Abstract

Friedrich Schleiermacher is the founding father of practical theology as one of the disciplines of theological studies. To understand this, one has to consider his broader concept of theology and his understandings of religion and of Christianity. We will therefore discuss all of these matters in this essay, and will do so especially in regard to Schleiermacher’s Brief Outline of Theology as a Field of Study . The thesis is that Schleiermacher, understanding practical theology as a technical discipline, overcame tendencies to form practical theology as a type of applied science. In his construction of theology, Schleiermacher conceived the entirety of theology as a practical science. Within that larger context, practical theology involves reflection particularly on rules of Church leadership, but is based upon a larger theory of Christianity within modern society and is developed in cooperation with all other theological disciplines.