Albrecht Ritschl's Influence On Nineteenth Century Thought
WHAT WENT WRONG?
Albrecht Ritschl’s Influence on Nineteenth Century Thought
Deena Shoemaker
CHHI 302
April 22, 2013
Born in Berlin on March 25, 1822, Albrecht Ritschl was a German Lutheran theologian1 who became one of the “most prominent name(s) in German theology at the close of the nineteenth century.2”
The theological literature in Albrecht Ritschl’s day was overflowing with Christological arguments and evangelistic writing. “In every university the life of Jesus was an absorbing theme; the very attacks made the church aware of the value of the person of Christ. This was the atmosphere in which Ritschl spent his student life.3”
Albrecht Ritschl is famous for his proposal of the method of “value-judgments,” which he defined as the only correct method of attaining “religious knowledge4.” In order to determine what Rischel meant in his overall theme, one must ask what he meant by “religious …show more content…
knowledge” and how that particular knowledge differs from any other type of defined knowledge. Albrecht Ritschl believes primarily that Christianity is realized through an authentic experience with God. He believes that theology primarily originates from its historical roots of the Christian faith according to biblical writings and the church’s developmental history.
Ritschl says of this,
“in every religion what is sought, with the help of the superhuman, spiritual power reverenced by man, is a solution of the contradiction in which man finds himself, as both a part of the world of nature and a spiritual personality claiming to dominate nature… knowledge of God can be demonstrated as religious knowledge only when He is conceived as securing to the believer such a position in the world as more than counterbalances its restrictions." So to Albrecht Ritschl, the idea of that which is offered to man though religion, more specifically Christianity, is “superiority to, and mastery over, the world.5” Religious knowledge could be defined, then, as knowledge that God enables over man in that he may overcome the world as Christ has done. “As a scientific theologian, Albrecht Ritschl claims that he follows a definite theory of knowledge, and that it is just because he rejects the traditional and Platonic theory of knowledge, which his opponents hold, that they are unable to understand him.6” Albrecht Ritschl personally defined Christian faith through the history of the Church rather than personal experiences of belief. His belief might suggest that the individual Christian is not saved by faith, as the Bible would have it, but instead by a relationship within a church which is historically and ethically rooted in Jesus. “Ritschl has produced one of the most important epochs in the religious thought of Germany since the days of Luther.7” This knowledge (or faith, as we commonly refer to it) is personal. It is different from science, philosophy, and theory in that we must seek it earnestly in order to come by it. Facts may easily be written on paper, and theories come and go, but this religious knowledge never changes as the years go on. Albrecht Ritschl’s Christology, however, is under influence of his theory of “value-judgments.” “The supreme consideration is what Christ is to us and does for us, his value for our hearts and life. He saves us from the dominion of the world and brings us to God, and that is enough,8” says Stukenberg. Ritschl himself seems to adapt this and put a slight more emphasis on man. While Christ is the sole Overcomer, Albrecht Ritschl allows more focus on man’s ability to overcome the world through his relationship with God. Stuckenberg says of him, “regarding eschatology, whether based on Christ 's discourses or the teachings of the apostles, he has little to say.9” Ritschl essentially ignores the eschatological glory of Christ, and instead turns his attention to the worldly half of Christianity. Another question one must ask of Albrecht Ritschl’s theory is how does one go about obtaining this religious knowledge? The most obvious of answers would be, at its core, our belief in God as reveled through Christ. To go deeper into the answer would be to discover the victory in our triumphant fellowship with God and the sharing of His knowledge with us. These feelings will be classified as Ritschl’s “value-judgment.” It is judged, the “value of my own personality or spiritual existence that its value is greater than that of the whole world of nature which restricts it. It therefore ought to dominate or overcome the world.10” The issue with “value-judgments” is the concern of the idea of God. Should it be determined that religious knowledge is the greatest possible value since it should satisfy your greatest need? Does one’s confidence in God rely on this religious knowledge? A third thing one must ask of Albrecht Ritschl comes in three parts, “can we by the methods of theoretic knowledge come to any legitimate conclusions on the questions of religious knowledge?” Ritschl claims this is not the case. Albrecht Ritschl “characterizes all attempts of philosophy to do so as cases in which the law of a particular realm of being is set up as the supreme law.11” It could be argued that philosophy has always sought a unified world-view and that Ritschl’s theory is wrong. Albrecht Ritschl rebuts this claim by stating that the seeking comes, not from the scientific aspect of a human heart, but from religion – the impulse and principles which are innate in us all. Ritschl defines this as the "law of the constant change of the qualities." The problem still remains that in order for religious knowledge to exist it must rely on its own “value-judgments” as there is “nothing else for it to depend on.12” Albrecht Ritschl says of this,
“Besides the reality of nature, theoretical knowledge must recognize as given the reality of the spiritual life and the equal binding force of the special laws which obtain in each realm…. While, therefore, the Christian religion is thereby proved to be in harmony with reason, it is always with the reservation that knowledge of God embodies itself in judgments which differ in kind from those of theoretical science."
