Wilhelm Herrmann | |
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 Johann Georg Wilhelm Herrmann (1846-1922), Lutheran German theologian | |
| Born | Johann Georg Wilhelm Herrmann (1846-12-06)6 December 1846 |
| Died | 2 January 1922(1922-01-02) (aged 75) |
| Occupations | Professor, theologian |
| Notable work | The Communion of the Christian with God |
| Theological work | |
| Language | German |
| Tradition or movement | Lutheran,Liberalism |
| Main interests | Idealism |
Johann Georg Wilhelm Herrmann (6 December 1846 – 2 January 1922) was aLutheran Germantheologian.
Hermann taught atHalle before becoming professor atMarburg.[1] Influenced byKant andRitschl, his theology was in theidealist tradition, seeing God as the power of goodness. Jesus was to be seen as an exemplary man. Even if Jesus never existed, according to Herrmann, his traditional portrayal was still valid.[2] His bookThe Communion of the Christian God[3] was seen as a highlight of nineteenth centuryLiberal Christianity, although he is also credited with preserving certain conservative ideals against liberalrevisionism.[4] against whichKarl Barth, one of his pupils,[5] anddialectical theology were later to react.[6]
Among Herrmann's most distinguished pupils wereRudolf Bultmann, Karl Barth, andJohn Gresham Machen. Both Barth and Machen would reject Herrmann's teaching and come to notability by their opposition to such liberal theology.
Herrmann's theology has been characterized as "Lutheran neo-Kantianism"[7] and influenced by the work of Immanuel Kant, Herrmann taught "dialectical theology".[8] He held that one can only speak of God dialectically, with two opposing statements - thesis and antithesis, "the dogmatic and the critical, the Yes and the No, the unveiling and the veiling, objectivity, and subjectivity."[8] The goal was not to find a synthesis but to find in the tension "a space free in the middle and hopes that God himself will intervene since only God can say his Word."[8] Herrmann also freely admitted his thinking was indebted toFriedrich Schleiermacher, who had held that the religious experience of God took place within the individual.[7]
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