Yes, we can (speak of God): Immanuel Kant and 19th Century Theology

The significance of Kant’s thinking for Christian theology is fiercely contested. In the second half of the 20thcentury, Kant was regarded mostly as a theological skeptic. The last two decades have seen the emergence of a more balanced view, especially in the Anglophone world. Some interpreters challenge Kant’s epistemological dogma, others ask unapologetically for his constructive contribution to Christian theology. This paper demonstrates that a similar hermeneutical strategy is already visible in the work of 19th-century theologians, among them Friedrich Schleiermacher and Isaak August Dorner. Since Schleiermacher’s relation to Kant has received a fair amount of recent scholarly attention, the paper will focus on Dorner. His indebtedness to German Idealism, especially Schelling, is well known, but what about his direct or indirect indebtedness to Kant, whose work, after all, lay at the root of the history of German Idealism? This will be the guiding question.