A Critical History Of Rationalism In Germany From Its Origin To The Present Time

Author : Amand Saintes
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331412250
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (122 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book A Critical History of Rationalism in Germany written by Amand Saintes and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Critical History of Rationalism in Germany: From Its Origin to the Present Time It is my intention to attempt to set forth the origin, development and consequences of that phase of religious opinion which has arisen in Germany under the name of Rationalism; and which, while it has opposed a strong barrier to the progress of French Deism and English Naturalism, has nevertheless inflicted a blow on the Christian faith, from which it will not soon recover. The name of Rationalists, adopted by those members of the Christian community who have thrown off the yoke of the ancient faith, may be easily misunderstood, I myself, at first, imagined that it signified the wise and constant exercise of reason on religious subjects; but in studying the matter historically, I soon found that it is the same with this word, as with many others, which, having lost their original meaning, now express an idea directly contrary to that which their etymology seems to indicate. It is indisputably true that God, in granting reason to man, has not forbidden its exercise. As religion, the queen of all minds, possesses over them indestructible rights, so also human reason has rights which cannot be disputed; and as Kant has justly said, "The faith which should oppose itself to reason could not long exist." Taking this view, we form an idea of Rationalism similar to that conceived by the great Leibnitz; which, with our present ideas of truth, we cannot regard as unreasonable. But this right of the human reason to examine and discuss, differs widely from its self-constitution as supreme judge in subjects of religion, and the wish to submit to its own tribunal, which it declares infallible, God and conscience. This, however, has been the case in modern times, when philosophy has openly avowed itself the enemy of Christianity, and when those who were terrified by its rash demands have sought to confound them by the devices of Rationalism, thus hastening the ruin of the edifice which they aspired to restore. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.