LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Historical Analysis Project
Submitted to Dr. Gaylen Leverett
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
Theo 430
Modern & Contemporary Theology
by
Conner W. Cecil
May 3, 2023
1
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
When discussing modern theology, there are many ideas that began developing leading up to the
actual revolutions in theology. One theologian who was influential in the thinking of later
modern theologians was Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834). Coleridge was known to be
part of the romanticist movement. According to Olsen, a tenet of romanticism is that “knowledge
must not be limited to what can be proven rationally.”1 They saw an elevation of rationalism
above its rightful place and wanted to bring back an emphasis on emotion and creativity. His
motivation for his method was to rescue Christianity from some of the acids of modernity,
primarily rationalism and skepticism. In doing this, he expands his idea of rationality to include
intuition, seeking to prove Christianity by explaining how it fulfills an intuitive sense. He does
have many written works, including poetry such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, but his
greatest work is Aids to Reflection. His chief contribution seen was in his reaction against
modernity, in that it had to give way to spiritual experience as opposed to strict rationalism. He
claimed that all people have an intuitive sense of the divine.2
Friedrich Schleiermacher
1 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
2 Stockitt, Robin, and Christoph Schwöbel. Imagination and the Playfulness of God: The Theological Implications of
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Definition of the Human Imagination. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2011.
2
Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768 – 1834) is considered to be the father of modern
theology. He was a German theologian, the first professional theologian and pastor to
accommodate to modernity. He’s not known so much for starting any specific school of theology
or thought, though he is known for facing the issues of modernity head on, even reconstructing
Christianity in light of modernity.3 His motivation for his reconstruction was to keep Christianity
relevant to modernity, adapting so that it could survive even its anthropocentric methods. His
primary contribution was not so much his doctrinal construction but rather his method. He was
influenced by naturalism and denied miracles and the resurrection. His most significant works
were The Christian Faith(his magnum opus, a systematic theology), and On Religion, in which
he expressed his idea that religion should seek to understand the God-consciousness of
Christians.
As Schleiermacher sought to make Christianity relevant to the spirit of modernity, his
method was anthropocentric in focus. He sought to understand God by studying man. He
believed all people had an innate feeling of dependence on the infinite divine, and that by
looking at human intuition it is possible to study God. Since his method was anthropocentric, he
discounted the authority of divine revelation, seeing the Bible not as infallible but as record of
the God-consciousness of early Christians, and of Jesus himself.
Charles Hodge
3 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
3
Charles Hodge (1797 – 1878) was a well-known conservative theologian who sought to
defend conservative Protestant theology against modern liberal theology. He was known as being
a “Princeton theologian,” along with four other theologians before a conservative split from
Princeton to form Westminster Theological seminary. Hodge attended Princeton Seminary before
becoming a theologian there, and during his studies Archibald Alexander took a special interest
in him. Hodge would end up naming his son after Alexander.
His motivation for his contribution was to protect conservative theology against both
liberal theology and revivalism, and is proud to have said that “a new idea never originated in
this seminary.”4 Hodge is known for many contributions, including his works The Way of Life
and a three-volume Systematic Theology. His method was highly focused on authoritative
revelation in contrast to the liberal theologians, yet many scholars would argue that he was
impacted by scholasticism, rationalism, and Reid’s common sense realism.5 Hodges impact has
not been light. His Systematic Theology was used for decades as a theology textbook, he was
well respected even by liberal theologians, and he did a great deal to defend conservative
theology. This impact prepared the way for much of the fundamentalist movement, as Hodge
viewed the Bible very clearly as a well of facts to draw from, leaving little room for ambiguity
which would lead to the harsh fundamentalists of the 20th century.
Horace Bushnell
4 Gutjahr, Paul C. Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy. New York;Oxford;: Oxford University Press,
2011. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740420.001.0001.
5 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
4
Regardless of Hodge’s impact, most scholars would say that Horace Bushnell was
America’s greatest theologian in the nineteenth century. Bushnell was not an academic
theologian in the same way as others, holding university positions, but rather a pastor. Some have
considered him to be on the same level of Johnathan Edwards and Reinhold Niebuhr, the two
other most notable American theologians.6 He was a more liberal theologian and approached
theology with a more experiential way of thinking. Similarly to Schleiermacher, he was heavily
influenced by Coleridge.
He is known as the father of the modern Christian education movement, advocating for
Christian education of children in both the home and church. Because he embraced the
supernatural, unlike liberals, and sought to update doctrines, unlike conservatives, his theology is
often called “progressive orthodoxy.” His motivation for his method was a desire to defend the
supernatural of Christianity against the effects of modernity while still wanting the truths of
Christianity to be relevant to modern people
His thought is certainly influenced by Romanticism, thinking of aesthetics and experience
rather than pure intellectualism. One of his ideas is that words are metaphorical7, and this
certainly shows how his theology works. He may work with contradiction rather than only
against it and avoids extremes, even inventing a new doctrine of the atonement to avoid other
views he found inadequate. Some of his most notable works are Christian Nurture and
Forgiveness and Law.
