Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University (review)

This impressive text offers a fresh look at nineteenth-century Protestant theology. Quietly challenging a model of intellectual history that fixates on the signal contributions of “great minds,” Thomas Albert Howard proposes that modern Protestant thought be understood in terms of the modern German university. He argues, more specifically, that state superintendence of German universities played a decisive role in shaping a theology beholden to the rigors of Wissenschaft. As a consequence, by around 1900 there had arisen a “theology truly remarkable in the history of Christian thought for its detachment from creedal and ecclesial interests” (27), the international renown of which coincided, ironically, with its “institutional diminution (and near eviction) in the context of [Germany’s]…university system” (403).

Howard expounds this argument over the course of six chapters. Chapter 1 identifies the need to inspect the relationship between theology, the modern German university, and the state; it also introduces key terms and concepts. Chapter 2 provides a solid account of German universities from the medieval period to the end of the eighteenth century. Howard argues persuasively that the Reformation’s endorsement of humanistic modes of reflection and promotion of the sola scriptura principle did not bring significant structural change to the German university. Theology continued to star as the “higher” faculty; philosophy remained subordinate, cast in the role of “handmaiden.” Such continuity, however, protected neither theology nor the university from critique. Post-Reformation scholasticism was harried by innovations such as pietism and neologism; funding for and student enrollment in theological faculties flagged; calls for reform grew louder by the day. Most significantly, emboldened by the academy’s increased scope (with “new” disciplines such as philology and history on the rise), philosophers began to protest their ancillary standing. Kant epitomized this newly bullish attitude, asking whether one ought to view the “lower” faculty as theology’s torchbearer or trainbearer (Der Streit der Fakultäten)?

Chapter 3 presents the University of Berlin (officially founded in 1810) as inaugurating a new era. Emblematic of an age flush with the delights of Bildung, Wissenschaft, Lehr-, and Lernfreiheit, Howard argues that this institution pioneered the dissociation of ecclesial and scholarly realms, thereby exemplifying a new paradigm for theology. The distinctive voice of Friedrich Schleiermacher betrayed the accent of his age: ecclesial interests ought to be overseen by a scientific spirit; a theology worth its salt must keep pace with the onward march of secular knowledge. Chapter 4 uncovers the material basis of this intellectual revolution. Throughout the nineteenth century, Howard contends, the machinery of the Prussian state exerted a direct influence over universities, shaping them according to an idealistic philosophical outlook. Thus, a process of Verstaatlichung took hold of the university. Theology became increasingly scientific in its bearing (for a state impatient with ecclesiastical dogma cherished the freedom of inquiry and intervened to this end); confessional differences were forcibly elided by way of a Unionskirche; examinations and academic appointments were professionalized. Such intensive governmental control meant that theology drifted further and further from its ecclesial moorings.

The remainder of the text expands this analysis. As well as commenting on the international impact of nineteenth-century German theology, the sizable penultimate chapter considers the consolidation, entrenchment, and eventual quandary of a theology caught between Staat and Wissenschaft. Howard argues that an embrace of scientific rigor, attention to cutting-edge philosophical, philological, and historical study, and a disregard for parochial confessionalism quickly became accrediting characteristics of German Protestant theology. These standards proliferated with the spread of the theological encyclopedia, a genre initially associated with Schleiermacher and popularized by K. R. Hagenbach. Concomitantly, the Prussian state (and later the “Second German Empire”) continued to supervise university life, promoting wis-senschaftlich research agendas, overseeing professorial appointments, and paying especial attention to non-theological disciplines. This all led to the point at which theology struggled to justify itself. Figures such as Paul de Lagarde and Franz Overbeck saw the writing on the wall; they recognized...