ency toward union which he was the
chief agent in creating. There were numbers who, having read his works
on this subject, were loud in their demand for the union of reason and
revelation on some basis that would compromise neither the value of the
former nor the sanctity of the latter. Many books appeared whose sole
theme was the possible harmonization of these elements, which
heretofore had been deemed utterly incongruous.[55] Schott's _Letters on
Religion and the Faith of the Christian Revelation_ was directed to the
same mark, and received great attention at the hands of both parties.
According to their author, there was no opposition between the religion
of reason and revelation, for Christianity is the mere expression of the
highest reason. Both are derived from the same fountain, which is Divine
reason. Nor is there any real difference between the purpose of
Christianity and that of the religion of reason. Each one aims at the
highest good.

But it soon became very evident that the Rationalists and
Supernaturalists were unable to harmonize. The points of difference were
so decided that it was vain to expect a union. Reinhard was correct in
his opinion that one or the other would have to yield. Just at the
crisis when these two systems were attracting greatest attention,
Schleiermacher published his _System of Doctrines_, 1821. In this work
he proved what had not been conceived by any writer save himself, that
there was another road to progress. As soon as it gained a hearing the
disputants saw that their arguments were no longer of value, that the
ground of the discussion was altogether changed, and that the cause of
faith must eventually triumph. The book was a complete surprise to all
parties. It was a stroke of genius, destined alike to recast existing
theology and to create a new public sentiment for the future.

The leading ideas developed in this master-piece of theology are Christ,
Religion, and the Church. The Rationalists had ever held that reason is
the criterion of truth, but Schleiermacher elevates Christian
consciousness to the throne. They had reduced religion to a mere formal
morality; yet he shows that religion and morality are very different,
and that the former consists neither in knowledge or action, but in the
sentiment or feeling of the heart. Thus he develops the opinion first
published in the _Discourses on Religion_. He uses the term "piety" to
designate religion. This piety should become