Schriften zur Theologie und Religionsphilosophie

Volume 1 of the Complete Critical Edition documents Ernst Troeltsch's early work. The 21 printed texts already bear witness to the wide-ranging interests of a man who progressed from being a curate in Munich, an adjunct professor in Göttingen and an associate professor in Bonn to holding a chair in Heidelberg. One focus is on studies of the history of Protestant theology, from his doctorate and professorial thesis on Reason and Revelation in Johann Gerhard and Melanchthon through work on Richard Rothe and Leibniz and the Beginnings of Pietism to analyses grounded in the history of learning of the position and foundation of theology in his time. A further focus is formed by his first attempts at his own systematic philosophy of religion, above all by his great essay of monographic dimensions on The Autonomy of Religion, in which Troeltsch attempts to take account of the total state of contemporary research into the history of religion. At the same time, work on this thematic field documents Troeltsch's distancing himself from the school of Albrecht Ritschl. Finally, there are further texts demonstrating how Troeltsch engaged in theological argument with widely differing manifestations of contemporary culture - painting, drama or Ernst Haeckel's materialistic monism. - The critical edition also includes the handwritten notes from Troeltsch's own private printed copies.