 13' %id. 132 Ibid. p.56

interndised, individudistic piecy which Schleiermacher consistently shuns in favour

of expressive communal action. Schieiermacher would probably answer, dong with

Luthu, that though works don't count, they do, nevedeless, matter in the life of

&th. Works don't justify us in themselves; only Christ does. But =th in Christ only

cornes alive through loving action within the fellowship He inaugurated and

continues to sustain.

A M e r darification is chat in this contact of a sermon dealing with the

Augsbutg Confaion, Schleiermacher appears to be concerned not with works of

loving communal action but rather with that "legalistic, hypocritical sanctity ml33

assoùated with die excessively rinialistic devoriond practices of die Roman church at

the tirne of the Reformation.134 The commercial procurement of indulgences as a

ticket to heaven or similar acrivities reflecting a ledger-book religiosity - this is the type of "works" Schleiermacher is warning us against. His point as a self-critical

Reformer is that such tendencies c m surreptitiouly creep badc into religious practice

under different guises - such as uncritical adherence, in his own Evangelicd church, to die lener of a doctrine or to a confessional document. Blind belief in the

Augsburg Confession as a document is not an adequate mesure to appraise

Christian commiunenr.135 Nor are attending pious assemblies or abscaining fiom

enjoyable activities necessarily signs of "good Christiansn.136 Living, active faith in

the vitd fdowship of the Redeemer - this is the only maure for "Christ gave no

commandmenr other than that we should love one another with the same love that

he has loved usn.'37

- - -

133 Ibid. 134 Schlcicrmachcr üm: 'pilgrimaga, fastingr and puimm, aims for the poorw. Srnom, p. 49 '35 Ibid. p.57 1% &id. '3' Ibid. p.62 from jn 1334

38

Therefore, Schleiermacher concludes, let us not be led to "the slavery to

human regulations" but rather build the church upon *the foundation of faithwla so

that we can rejoice in the Spirit.

Schleiermacher's ecdesid vision provides a sigruficant suuaural background to

the discussion of &th and law in this tertiary sermon. Faith and law are not treated as

isolated theological concepts in a cornplex cognitive-driven system of thought.

Rather, these keystone notions of Christianity are contextualised within an

ecclesiological matrix that searches for and succeeds in fmding die meaning of being a

fàithful church that uuly and fàithfUy reflecrs and cclebrates the vital fellowship of

the Redeemer. The Church that Schleiermacher preaches is not a church based on

pious attendance and doctrinal adherence. Ir is rather a Church based on the living

faith of a loving community committed to expanding the circle of participatory

divine life to humankind. This sermon preaches the church not as institutionai

assembly bowing to flickering images on a cave wd in obsequious consent to robed

figures; rather it preaches the Church as the faithfd People of Cod. It is also the

definition of "Church" found in the new Catechim of the Catholic Church " 'The

Church' is the People that God gathers in the worldn; it is "die whole universal

communiry of believers" .139 Schleiermacher could well have written these sections of

the Catholic catechism.

Somon 4 : On Righeoumess B d on Faith

Schleiermacher's fourth serrnoni** continues to explore the implications of the

Pauline sense of justification by f ~ t h whereby "it is no longer I who live, but Christ

138 %id. p.63 139 Gttcrhrim of the CàthIK Ch&, paragraph # 752. English d a c i o n , Omwr: Pubiiauon Servias of rhe CÎn& Conférenct of Gtholic Bishops, 1494. ï h i s arechism is remarkably ehe &sr ncw atechism since the Council of Trent (1 545-63). 140 Siknificmdy, ir is oniy in rhis sennon char the 'Augsburg Confessionn (p.65) ir cxplicidy namcd. This ir congru&r wirh Schieiemacfsefs ugumenr, nuncly, rhar we are nor concrmed wirh the document p a u but with tbc fvrh rhac ir vrcmpo CO aprers.

