The Veiled God: Sidney Research Fellow publishes new book

In The Veiled God, Ruth offers a detailed portrait of Friedrich Schleiermacher’s early life, ethics, and theology in its historical and social context.

Ruth's interest in Schleiermacher started when she became engrossed in his writings and discovered that he could act as a window through which to study a whole host of trends and institutions in turn-of-the-century Prussia.

More philosophically speaking, Ruth noted, "When I was a graduate student I also became interested in the way Schleiermacher navigates what we might call the problem of relativism – that is, a key ideological problem in our modern secular context, which has to do with how we manage seemingly competing truth claims, different forms of life, or modes of discourse".

In The Veiled God, Ruth critically reflects on the enduring relevance of Schleiermacher's work for the study of religion. She argues that his experiments with literary form convey his understanding that human knowledge is inherently social, and that religion is thoroughly linguistic and historical.

The book launch took place on Monday 24 June in Sidney's Knox Shaw Room. Ruth was delighted to invite Sidney colleagues along to celebrate with her, as well as colleagues from CRASSH, the Faculty of Divinity, and the Faculty of History. 

The book is published by Brill and is available in paperback and e-book. Interested students and scholars of Schleiermacher can recommend the book to their University/departmental Librarian.

Congratulations Ruth!