Johann Jakob Griesbach (1745-1812). Protestant dogmatics in context of the 18thcentury public enlightenment

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This research study focusses on the highly effective transformations of the 18th century protestant theology against the backdrop of structural changes in the public sphere and Western European criticism of religion. The enlightenment theologian Johann Jakob Griesbach is not only viewed as a pioneer of New Testament textual research, but as an exponent of a practical theological reform movement that perceived changes in cultural self-conceptions of modern society and made individual 'religion' its guiding concept. Therefore the genre 'popular theology' was developed of which Griesbachs compendium "Anleitung zum Studium der populären Dogmatik" (1779) became a classic example. Major transformations of the Christian doctrine can be analyzed in this broadly discussed work. Its historical location in the multilayered discourse of theology and religion, church and christianity leads to a specific mediation structure that in many respects can be seen as an anticipation of the 19th century theological liberalism. The investigation outlined here is intended to help close the research gap in the field of theological enlightenment, its preconditions and historical impact.