To Ritschl, God is the personal being that is superior to the world. Through a relationship with Him, we too become masters over the world. He seems to say that “the only evidence which I have of the existence of God is the value which faith in Him has for me in helping me to overcome the world.13”
Keirstead says of Ritschl,
“(in his) theory of knowledge he denies the scholastic conception of substance as the essence of things. He denies the separation they make between the thing and its qualities. He denies their claim to perfect knowledge, and finds in it a logical fallacy. They transform a logical concept into a metaphysical entity. They over-emphasize the laws of thought, and make them constitutive of reality when they are only methodological. It is not true that we know only phenomena. This reduces knowledge to an illusion. He interprets (Lotze) to mean that we have a partial knowledge of reality. We know the formal nature of things by metaphysics. Their real nature is learned by experience, and induction is the method of procedure. We can never know things as a perfect intelligence knows them, but only as they are for us. Knowledge is subjective. It is the possession of an individual consciousness, but it has an objective reference.”
Albrecht Ritschl’s influence in theology gave way to the shaping of liberal theology. His view of study and knowledge was as an experience rather than a revelation of God to us. This idea of knowledge of the sake of knowledge is a dangerous one. Packer addresses this kind of thinking, “one thing is certain; knowledge for the sake of knowledge will go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. It will intoxicate us and make us think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians. We will look down on those whose theological ideas seem crude and inadequate and we will dismiss them as poor specimens.14”
Albrecht Ritschl puts a huge emphasis on the relationship of man and God.
His problem is that he neglects the propitiation of the wrath of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cook, Albert. Ritschl 's Use of Value-Judgments. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct., 1917), pp. 545-553 The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3155348
Encycopedia Britannica Online. Albrecht Ritschl. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/504628/Albrecht-Ritschl
Keirstead, W.C. Metaphysical Presuppositions of Ritschl. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1905), pp. 677-718 Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3154274
Packer, J.I. Knowing God. InterVarsity Press. 1973
Stuckenberg, H.W. The Theology of Albrecht Ritschl. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Apr., 1898), pp. 268-292 The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3152766
.
Albrecht Ritschl’s Influence on Nineteenth Century Thought
Deena Shoemaker
CHHI 302
April 22, 2013
Born in Berlin on March 25, 1822, Albrecht Ritschl was a German Lutheran theologian1 who became one of the “most prominent name(s) in German theology at the close of the nineteenth century.2”
The theological literature in Albrecht Ritschl’s day was overflowing with Christological arguments and evangelistic writing. “In every university the life of Jesus was an absorbing theme; the very attacks made the church aware of the value of the person of Christ. This was the atmosphere in which Ritschl spent his student life.3”
Albrecht Ritschl is famous for his proposal of the method of “value-judgments,” which he defined as the only correct method of attaining “religious knowledge4.” In order to determine what Rischel meant in his overall theme, one must ask what he meant by “religious …show more content…
knowledge” and how that particular knowledge differs from any other type of defined knowledge. Albrecht Ritschl believes primarily that Christianity is realized through an authentic experience with God. He believes that theology primarily originates from its historical roots of the Christian faith according to biblical writings and the church’s developmental history.