39

who lives in cc becoming

eccIesiology.

me". l41 There is a dynamic quality

righteous", an attribute driven

to this process of gwecht mrzchrn, of

by an eschatologicdly-oriented

Ta begin with, faith in itself involves a dyadic movement. Firstly, God

through Christ evokes it; that is, the first step of faith is itself a "graced" step.

Secondly, as a person addressed by God in Christ, I respond and succumb to his

influenual grace. Divine initiative precedes human action since, before 1 can respond,

1 have to be addressed. As Schieiermacher writes: "Faith is simply that surrender to

his influence, and

doctrine of divine

homily.

there would be no &th if he did not evoke itn.142 The Protestant

prevenience no doubt undergirds the opening paragraphs of this

Schleierrnacher however is much too aware of the ambiguity of life co be

content with diis potentially passive view of f~th. The surrender of f ~ t h is not a

fàlling into a cornplacent quietism. On the contrary, it is a d l to an "mer renewing

processn143 of receiving the Redeemer. There is a realised righteousness and a yet-to-

come righteousness implicit in Sdileiermacher's argument for the kingdom that

Christ has inaugurated is also both retzksed and yet-to-cornp. Such a dyiamic

eschatologid view is implied in Schleiermacher's notion of the whole and the

W e n t . He posits that "the divine eye sees the future in the present and the part in

the wholen.1" In other words, God sees in the Church now, as an embodiment of his

Son, "the new Me that has come upon the human racen14s as a glimpse of the final

consurnmation of His Külgdorn. In the incerim, we are calleci to surrender to Christ.

-

l 4 I G r l e 2 : 2 0 142 h n r , p.68-69 '43 Ibid. p.69 144 Ibid. p.72 45 Ibid.

To surrender to the Redeemer is to become "CO-workers"146 who serve and

promote *the kingdom of God accordmg to our capaciry"? As Schleiermacher puts

it, "our taking hold of him and our taking him into ouaelves must dso be renewed

over and over againn.M8 The renewd process commands us to ensure that "the

interconnection with Christ" is never sewered. Otherwise, "love will shrivel up and

the kingdom of the Spirit will tall into rui.nm.l@

How do we maintain this interconnection with Christ in a post-apostolic age?

We can only do so through that extension of Christ in t h e and space, that is,

through the Church. As fiithful CO-workers in the Church, we can ensure that the

kingdom of the Spirit does not fd into niin but rarher continues to bear the rorch of

the Redeemer's righteousness to the world. Furdier, Christ cannot continue IO truIy

live in us unless we "refer everyrhing to the universal sdvation of alln.i5o We are not

really justified, we are no1 redy his Church, unless we open up the doors of our

communai banquet to the inhabired earth.

For Schleiermacher then, faith-righceousness is inherently, intimately and

inexorably bound up with a Cburch-at-work-and-on-its-uray to a finalised

righteousness, a Church both assured of 3ie Redeemer's victory and cded to ensure

its uiumph as well - a Church Militant and a Church Triumphant at the same time;

essentidy a Catholic Church.

Snmon 5 : On the S'$ce of Ch& Tbtzt Makes P6ect Working fiom the Hebrezus text that "Christ had offered for all time a single

sacrifice for sinsm,lSl Schleiermacher's fifdi sermon unfolds the implications of the

Ibid. p.77 14' Ibid. p.74 148 Ibid. p.72 '49 Ibid. p.75 150 Ibid. p.76 =sl Hcbrm 10:12

Redeemer's oncefit aÜ salntic act for humankind. Christ's sacrifice is not so much a

reminder of sin but a removal of sin, more a process of reconciliation rather than

expiation. It is the perfect hilfdment of the WU of God throughout his life that

makes the Redeemer who he is, not just the sacrifice of his body on the Cross, the

latter, at bat , a symbol of a Me of ~ ~ g i v i n g .

