Wahrheit in den Religionen. Systematische Überlegungen im Anschluss an Schleiermacher, Hegel und Schelling

The paper presents Hegel's, Schleiermacher's and Schelling's philosophy of the religions as three radically distinct ways in which religious pluralism can be accounted for in philosophical terms. Each of the three thinkers tries to do justice to the truth claims which are inherent in any full-blown religion, but without collapsing into a self-destructive relativism about truth. Eventually, Hegel's rational reconstruction of the history of religion as a history of the unfolding of absolute spirit, Schleiermacher's existential individualism concerning faith, and Schelling's Christocentric view of religious history must be seen as three radically distinct programs for a fruitful philosophy of religious pluralism. Further comparative studies concerning the merits and shortcomings of each of them are necessary.