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[[Adolf von Harnack]] was a German (Lutheran) theologian of the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries who taught at the University of Berlin.  His most popular and enduring work '''What is Christianity?''' is still required reading for a basic theological education today.  In this book Harnack asserts that at the heart of Christianity was a simple message that was subsequently obscured, particularly by the philosophy, dogma, and metaphysics of the post-apostolic and Nicean periods.  Harnack produced a wide ranging corpus of historical and biblical scholarship throughout his career, but the quest to answer the query in the title of his signature book remained the project closest to his heart.  Along with his colleagues, Harnack pioneered new methods of scholarship that changed biblical studies forever, but he ultimately enlisted these methods in the search for the missing heart of Christianity.

[[Adolf von Harnack]] was a German (Lutheran) theologian of the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries who taught at the University of Berlin.  His most popular and enduring work '''What is Christianity?''' is still required reading for a basic theological education today.  In this book Harnack asserts that at the heart of Christianity was a simple message that was subsequently obscured, particularly by the philosophy, dogma, and metaphysics of the post-apostolic and Nicean periods.  Harnack produced a wide ranging corpus of scholarship throughout his career, but the quest to answer the query in the title of his signature book remained the project closest to his heart.  Along with his colleagues, Harnack pioneered new methods of scholarship that changed the field of biblical studies forever, but he ultimately enlisted those methods in the search for the missing heart of Christianity.

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 rapidly spread throughout Europe, Britain, and North America.  His academic carreer was a spectacular success even though he labored under constant critical fire from the ecclesiastical authorities for his controversial ideas.  Nonetheless, his many students eventually went on to spread the ideas of liberalism throughout the church, thus setting the primary theological stage for the entirety 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.