Ritschl says of this,
“in every religion what is sought, with the help of the superhuman, spiritual power reverenced by man, is a solution of the contradiction in which man finds himself, as both a part of the world of nature and a spiritual personality claiming to dominate nature… knowledge of God can be demonstrated as religious knowledge only when He is conceived as securing to the believer such a position in the world as more than counterbalances its restrictions." So to Albrecht Ritschl, the idea of that which is offered to man though religion, more specifically Christianity, is “superiority to, and mastery over, the world.5” Religious knowledge could be defined, then, as knowledge that God enables over man in that he may overcome the world as Christ has done. “As a scientific theologian, Albrecht Ritschl claims that he follows a definite theory of knowledge, and that it is just because he rejects the traditional and Platonic theory of knowledge, which his opponents hold, that they are unable to understand him.6” Albrecht Ritschl personally defined Christian faith through the history of the Church rather than personal experiences of belief. His belief might suggest that the individual Christian is not saved by faith, as the Bible would have it, but instead by a relationship within a church which is historically and ethically rooted in Jesus. “Ritschl has produced one of the most important epochs in the religious thought of Germany since the days of Luther.7” This knowledge (or faith, as we commonly refer to it) is personal. It is different from science, philosophy, and theory in that we must seek it earnestly in order to come by it. Facts may easily be written on paper, and theories come and go, but this religious knowledge never changes as the years go on. Albrecht Ritschl’s Christology, however, is under influence of his theory of “value-judgments.” “The supreme consideration is what Christ is to us and does for us, his value for our hearts and life. He saves us from the dominion of the world and brings us to God, and that is enough,8” says Stukenberg. Ritschl himself seems to adapt this and put a slight more emphasis on man. While Christ is the sole Overcomer, Albrecht Ritschl allows more focus on man’s ability to overcome the world through his relationship with God. Stuckenberg says of him, “regarding eschatology, whether based on Christ 's discourses or the teachings of the apostles, he has little to say.9” Ritschl essentially ignores the eschatological glory of Christ, and instead turns his attention to the worldly half of Christianity. Another question one must ask of Albrecht Ritschl’s theory is how does one go about obtaining this religious knowledge? The most obvious of answers would be, at its core, our belief in God as reveled through Christ. To go deeper into the answer would be to discover the victory in our triumphant fellowship with God and the sharing of His knowledge with us. These feelings will be classified as Ritschl’s “value-judgment.” It is judged, the “value of my own personality or spiritual existence that its value is greater than that of the whole world of nature which restricts it. It therefore ought to dominate or overcome the world.10” The issue with “value-judgments” is the concern of the idea of God. Should it be determined that religious knowledge is the greatest possible value since it should satisfy your greatest need? Does one’s confidence in God rely on this religious knowledge? A third thing one must ask of Albrecht Ritschl comes in three parts, “can we by the methods of theoretic knowledge come to any legitimate conclusions on the questions of religious knowledge?” Ritschl claims this is not the case. Albrecht Ritschl “characterizes all attempts of philosophy to do so as cases in which the law of a particular realm of being is set up as the supreme law.11” It could be argued that philosophy has always sought a unified world-view and that Ritschl’s theory is wrong. Albrecht Ritschl rebuts this claim by stating that the seeking comes, not from the scientific aspect of a human heart, but from religion – the impulse and principles which are innate in us all. Ritschl defines this as the "law of the constant change of the qualities." The problem still remains that in order for religious knowledge to exist it must rely on its own “value-judgments” as there is “nothing else for it to depend on.12” Albrecht Ritschl says of this,
“Besides the reality of nature, theoretical knowledge must recognize as given the reality of the spiritual life and the equal binding force of the special laws which obtain in each realm…. While, therefore, the Christian religion is thereby proved to be in harmony with reason, it is always with the reservation that knowledge of God embodies itself in judgments which differ in kind from those of theoretical science."
To Ritschl, God is the personal being that is superior to the world. Through a relationship with Him, we too become masters over the world. He seems to say that “the only evidence which I have of the existence of God is the value which faith in Him has for me in helping me to overcome the world.13”
Keirstead says of Ritschl,
“(in his) theory of knowledge he denies the scholastic conception of substance as the essence of things. He denies the separation they make between the thing and its qualities. He denies their claim to perfect knowledge, and finds in it a logical fallacy. They transform a logical concept into a metaphysical entity. They over-emphasize the laws of thought, and make them constitutive of reality when they are only methodological. It is not true that we know only phenomena. This reduces knowledge to an illusion. He interprets (Lotze) to mean that we have a partial knowledge of reality. We know the formal nature of things by metaphysics. Their real nature is learned by experience, and induction is the method of procedure. We can never know things as a perfect intelligence knows them, but only as they are for us. Knowledge is subjective. It is the possession of an individual consciousness, but it has an objective reference.”
Albrecht Ritschl’s influence in theology gave way to the shaping of liberal theology. His view of study and knowledge was as an experience rather than a revelation of God to us. This idea of knowledge of the sake of knowledge is a dangerous one. Packer addresses this kind of thinking, “one thing is certain; knowledge for the sake of knowledge will go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited. It will intoxicate us and make us think of ourselves as a cut above other Christians. We will look down on those whose theological ideas seem crude and inadequate and we will dismiss them as poor specimens.14”
Albrecht Ritschl puts a huge emphasis on the relationship of man and God.
His problem is that he neglects the propitiation of the wrath of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cook, Albert. Ritschl 's Use of Value-Judgments. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct., 1917), pp. 545-553 The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3155348
Encycopedia Britannica Online. Albrecht Ritschl. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/504628/Albrecht-Ritschl
Keirstead, W.C. Metaphysical Presuppositions of Ritschl. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1905), pp. 677-718 Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3154274
Packer, J.I. Knowing God. InterVarsity Press. 1973
Stuckenberg, H.W. The Theology of Albrecht Ritschl. The American Journal of Theology, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Apr., 1898), pp. 268-292 The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3152766
.