Relativer Subjektivismus. Das »christliche Prinzip« in der Glaubenslehre Ernst Troeltschs

The »Christian principle« is set up according to Ernst Troeltsch's Glaubenslehre (doctrine of faith) not only in different historical expressions but also in subjective judgments of contemporary theologians and is therefore less a homogenous than a pluralistic concept. In search of the Christian principle, the continuity with the past and especially Jesus Christ as its origin has to be considered as well as the future development of Christianity. In this article. the author argues that the Christian principle is no longer that of Ernst Troeltsch, but that in keeping with his main concerns it can be connected to the Protestant tradition of a formal and material principle of Christianity, namely scripture and justification, presuming that both are understood in compliance with the present pluralism in theology and the church and thus leave room for a wide range of subjective interpretations.