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Harnack was one of a select few theologians who could collectively be regarded as the fathers of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Liberal_Christianity Protestant liberalism], a distinctively German movement whose influence was primarily rooted in its critical biblical scholarship as well as its association of the Gospel with social compassion.  His academic career was a spectacular success even though he labored under a constant firestorm from the ecclesiastical authorities for his insistence on complete academic freedom in the study of the Christian scriptures.  In spite of the church's resistance his ideas were ultimately spread from the pulpit as his many admiring students found their way into the professional ministry.  Harnack's theology was especially influential in Europe, Britain, and North America.  The rise of liberalism set the stage for the primary theological drama of the twentieth century, particularly in the United States.   

Harnack was one of a select few theologians who could collectively be regarded as the fathers of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Liberal_Christianity Protestant liberalism], a distinctively German movement whose influence was primarily rooted in its critical biblical scholarship as well as its association of the Gospel with social compassion.  His academic career was a spectacular success even though he labored under a constant firestorm from the ecclesiastical authorities for his insistence on complete academic freedom in the study of the Christian scriptures.  In spite of the church's resistance his ideas were ultimately spread from the pulpit as his many admiring students found their way into the professional ministry.  Harnack's theology was especially influential in Europe, Britain, and North America.  The rise of liberalism set the stage for the primary theological drama of the twentieth century, particularly in the United States.  The hallmark of Protestant liberalism can be seen, in simplest terms, as the inversion of authority.  Dating from the Reformation, authority for the Protestant faith was rooted in the concept of ''sola scriptura'', in which the Christian canon of scripture was considered to be an epistemological given backed by a divine guarantee, thus assuring an unquestionable source of certainty for Christian faith and practice.  While human reason was considered by the reformers to be part of the ''imago dei'' (the image of God within man), they nevertheless insisted that truth could only be understood when reason submitted to the authority of scripture.  Harnack and his colleagues essentially reversed this equation and proceeded on the assumption that truth could only be understood when everything, including scripture, submitted to the authority of reason.   

[[Image:bible3.jpg|left|frame]]Based on this understanding of the primacy of reason for Christian faith and theology, the German liberals introduced the historical-critical method to the field of biblical studies.  Basically this academic approach to the Bible has two components:  (1) the Bible, like any other document,  is a product of history and therefore can only be properly studied and understood within its own historical context, and (2) the Bible must be subjected to the critical scrutiny of reason in the same way that we would treat any other object of examination.  This method obviously presents a formidable challenge to the popular and devout use of the Bible in which it is read purely in the context of one's personal faith, or one's community of faith. One important example of the kind of work the historical-critical method pursued was the effort to establish the authorship of the various books of the Bible.  Genesis, for instance, was traditionally attributed to Moses but critical scolars have established that it is in fact a collection of sources redacted by several editors.  Typically the historical-critical method was accompanied by the denial of miracles such as the virgin birth and the resurrection.  The presence of miracles in the biblical narrative were attributed to the pre-scientific understanding of the biblical writers.  Not surprisingly, the church often went to great lengths to distance itself from university theology over the next one hundred years.   

 

 

[[Image:bible3.jpg|left|frame]]Based on this understanding of the primacy of reason for Christian faith and theology, the German liberals introduced the historical-critical method to the field of biblical studies.  Basically this academic approach to the Bible has two components:  (1) the Bible, like any other document,  is a product of history and therefore can only be properly studied and understood within its own historical context, and (2) the Bible must be subjected to the critical scrutiny of reason in the same way that we would treat any other object of examination.  This method obviously presents a formidable challenge to the popular and devout use of the Bible in which it is read purely in the context of one's personal faith, and in which one is to be judged by the Bible, and not vice-versa.  The liberals, faithful churchmen that they were, would agree that for the puposes of faith one may be judged by the Bible, but only after the Bible has been ['''critically'''] judged by reason to determine its actual ['''historical'''] meaning. One important example of the kind of work the historical-critical method pursued was the effort to establish the authorship of the various books of the Bible.  Genesis, for instance, was traditionally attributed to Moses but critical scolars have established that it is in fact a collection of sources redacted by several editors.  Typically the historical-critical method was accompanied by the denial of miracles such as the virgin birth and the resurrection.  The presence of miracles in the biblical narrative were attributed to the pre-scientific understanding of the biblical writers.  Not surprisingly, the church often went to great lengths to distance itself from university theology over the next one hundred years.