Schleiermachers Lehre von Wiedergeburt und Heiligung

Sabine Schmidtke's work focuses on the examination of Schleiermacher's soteriology based on the central idea of 'lively susceptibility.' For the first time, this concept is analyzed not only concerning its relevance for the doctrines of regeneration and sanctification but also with regard to its importance for an overall comprehension of Schleiermacher's opus The Christian Faith. The concept enables him to answer one of the central questions of Protestantism under modern and anthropologically valid premises, namely the question of the relationship between human activity and susceptibility in the act of conversion, and thus of the origin of faith itself. The comparative analysis of reformation and 17th-century protestant theology shows to what extent Schleiermacher's exposition fulfills his own claim to serve the further development of the 'Protestant Principle.'