Many scholars believe that Friedrich Schleiermacher relegates the doctrine of the Trinity to an appendix at the end of his magnum opus, The Christian Faith (1830/31); his alleged disregard for the Trinity is the supposed death knell for serious consideration of his work within the history of Christian thought.This volume argues that Schleiermacher not only calls for the doctrine's revitalization, but also makes it the centrepiece of Protestant Christianity. Following Schleiermacher's own thought experiment, Poe presents his doctrine of God in reverse order of its original presentation. Her examination centres on the Trinity, treating it as the keystone of the entire work, while analysing the divine attributes: love and wisdom, justice and holiness, eternity, omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. When viewed from the standpoint of the conclusion, the Trinitarian shape of Schleiermacher's theology comes to the fore. What emerges is a middle way between merely economic Trinitarianism and a full-fledged development of immanent Trinitarianism, examining divine personhood and the union of the divine with humanity.The central thesis of this work runs boldly counter to the prevailing academic account of Schleiermacher's doctrine of the Trinity, and offers an innovative and constructive reading. Readers will be privy to a fresh look at Schleiermacher's doctrine of God and its importance for contemporary theology.

AcknowledgementsAbbreviations Part I: Re-reading SchleiermacherI. Chapter One: Introductiona. Schleiermacher's Critics1. Subjectivism2. Sexism and the Privatization of Christianity3. Uncritical Adoption of Enlightenment Thinking4. Non-Trinitarian Theologyb. Complexity in Trinitarian Theologiesc. Chapter Overview1. Part One: Re-reading Schleiermacher2. Part Two: Schleiermacher and the Trinity3. Part Three: Tensions and Connectionsd. A Final Word II. Chapter Two: Schleiermacher's Approacha. An Eternal Covenant between Christian Faith and Academic Inquiry1. Theology in the Modern University2. Theology for a Modern Church3. Christian Union in Protestant Prussia4. Methodological Barriers to Schleiermacher's Goals5. Similarities with Calvinb. Anti-speculative Doctrine1. Knowledge or Consciousness of God and Self2. Holistic Christian Faith3. Divine Activity in Relation to Creationc. Different Conceptual Structures in the Doctrine of God1. Duplex Cognitio Dei2. Simplex Cognitio Deid. Anticipating Implications for Trinitarianism Part II: Schleiermacher and the TrinityIII. Chapter Three: Rejecting Immanent Trinitarianisma. Schleiermacher's 'Trinitarian Treatise'1. Potential Explanations for Misreadings2. The Placement of the 'Trinitarian Treatise'3. Calls for Protestant Revitalizationb. Anti-speculative Objection1. Dogmatics as Part of Historical Theology2. Similarities with Immanent Trinitarianism3. The New Testament as the Distinctive Source for the Development of the Doctrine of the Trinityc. Conceptual Difficulties1. Inequality of Persons and Essence2 Inequality of Causality and Persons3. The Doctrine of the Trinity as a Stumbling Blockd. Sabellianism Reconsidered IV. Chapter Four: Constructing Essential Trinitarianisma. Three Distinctions-in-Relation1. Causality2. Love3. Wisdom4. Essential Trinitarianismb. Personhood and the Divine Life1. Schleiermacher's Relation to Spinoza2. Rejecting 'Personality', Affirming 'the Living God'3. Using Personal Analogiesc. Toward Divine Personhood1. Transcendental Reasoning2. Communicability of Difference3. Activity in Relation to Matter4. Christologically-Centered Relationality5. Discerning Attention and Circumscribed Ineffability V. Chapter Five: Developing Economic Trinitarianisma. Methodological Divergences1. Between Divine Attributes: Christ and the Church2. Interrupting a Strictly Backwards Readingb. Jesus of Nazarethc. Spirit in the Churchd. Preparation for the Union of the Divine Essence with Human Nature1. Holiness2. Justicee. Relating the Doctrines of the Immanent and Economic Trinity1. Hesitations about a Doctrine of Appropriation2. Schleiermacher's Doctrine of the Trinity as Eternal and Temporal Part III. Tensions and ConnectionsVI. Chapter Six: Divine Alteritya. Via Causalitatisb. Apophatic Attributes1. Eternity2. Omnipresence3. Omnipotence4. Omnisciencec. Coherence of Alterity and Trinity VII. Chapter Seven: Consciousness of Goda. Distinguishing Christian God-Consciousness from General Religious Consciousness1. Christian God-Consciousness2. Cause and Effect, Subject and Objectb. Christomorphic Anthropology VIII. Chapter Eight: Conclusiona. Apophasis and Kataphasisb. Christian Ecumenismc. Ecotheology BibliographyIndex of Primary SourcesIndex of Authors