Editing Ferdinand Christian Baur (section)

==Theology==
Baur was a theologian and historian as well as a Biblical critic. As early as 1834 he published a strictly theological work, ''Gegensatz des Katholicismus und Protestantismus nach den Prinzipien und Hauptdogmen der beiden Lehrbegriffe'', a strong defence of [[Protestantism]] on the lines of Schleiermacher's ''Glaubenslehre'', and a vigorous reply to [[Johann Adam Möhler|J. Möhler]]'s ''Symbolik'' (1833). This was followed by his larger histories of [[dogma]], ''Die christliche Lehre von der Versöhnung in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung bis auf die neueste Zeit'' (1838), ''Die christliche Lehre von der Dreieinigkeit und Menschwerdung Gottes in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung'' (3 vols., 1841–1843), and the ''Lehrbuch der christlichen Dogmengeschichte'' (1847). The value of these works is impaired somewhat by Baur's habit of making the history of dogma conform to the formulae of Hegel's philosophy, a procedure "which only served to obscure the truth and profundity of his conception of history as a true development of the human mind" (Pfleiderer). Baur, however, soon came to attach more importance to personality, and to distinguish more carefully between religion and philosophy.
The change is noticeable in his ''Epochen der kirchlichen Geschichtschreibung'' (1852), ''Das Christenthum und die christliche Kirche der drei ersten Jahrhunderte'' (1853), and ''Die christliche Kirche von Anfang des vierten bis zum Ende das sechsten Jahrhunderts'' (1859), works preparatory to his ''Kirchengeschichte'', in which the change of view is specially pronounced.{{sfn|Canney|1911|p=541}}