Date of Award
1-1-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Religious and Theological Studies
First Advisor
Theodore M. Vial, Jr., Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Gregory Robbins
Third Advisor
Carrie Doehring
Fourth Advisor
Terrence Tice
Keywords
Authority, Bible, Inspiration, Rationalist, Revelation, Supernaturalist
Abstract
This dissertation examines Friedrich Schleiermacher’s understanding of biblical authority and argues that, as an alternative to strictly supernaturalistic and rationalistic models, his understanding allows the New Testament to speak authoritatively in Christian religion in an age of critical, historical awareness. After classifying Schleiermacher’s position in a typology of the doctrine of biblical authority, this dissertation explores his conception of divine revelation and inspiration vis-à-vis scripture. It demonstrates that although he did not believe there is warrant for the claim of a direct connection between divine revelation and scripture, or that scripture is the foundation of faith, he nonetheless asserted that the New Testament is authoritative. He asserted the normative authority of the New Testament on the basis that it is the first presentation of Christian faith. This dissertation examines Schleiermacher’s “canon within the canon,” as well as his denial that the Old Testament shares the same normative worth and inspiration of the New. Although this dissertation finds difficulty with some of Schleiermacher’s views regarding the Old Testament, it names two significant strengths of what is identified as his evangelical, content-based, and rationalist approach to biblical authority. First, it recognizes and values the co-presence and co-activity of the supernatural and the natural in the production of the New Testament canon. This allows both scripture and the church to share religious authority. Second, it allows Christian faith and the historical-method to coexist, as it does not require people to contradict what they know to be the case about science, history, and philosophy. Thus, this dissertation asserts that Schleiermacher’s understanding of biblical authority is a robust one, since, for him, the authority of scripture does not lie in some property of the texts themselves that historians or unbelievers can take away.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Recommended Citation
Holton, Kerry W., "Schleiermacher's Doctrine of Biblical Authority: An Alternative to Content-Based/Supernaturalist and Function-Based Rationalist Models" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1031.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1031
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Rights holder
Kerry W. Holton
File size
212 p.
Copyright date
2015
File format
application/pdf
Language
en
Discipline
Theology