Internal History of German Protestantism: Since the Middle of Last Century

Internal History Of German Protestantism: Since The Middle Of Last Century by Karl Friedrich August Kahnis. This study provides a comprehensive historical survey of German Protestantism from the mid-18th century onward, tracing the major intellectual currents that shaped its course. Kahnis analyzes the rise and interaction of Illuminism, Pietism, and Rationalism, and shows how these forces challenged, reformed, or transformed church life and doctrine. He charts the development of the Enlightenment-influenced critique of revelation, the emergence of the mediating theology under Schleiermacher, Hase, De Wette, and their successors, and the subsequent attempts to revive confessional faith within a changing society. The book also treats institutional changes, including church unions, liturgical renewal, and the Inner Mission, and discusses the political consequences of these religious shifts, up to the events around 1848. The work, though polemical at times, remains a careful, evidence-based synthesis intended for scholars of church history and theology.