Christian Cyclopedia

(mediation theol.; Vermittlungstheologie). Term occasionally used loosely for any theol. that tries to est. contact bet., or to fuse, diverging tendencies. In a specific sense the Ger. term is traced to Theologische Studien und Kritiken, a periodical est. 1828 by K. Ullmann* and F. W. K. Umbreit,* together with J. K. L. Gieseler,* G. C. F. Lucke,* and K. I. Nitzsch,* to mediate bet. modern science and concepts of Christianity, the free scientific spirit and the peculiarly Christian spirit. The philos, of G. W. F. Hegel* and theol. of F. D. E. Schleiermacher* were prominent in the early period. Mediating theol. was criticized for its support of the Prussian* Union and unsatisfactory conclusions, but it stimulated study in many areas and affected subsequent Ger. theol. See also Dorner, 1.