Adolf Schlatter - Biography

Biography

Schlatter, born in St. Gallen to a pietistic preacher, studied philosophy and theology in Basel and Tübingen between 1871 and 1875, gaining his post-doctoral teaching qualification (Habilitation) in 1880. In 1888, he became a lecturer at the University of Berne. Between 1893 and 1930, he held professorships in Greifswald, Berlin, and Tübingen, where he eventually died. In Berlin, he was the intellectual antithesis to Adolf von Harnack.

From 1897, he was co-editor, alongside Hermann Cremer, of a magazine called Beiträge zur Förderung christlicher Theologie (Articles for the Promotion of Christian Theology).

Schlatter became particularly well known for his analysis of the New Testament, which was accessible to a broad audience. He was adamant about the manifestation of God in nature and in Jesus Christ, and this conviction led him to a criticism of the theophilosophical ideas of German idealism. His down-to-earth interpretation of the Bible also brought Schlatter into in conflict with the contemporary school of thought in the Evangelical Church in Germany. In addition, Schlatter worked towards the development of a theory of knowledge with which he could reconcile his religious convictions.

Schlatter's role in the time of the Third Reich is subject of a scientific debate. According to the Pulitzer Prize winning historian Saul Friedländer in his Nazi Germany and the Jews 1939-1945, Schlatter belonged to a "hard core of Jew haters" who considered the Nazi anti-Semitic laws too mild. Friedländer cites from a popular 1935 pamphlet by Schlatter, Wird der Jude über uns siegen? Ein Wort für die Weihnacht that regrets the "favorable situation" of the Jews in contemporary Germany. Werner Neuer on the other hand reads the same scripture as a word against racism and as a warning against the Nazi regime, pointing out that the booklet was forbidden and confiscated by the Gestapo and set on the list of damaging and undesirable writing. Anders Gerdmar exposes the complexity of Schlatter's attitude: Although he was undoubtedly anti-National Socialist (he strongly criticised Nazi neo-paganism, racial myth, the cult of the Fuehrer and he never supported the National Socialist party) and despite his positive view of the salvation-historical Judaism, he "indirectly and directly" legitimized "the oppression of Jews. It is beyound our power to judge whether he understood it or not". In 2012, James E. McNutt published a detailed analysis of the manner in which Schlatter's anti-semitism and anti-judaism functioned in tandem with his criticism of Nazism.

Archives of Schlatter's work, as well as a foundation dedicated to him, are situated in Stuttgart. In Tübingen, the "Adolf Schlatter House" in Österbergstrasse is named after him, as is the "Adolf Schlatter Home" in Recke.