»Angefangene Kirchenverbesserung«

The Enlightenment theologian Gotthilf Samuel Steinbart seems to have been overlooked in previous research on eighteenth century church history, although he plays an important role in the broad discussion of 'Wesen des Christentums', which stands for crucial transitions in modern Protestantism. In this study, contemporary accusations of traditional loss and rationalism are relativized by an analysis of Steinbart's interpretation of Reformation that involves an appropriation of Protestant liberty concepts and empirical verification. It is argued that this interpretation must not be seen as an affirmative replication, but as a structural perception in order to authorise essential theological transformations. Steinbart incorporates Lutheran patterns of arguments regarding the relationship of church and state which amount to a specific awareness of differentiation and pluralism against the backdrop of modern society's development