The sacrifice that mates perfect then is the accomplishment of the WU of God

at d times and in a.U places. Consequently, for Sdileiermacher, there is neither need

for nor worth in the repetitive sacrificial rites of the Roman Catholic Mass.152, for it is

not the rinidistic adoration and consumption of the host that saves us but the

reception of the life of Christ spirimaliy in ounelves. In some ways, this misrepresents

traditional Catholic sacramental theology where the proper inner disposition to

receive the Lord is a concurrent condition to the ourward recepuon of the bread and

wine as the body and blood of Christ. The point Schleiermacher appears to be

making however is to attend primarily to the spiritual rather than to the ritual

cornponent of worship, as in the previous sermons he underscored the imporrance of

living f i th over doctrinal leaer.

Does the sacrifice chat makes perfect continue to be enacted? Yes,

Sdileiermacher answers, for as the will of God was accomplished through Christ's

body while He dwelt among us, so too now the divine will continues to be fùlfdled

through the Churdi as the body of Christ extending through Ume. Taking his cue

Zrom the Corinrhian textl53 and resonating with the tradition of Carholic ecdesial

theology, Schleiermacher expounds on the Church as the mysticd Body of Christ:

..we are al1 united in one body, and this body is also his because in it

we likewise do the wiU of God together in that we support one another

as its members in the various offices apponioned by the one ~ o r d . l S ~

Consequently, though Christ's sacrifice was once for L& we concinue, as his

Church, to embody in our daily lives the sacrifice over Ume. As the author of Hcbreurs

d o m us, we cannot neglect to meet each other. W e need to encourage each other

and "stir up one another to love and good worksm.l5s The greater rhe work of

community, *the better the work of sanctification flourishes".ls6 The measuse of

sancufication, the masure of becoming good and becoming holy in the image of the

Spirit, is the vitality of the fdowship of the Redeemer, the life of the Church.

Instantiating Christ's sacrifice over tirne by enacting the wiU of God involves a

recognition that "we were a l l baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or bee - and all were made to drink of one Spiritn.1s7 In the contact of the f i f i sermon,

Schleiermacher attempts to guide his flodc co the practice of living within a cornmon

ecdesial spirit. He does this by encouraging them noc to end communion with those

who believe Uerendy but rather ro "diligently seek the uuth together widi themn.*58

We neither give up our position nor do we enforce ours on others. Rather we engage

in a Spirit-filled dialogue that tolerates dissent as an integral part of ecdesid life.

Schleiermacher's f i f i homily is really an invitation to follow the ecumenical

voice of the Redeemer calling us to become one as the Son and the Father are one. It

is the tolerant voice of the renewed Caholicism of Vatican II, a century before its

Ume.

S m o n 6: Exhortation to Co+ Our Sins

With the sixth sermon, Schleiermacher plunges into Catholic sacramental

waters. The very mention of confnnng sins in many consenrative Protestant &des is

apt to trigger a conditioned response that Papists have infiltrated the church.

l55 Smnons, p.84, where Schkicrmachet quotes He6rrws 1054 156 Ibid. p.84

1 Cor. 12:13 Is8 ~~ p.91

43

Stereotgpically, Protestant Christians daim to have Gad's direct e-mail address - no need to go through a p h t or the Pope to obtain forgiveness; that's for Catholic

Christians. For the Protestant Schleiermacher, then, CO exhort his no& to conféss

their sins, based on a text which Luther considered an epistle of straw,lsg is to surf

ciangesous waves. Of course, conuovusy is never a problem for Schleiermacher who

thnves on didectic and diaogue in the s a c h for uuth.

Interwoven then within a Protestant tapesuy, Schleiermacher embroiders a

Catholic sacramental theology of confession.

The theologicai context of confession is set f ~ m l y within the Protestant

principle of sacerdotal democracy. As a universal priesthood, Christians are invired

neither to confèss to the select féw nor to elders but "to one anotherm.160 The making

and