348 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



45. 



Ritschl's 



of ^eilgf 



would form a kind of counterpart or complement in 

 which he who believes in the existence of a revelation 

 such as philosophy may indicate or postulate but cannot 

 prove, starts from it as a given historical fact and 

 practical experience. But what would then be com- 

 prised in such a further exposition would not come into 

 the region of philosophical but would belong to that 

 of religious thought. 



It seems to me that the philosophical importance of 

 Albrecht Eitschl's theology lies not in a psychological 

 or logical analysis, such as was attempted by Schleier- 

 macher, but in a straightforward declaration of the 

 independence of religious beliefs, as distinguished from 

 philosophical creeds, and this not only for the indi- 

 vidual, but emphatically also for the community of in- 

 dividuals, the brotherhood of men. 1 In the cours3 of the 



1 It may be surprising to some of 

 my readers that in a history of 

 philosophical thought so much 

 prominence should be given to the 

 doctrine of Albrecht Ritschl, since 

 none of the existing excellent his- 

 tories of recent philosophy do more 

 than just mention Ritschl's name 

 in connection with the revival of 

 Kantian studies in Germany during 

 the second half of the nineteenth 

 century. But the very fact that 

 the term " Ritschliauism " has been 

 coined and used especially in this 

 country is a sign that we have to 

 do not merely with an individual 

 doctrine but with a tendency of 

 thought which exists not only in 

 Germany, and not only in theological 

 schools, but is of wider and general 

 interest. Ritschl has succeeded in 

 giving to the problem of faith 

 and knowledge or as it presented 

 itself to him of metaphysics 

 and theology, a new aspect, result- 



ing in a very extensive literature. 

 He has not, indeed, in any way 

 settled the question, but he has 

 thrown a ferment into philosophical, 

 theological, and general thought 

 which has not yet spent its force. 

 This has been admitted not only by 

 admirers and followers but also by 

 opponents. " For the interest of 

 the subject reaches entirely beyond 

 the limits of theological and philo- 

 sophical speculation. It concerns, 

 and vitally concerns, all those who 

 think about the relation of Christian 

 faith to modern thought and know- 

 ledge. It concerns them in two 

 ways. Ritschlianism is both influen- 

 tial and typical. As an influence 

 it has reached far, and is present in 

 many places where it is not named 

 or recognised. One who does not 

 know the influence at its source 

 will deal clumsily with its results. 

 But it is also typical. Many minds 

 in the last few decades have been 