Karl Barth
6 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
7 Dorrien, Gary J. The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805-1900.
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
5
Karl Barth (1886 – 1968) was, without a doubt, the most influential theologian of the 20th
century. He was a Swiss theologian known for his distaste of the more liberal theologians.
Barth’s school of thought is labeled “neo-orthodoxy.” His method was labeled “dialectical
theology,” referring to the interaction between opposing truths. In Barth’s mind, human thought
about God’s revelation can never be fully rationalized, so some paradoxes must be embraced.8
This kind of embrace of the paradox shows itself in certain ideas such as the contrast between
God’s love and God’s independence from creation, or even love and freedom.
Barth’s motivation was that he found issues with liberal theology. It led so easily to the
German imperialism in the 1900s that he could not accept, and he also found that it did very little
to help in preaching while he was a pastor. To solve this, he used his dialectical method of
theology. He saw his method as purely theological, based on God’s word apart from human
reason.
His chief contributions are his thirteen volume systematic work, Church Dogmatics, his Epistle
to the Romans commentary, and his new orthodoxy that he constructed. This new-orthodoxy
became a school of theology which had a great influence, even in other schools of thought which
were critical of Barth.
Paul Tillich
8 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
6
Paul Tillich was a German theologian in the 20th century, well-known and even appearing
on Time magazine. Tillich studied in Germany, teaching at the University of Berlin and
publishing books. He became an enemy of the state during WWII and escaped to the US,
teaching at Union Theological Seminary and becoming a US citizen. Tillich’s influential works
include The Courage to Be, The Dynamics of Faith, and his three-volume Systematic Theology.
After retiring from the seminary, he became a professor at Harvard.
Tillich’s thought began with existentialism and branched from there, moving to the realm
of philosophy with the primary focus being in ontology. Tillich proposed a method called “the
method of correlation.” In his thought, there is a need in theology for philosophy, as the task of
theology is to answer questions and adapt the Christian message to the modern mind; philosophy
asks the questions based on human existence, and theology answers those questions.9 His method
drove him not to describe God as a being but as the ground of being, bringing him to a form of
panentheism.
Tillich’s method was motivated by a reaction against three alternatives he found inadequate:
supernaturalistic theology, naturalistic theology, and dualistic theology. He did not like the
tendencies of either of the first two, and found the dualistic approach to have weaknesses from
both. His chief contribution is his method and his great influence in both academic and public
theology.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
7
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a German Lutheran theologian of the Confessing
Church movement and professor at the University of Berlin. His most well-known work is The
Cost of Discipleship, still widely read today. He was executed for taking part in a failed plot to
assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer was a friend of Barth, who also was opposed to the Nazi
movement of the time and the modern thought and theology which allowed this to develop.
Bonhoeffer’s school of thought which he became known for was religionless Christianity,
which is primarily seen in his letters from prison where he envisioned a Christianity without
God. Bonhoeffer’s motivation was in response to the advancements of modernity. For a long
time, the “God of the gaps” idea said that any unexplainable gap can be explained by God. As
advancements filled in gaps, it seemed there would likely be no place any longer for God.
Bonhoeffer would say that we ought no longer find God in what we do not know but rather in
what we do know.10 Bonhoeffer’s contribution is seen strongest in both laypeople who still read
The Cost of Discipleship and in secular theologies who consider Bonhoeffer a kind of forerunner.
Whether Bonhoeffer can rightly be called a secular theologian is debated, as his letters were
somewhat unclear and still in development during his time in prison towards the end of his life,
so he was unable to expound on them.
Jurgen Moltmann
10 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
8
Jurgen Moltmann (b. 1926) is a German theologian whose main contribution was in the
realm of eschatology. Moltmann’s main idea was considered “eschatological ontology,” which is
the idea that eschatology produces hope, and that hope creates striving. Striving would then lead
to a better society. This idea has been referred to as a “theology of hope.” Moltmann’s
motivation for his ideas is that, in light of the horrors of the 20th century, he must use Scripture to
demonstrate that God is powerful, good, and not responsible for evil. To do this, he claimed that
“God does not exist yet,” meaning that we do not experience his kingdom fully; his power is not
fully breaking through in every moment, but it will in the future, so he will exist. Some of his
most notable works are Theology of Hope, the Crucified God, and The Coming of God.
Moltmann was influenced by Barth’s dialectic approach. Instead of the traditional
approach, he wishes to let the eschatological kingdom of glory in which God will be “all in all”
determine the correct formulation of every Christian doctrine. He has an eschatological
reorientation of theology, so that it must determine how we interpret the Bible.
Specifically regarding his method, this has to do with his view of revelation as promise.
