HISTTHEO 812
Christian Theology and the Enlightenment: From Descartes to Schleiermacher
Warren Smith
Description from DukeHub
This class is the first of a two part sequence that traces the rise of Protestant Liberalism in the late 18th and 19th c. and the responses of Neo-Orthodoxy and Post-Liberalism in the 20th century. The thesis of the first of the sequence is that Liberalism grew out of the Enlightenment's critique supernatural elements of Christianity and the need for a universal foundation for religion. The class argues that the heart of the objection to Christianity raised by its critics during the Enlightenment and the challenge faced by its defenders was how the criterion for eternal life could be dependent upon accidental truths of history rather than necessary truths of reason. It traces the rise of Continental (Spinoza, Rousseau) and English Deism with its development of natural religion and the defense of Orthodox Christianity as a revealed religion on rational grounds (Locke, Paschal) as well as critics (Hume, Voltaire, Diderot) of both. The class ends with the seeds of Protestant Liberalism in Kant, Hegel, and Schleiermacher who, with miracles no longer sufficient evidence for the truth claims of orthodoxy, sought to establish an alternative warrant for Christianity, one in ethics, one in history, and the third in religious experience. Prerequisites: CHURHST 751
Skills
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AI-resilient: 1 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- Yes: Judgment someone is accountable for · "ethics"
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- No: Small, in-person format
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
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