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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], which began as a distinctively German movement and whose influence was primarily rooted in critical biblical scholarship as well as association of the Gospel with social compassion.  Harnack's 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.   

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], which began as a distinctively German movement and whose influence was primarily rooted in critical biblical scholarship as well as association of the Gospel with social compassion.  Harnack's 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 which was to unfold in 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.   

One important example of the kind of work the historical-critical method pursued was the effort to establish the authorship and/or authenticity of the various books of the Bible.  Genesis, for instance, was traditionally attributed to Moses but critical scholars have established that it is in fact a collection of sources redacted by several editors.  German scholarship also led to an historically important field of study known as the Quest for the Historical Jesus.  The underlying thesis for this movement was that the Jesus who is presented to us in the New Testament is already so overlaid with mythology as to be unrecognizable, and so the historical-critical method was employed by a number of scholars in the effort to find the "real" Jesus underneath.  Harnack's search for the essence of Christianity can be seen as a variation of the Quest for the Historical Jesus. 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.   

One important example of the kind of work the historical-critical method pursued was the effort to establish the authorship and/or authenticity of the various books of the Bible.  Genesis, for instance, was traditionally attributed to Moses but critical scholars have established that it is in fact a collection of sources redacted by several editors.  This was quite disturbing to many conservatives who considered traditional assignments of authorship to be virtually part of the canon.  German scholarship also led to an historically important field of study known as the Quest for the Historical Jesus.  The underlying thesis for this movement was that the Jesus who is presented to us in the New Testament is already so overlaid with mythology as to be unrecognizable, and so the historical-critical method was employed by a number of scholars in the effort to discover the "real" Jesus underneath.  Harnack's search for the essence of Christianity can be seen as a variation of the Quest for the Historical Jesus. 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 was attributed to the pre-scientific understanding of the biblical writers.  Not surprisingly, the church has sometimes gone to great lengths to distance itself from university theology over the years.   

For Harnack, the historical-critical method was more than an end in itself.  In spite of what their detractors might have thought, most of the German liberals understood themselves to be working in the service of faith.  The rigorous application of critical reason was essentially a way of serving truth and being honest before God.  For Harnack in particular, the historical-critical method was ultimately a tool that could be used to recover the simple core teaching of Jesus.  Harnack spoke of the Christian religion in terms of "the kernel and the husk," a metaphor for the lost essence of Christianity in which the "kernel" had come to be buried beneath the "husk" of church tradition as well as the Greek philosophy that became the language of doctrine.  In his most poular and influential book, "What is Christianity," Harnack revealed that the essence of Christianity was to be found in the fact that the human heart more than anything else longs for the presence of the eternal within time, and that the Gospel validates its own truth by satisfying this longing for all that come to Jesus Christ and follow his simple teachings on the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the infinite worth of the soul.

In spite of sometimes being demonized by the their detractors, most of the German liberals were faithful men of the church and understood themselves to be working in the service of the Christian Gospel.  For Harnack, the historical-critical method was more than an end in itself.  The rigorous application of critical reason was essentially a way of serving truth and restoring authentic Christianity, and the historical-critical method was the best tool for that purpose.  Harnack spoke of the Christian religion in terms of "the kernel and the husk," a metaphor for the missing heart of Christianity in which the "kernel" had come to be buried beneath the "husk" of church tradition as well as the Greek philosophy that became the language of doctrine.  For Harnack, the spiritual path taught by Jesus, a carpenter surrounded by fishermen, was very simple, practical, and altogether devoid of metaphysics and the supernatural.  It was a simple life of loving God, loving one's neighbor, and discovering the Kingdom of God within.  In What is Christianity Harnack spells it out for us:  he reveals that the essence of Christianity was to be found in the fact that the human heart more than anything else longs for the presence of the eternal within time, and that the Gospel validates its own truth by satisfying this longing for all that come to Jesus Christ and follow his simple teachings on the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the infinite worth of the soul.

[[Category: Biography]]

[[Category: Biography]]

[[Category: Religion]]

[[Category: Religion]]