He sees the Bible as the book of God’s promises, and should be interpreted with an eye to how
these promises of the future should influence believers in the present. Theological concepts turn
then from judgements to anticipations. The task of theology is not to provide an interpretation of
the world but to transform it in light of hope for its ultimate transformation by God.
James Cone
9
James Cone was an American theologian in the 20th and early 21st centuries. Some of his
notable works include A Black Theology of Liberation, Black Theology and Black Power, and
God of the Oppressed. His school of thought is the black liberation theology, of which school he
was the most influential theologian. Cone’s idea of theology is defined as the “study of the being
of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the
forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ.”11 In other words,
theology is not simply studied in order to construct doctrines, but looked at practically through
the eyes of the oppressed to see how it speaks in their situation. It is especially to be studied with
an eye to how it speaks to the liberation of the oppressed. These ideas led Cone to speak many
bold claims, such as “God is black,” meaning that God identifies with black people in their
oppression.12 His motivation was that, in light of the oppression and injustice against black
people in the 20th century, it was necessary to bring about a sort of revolution rather than patient
reform. His chief contribution is seen in his method, his theological influence and his influence
in the black power movement.
Karl Rahner
11 Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2020.
12 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
10
Karl Rahner was a German Jesuit priest and theologian. He is considered to be the most
influential Catholic theologian of the 20th century. His motivation was to respond to the ideas of
modernity which downplayed the transcendence of God in favor of his immanence. Some of his
most important works are his systematic theology Foundations of Christian Faith and a
collection of his articles called Theological Investigation.
Rahner’s approach to theology is known as his “transcendental method.” Philosophy was
essential to his method, constructing the foundations for systematic theology by rationally
justifying belief in the revelation of God in Christ.13 Rahner focused on “transcendental
experiences” to show that humans are oriented toward God. He holds that everyone has a natural
openness to God as well as a supernatural existential, which is a universal offer to everyone from
God. The orientations toward God are a transcendental revelation, and God’s revelation of
himself through history is categorical revelation, which is found in natural revelation, special
revelation, and Jesus Christ himself. Rahner’s method seems to focus on theological
anthropology, having a trust in man’s personal experience while also keeping a place for specific
revelation from God. In this way Rahner is a mediating theologian, focusing on studying God
through man and through God.
Carl F.H. Henry
13 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
11
Carl F.H. Henry was an American theologian. He is known for his influence in the
evangelical movement during its split from fundamentalism. Henry is also known for his
unwavering commitment to biblical inerrancy and traditional orthodox doctrines. His main
motivation for his contribution was to return to biblical authority to rescue Protestantism from
modernity. His most notable work is God, Revelation, and Authority, and is also known for being
the editor of Christianity Today.
Henry’s school of thought is evangelicalism, which he was highly influential in. He found
himself to be in great agreement with fundamentalism on many things, yet he found the
movement anti-intellectual, unable to engage with culture, and lacking in social concern.14
Henry called his method “presuppositionalism.” According to Henry, every worldview
begins with certain presuppositions. In order for a worldview to have explanatory power, it must
have a coherent set of propositions. To Henry, the task of Christian theology is to exhibit the
content of biblical revelation as an orderly whole. The Bible is the sole source and authority for
constructing a system of Christian belief, and a loss of commitment to inerrancy will lead to a
loss of authority. In this area he was very much in line with the fundamentalists, since he held
that if the Bible contained errors it cannot be trustworthy; therefore, if it is trustworthy it is
inerrant. Unlike fundamentalists, however, he denied that this commitment to inerrancy was a
fundamental of the faith.
Stanley Hauerwas
14 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
12
Stanley Hauerwas is an American theologian who has taught at both Notre Dame and Duke. He
was raised a Methodist in Texas and stayed in this denomination through his studies. Some of his
most notable works are A Community of Character, The Peaceable Kingdom, After Christendom,
and With the Grain of the Universe. Hauerwas’s school of thought is postliberal theology, of
which he was not the first postliberal theologian but is the most influential (especially of the ones
alive today). Hauerwas’s primary motivation was avoiding accommodation to modernity. He
believes liberal theologians accommodate to modernity too far and conservative theologians
engaging in apologetics often accommodate to modernity by using secular methods to prove the
existence of the Christian God.15 His chief contribution is seen in his theology, his cult status, his
public influence (especially in pacifist circles), and his attempt to protect the essence of
Christianity from accommodation. His primary aim is to preserve the Christian witness and let
that set the church’s agenda and proclamation.
Bibliography
15 Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
13
Olson, Roger E. The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction.
Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2013.
Stockitt, Robin, and Christoph Schwöbel. Imagination and the Playfulness of God: The
Theological Implications of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Definition of the Human
Imagination. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2011.
Gutjahr, Paul C. Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy. New York;Oxford;: Oxford
University Press, 2011. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740420.001.0001.
Dorrien, Gary J. The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion,
1805-1900. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2020.
