The Problem and Promise of History in the Theology of J. S. Drey

This study examines the theological thought of Johann Sebastian Drey (1777-1853), one of the founding members of what is often termed the Catholic T?bingen School, and the way in which his thought addresses questions surrounding the place and meaning of history for theological reflection in modernity. The problem of history, or of historical consciousness, was the object of much theological discussion throughout the nineteenth century, as theologians increasingly recognized the significance not only of the temporal but also of the conceptual distance apparently separating modern Christians from the ancient events narrated by the Bible, upon which their faith had traditionally depended. Drey's theology offers a distinctive response to these questions, at once acknowledging the problem history poses to religious belief in the modern age and maintaining the essential significance of historical revelation for Christian faith.

To introduce the issue of history and its context in modern theology, attention is given to the figure of G. E. Lessing and to the expression, which came to signify the problems historical consciousness poses religious faith in much of subsequent discussion, that of 'Lessing's ditch.' Since it is known that Drey read some of the early works of F. W. J. Schelling, certain aspects of that philosopher's thought are also treated as possible influences on Drey's own thinking. The bulk of this study, however, examines the body of theological writing produced by Drey, culminating in the work of his mature years, the Apologetik, as a means of determining the role history and its attendant issues play in his theology. In the Apologetik, the theologian argues for the possibility and necessity of divine revelation, which he identifies with the ongoing creative activity of God through history, as well as a corresponding human capacity for such revelation, which he terms a form of supra-rationalism. He further advances a theory of living tradition, born through history by the Christian community, to explain how divine revelation is mediated through time to contemporary believers and thereby secures an historical basis for Christian faith.