AMONG THE THEOLOGIANS of the late eighteenth century, Herder combines a unique variety of traditional elements with highly progressive and innovative components. His publications touch on most classical fields of academic education as well as the broad range of professional interests typical of the Protestant clergy. Herder expanded the frontiers of academic theology, exploring and interpreting results of contemporary debates in the humanities and sciences. Within the boundaries of a transitory period characterized by rationalist, empirical, and idealistic currents of thought, Herder investigated the various positions by addressing a wide range of fundamental questions. Striving for popularity and practical applications of his own convictions, Herder worked as a theologian in active service of the church throughout his life. This essay deals with not only the theoretical but also the practical aspects of his work.

Elements of Systematic Theological Reflection

The sequence of topics in this first section, focusing on the theoretical aspects of Herder's work, follows traditional patterns of systematic thought in Christian theology. Herder's contributions will be illustrated by references to texts that show either the continuity or the evolution of his concepts, with the intention of providing a background for the reading of his main publications. A number of unpublished manuscripts will be cited in order to portray certain elements with the stringency and formal density that such references can offer.

Theology and Religion

Working against rising academic restrictions, Herder promoted the essentially liberal character of theology, which he rated as “gewissermaassen die liberalste von allen [Wissenschaften]; eine freie Gottesgabe ans Menschengeschlecht, die diesem auch zu allem liberalen Guten der Vernunft, einer edeln Tugend und Aufklärung geholfen. Theologen waren die Väter der Menschenvernunft, des Menschengeistes und Menschenherzens” (in a certain sense the most liberal of all the disciplines; a free gift of God to the human race that helped it to attain all the liberal values of reason, a pure virtue, and Enlightenment. Theologians were the fathers of human reason, the human spirit, and the human heart).

The notion of theology implies a general and a specific meaning. In a general sense, the term refers to fundamental reflection on the conditions of human life within the entirety of creation. Herder considers the awareness of human limitations and the consciousness of infinity as an elementary experience.