Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was born on the 2Ist day of November 1768, and died on the 12th day of February 1834. It is altogether fitting that as we honour the birth of this great man by dedicating to his memory this number of the Scottish Journal of Theology, we should consider that aspect of his thought which has continued to influence us in the twentieth century so powerfully.

One of the fascinating features of theology in our day is the revival of interest in Schleiermacher in the same century which has witnessed the most radical questioning of both his method and point of view.

Bicentennials are celebrated, it would seem, because the person or institution in question has considerable contemporary significance. At least this is the case with Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, the bicentennial of whose birth in Breslau is celebrated in 1968. Accordingly, one of the appropriate commemorations of Schleiermacher's birth would be an attempt to state some aspect of his contemporary significance. This paper, written about the study of Schleiermacher's thought and predicated upon a conviction which I believe I have learned from Schleiermacher, is intended as just such a tribute which, in effect, proclaims, ‘The man lives!’

The year 1968 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher. During these two centuries his impact has been felt all over the theological world and earned him the title of ‘father of modern theology’.