Trinitarian Thought

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses Friedrich Schleiermacher’s treatment of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Conclusion of his Christian Faith (1830/1831) and his 1822 essay on Sabellianism. The chapter demonstrates that current scholars are no longer satisfied with the claim that Schleiermacher relegates the doctrine of the Trinity to the status of an appendix. While consensus has been reached on the notion that Schleiermacher rejects the doctrine of the immanent Trinity, interpreters are developing various strains of argument regarding the content and value of his trinitarian thought. I offer my own constructive reading of Schleiermacher’s Christian Faith as implicitly containing a “doctrine of the essential Trinity,” which could expand the contemporary discussion both in terms of an evaluation of Schleiermacher’s theology as well as the diversity of thought possible within Christian doctrine. The chapter concludes with directions for further research, including a development of the third article of the Nicene Creed in consultation with Schleiermacher’s theology, and the relation of the doctrine of the Trinity to gender and sexuality.