The quest of the historical Jesus
Modern theology cannot be understood apart from the influence of the movement of thought in the eighteenth century known as the Enlightenment. This gave a new authority and freedom to human reason. Since then, the supernatural character of the life and work of Christ has often been rejected or watered down. Friedrich Schleiermacher (born 1768) is frequently called the father of modern theology’. He thought of Jesus Christ as divine because of his unique consciousness of God. Jesus was first and foremost the perfect example of a life lived in total dependence upon God.
Although ‘absolutely distinguished from all other men through his essential sinlessness and his absolute perfection’, he was no more than a man. Read more
