INTRODUCTION

After the outburst of Trinitarian thought, led by Hegel, in the first half of the nineteenth century, Protestant fascination with the doctrine of the Trinity evaporated rather abruptly in the closing decades of the century. Of course, conservative Protestants remained steadfastly loyal to it; however, the rising influence of Albrecht Ritschl and his students bode ill for the doctrine of the Trinity and it was not until Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics that a theological system that was sympathetic to the doctrine of the Trinity was able to supplant the influence of liberal theology. In this chapter I will look at the fate that befell the idea of the Trinity at the hands of liberal theologians such as Albrecht Ritschl (1822–1889), Wilhelm Herrmann (1846–1922), Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930) and Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923). In particular, I will examine Ritschl's own representation of the Trinity and then analyze the reasons for the liberal theologians' lack of enthusiasm about the doctrine.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY ACCORDING TO ALBRECHT RITSCHL

Ritschl's positive account of the Trinity is found in his Instruction in the Christian Religion, in volume III of Justification and Reconciliation, and in lectures he gave in 1881–1882. His statements in Instruction in the Christian Religion are the simplest, so I will begin there.

The opening words introduce us to two of Ritschl's favorite ideas: special revelation and the community of believers. According to Ritschl, the community's knowledge of God arises from special revelation. But by special revelation he meant Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, not truths about the eternal being of God miraculously communicated in the Bible.