Protestantism and Progress: A Historical Study of the Relation of Protestantism to the Modern World - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1412851726 ISBN 13: 9781412851725

Publisher: Routledge, 2013

Synopsis

Ernst Troeltsch focuses his Protestantism and Progress on two main areas. First, he centers on the intellectual and religious situation, from which the significance and the possibilities of development possessed by Christianity might be deduced. This leads to an engaging historical investigation regarding the spirit of the modern world. Troeltsch argues that the modern world can only be understood in the light of its relation to earlier epochs of Christian civilization in Europe. He notes that for anyone who holds the opinion that in spite of all the significance that Catholicism retains, the living possibilities of development and progress are to be found on Protestant soil, the question regarding the relation of Protestantism to modern civilization becomes of central importance.

Troeltsch also distinguishes elements in modern civilization that have proven their value from those which are merely temporary and lead nowhere. He gives the religious ideas of Christianity a shape and form capable of doing justice to the absoluteness of religious conviction, and at the same time considering them in harmony with what has actually been accomplished towards solution of the practical problems of the Christian life.

A new introduction by Howard Schneiderman brings this monumental work into the twenty-first century, and explains why its ideas are more important than ever, one hundred years after its original publication.

About this title

About the Author

Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923) was a German Protestant theologian whose most famous contributions were in theology, social ethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of history, and sociology of religion. His writings include The Christian Faith and The Absoluteness of Christianity and the History of Religions.

Howard G. Schneiderman is professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Lafayette College.

 

Review

“[T]he reissue . . . of this important essay should be celebrated by sociologists, theologians and religious studies specialists alike. As even this slim volume attests, Troeltsch was far more than “the most eminent sociologically oriented historian of Western Christianity: described by Talcott Parsons. Like his sometime colleague and friend, Max Weber, his concern was nothing less than the destiny of Humanity in the Modern Age. . . . Troeltsch was also an heir of both Hegel and Schleiermacher, whose influences may readily be discerned in his analysis of religion, society, and culture. . . . Troeltsch makes an eloquent case for the independence (literally “self-standingness”) of religion in opposition to a perspective 'which cannot believe in the spontaneity and originality of religious ideas and supposes that the only way to understand them is to unmask behind them the profane force . . . to which the action is really due.'”

—Roger O’Toole, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

“In a noteworthy study . . . translated into English, Professor Troeltsch, of Heidelberg, has made the attempt to untangle some of the threads which are woven into the structure of modern Protestantism. . . . Troeltsch shows that while original Protestantism had no intention of so altering civilization as to promote the secular freedom which it now champions, it was nevertheless indirectly responsible for allowing free play to the movements which have made up our modern world. . . . [Troeltsch] make[s] the suggestive distinction between Luther’s goal and the way in which Luther sought to reach the goal. . . . The foremost duty confronting Protestantism today is to understand the situation confronting us so as to concentrate attention on the actual task before us.”

—Gerald B. Smith, The Biblical World

“Professor Troeltsch, in a preface to this translation, states concisely his aim. He sets himself to inquire what are the elements in modern civilization which have proved their value, in distinction from those which lead nowhere. He holds that these possibilities of progress are to be found in Protestantism, and he examines the modern spirit to determine how much it owes to Protestantism and how much to other sources.”

—Frederic Palmer, The Harvard Theological Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1412851726
• ISBN 13: 9781412851725
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 146
• Editor: Troeltsch Ernst