THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
through faith they are united with Christ as members of his Church. Christ does not, however, represent the believer in a juristic sense which separates his righteousness from himself to impute it to the believer, but in an inclusive sense, so that, witlv out being himself dispensed from the obligation of righteousness, the believer has imputed to him the relation of Christ to the love of God. From this estimate of the work of Christ Ritschl sought to deduce his view of the person of Christ. He taught an ideal preexistence of Christ as the fulfiller of the divine plan of salvation in a world which, like mankind, had been created for this very end; and although the earthly Christ lacks the traits of divine omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, he is recognized and honored as God by the faithful.
Ritschl's Christology forms the transition to his doctrine of God, who must be known not from metaphysical speculations of natural religion or theology but solely in religious faith from the works and the person of Christ. Accordingly, God can be conceived only as the Father, whose es- 6. Doctrine sence is love, the quality which all of God other divine qualities serve merely to
and Sin. prove. Only those who sin against the Holy Ghost by obstinately opposing the good which God desires for them are doomed to final destruction. All others are objects of the fatherly training of God, so that the punishments which he visits upon them are intended solely for their correction and religious progress. All evil, however, is not to be considered divine punishment of sin, for the concept of evil is not theological and is subjectively conditioned in each specific case. The Christian must, through his faith in divine providence, transform into good the evils which beset him, regarding them as means whereby God advances what is really best for him. The true punishment of sin is guilt, which is removed by justification, or the forgiveness of sins. From the divine point of view sin is ignorance, but from the human point of view it is guilt and rebellion against God. The doctrine of original sin is, therefore, to be rejected for the theory of a kingdom of sin which impedes the freedom of the individual toward good, and which is strengthened by the evil-doing of each one. It is impossible to prove the general necessity of sin, but its empirical probability is self-evident. The kingdom of sin is, however, opposed by the kingdom of God, which is distinguished from the Church in that it promotes the moral welfare of the believer, while the Church furthers his capacity for worship. From this point of view Ritschl draws an antithesis between the ethical duties of the Church (prayer, profession of faith, and teaching) and her religious functions (preaching and the sacraments), the visible organization of the Church being but a means to these ends. In this the concept of the kingdom of God has no immediate part, but it enters vitally into Ritschl's interpretation of the Christian ideal of life, which embraces, on the one hand, all Christian duties and virtues, and, on the other, the obligation to mutual love, to be manifested in the conscientious discharge of the moral calling. (O. Ritschl.)
Bibliography: The one biography is by O. Ritschl, 2 vols., Freiburg, 1892-96. On the theology consult: E. Luthardt, in Zeitschrift fur kirchliche Wissenschaft und Leben, 1881 pp. 617-643; H. Weiss, in TSK, 1881, pp. 377-417; G. A. Fricke, Metaphysik und Dogmatik in ihren gegenseitigen Verhaltnisse, unter besond. Beziehung auf die Ritschl'sche Theologie, Leipsic, 1882; L. Haug, Darstellung und Beurtheilung der Ritschl' schen Theologie, Ludwigsburg, 1885- O. Fltigel, A. Ritschl's philosophische Ansichten, Langensalza, 1886; M. Reischle, Ein Wort zur Kontroverse uber die Mystik in der Theologie, Freiburg, 1886; J. Thikotter, Darstellung und Beurtheilung der Theologie Albrecht Ritschls, 2d ed., Bonn, 1887; F. H. R. Frank, Ueber die kirchliche Bedeutung der Theologie Albrecht Ritschls, Leipsic, 1888; T. Haring, Zu Ritschl's Versohnungslehre, Zurich, 1888; F. Lichtenberger, German Theology in the 19th Century, Edinburgh, 1889; E. Bertrand, Une Nouvelle Conception de la redemption, ha doctrine . . dans le systeme theologique de Ritschl, Paris, 1891; O. Pfleiderer, Die Ritschl'sche Theologie kritisch beleuchtet, Brunswick, 1891; H. Schoen, Les Origines historiques de la thiologie de Ritschl Paris, 1893; R. Favre, Les Principes philosophiques de la theologie de Ritschl, ib. 1894; G. Mielke, Das System Albrecht Ritschls, Bonn, 1894; G. Ecke, Die theologische Schule A. Ritschls und die evangelische Kirche der Gegenwart, 2 vols., Berlin, 1897-1904; R. Wegener, Albrecht Ritschls Idee des Reiches Gottes im Licht der Geschichte, Leipsic, 1897; A. E. Garvie, The Ritschlian Theology, Edinburgh, 1899; J. Wendland, Albrecht Ritschl und seine Schuler, Berlin, 1899; F. Nippold, Handbuch der neuesten Theologie, iii. 439 sqq., ib. 1901 ; A. T. Swing, The Theology of Albert Ritschl, New York, 1901; F. Kattenbusch, Von Schleiermacher zu Ritschl, 3d ed., Giessen, 1903; C. von Kugelgen, Grundriss der Ritschl' schen Dogmatik, 2d ed., Gottingen, 1903; J. Orr, Ritschlianism: Exposition and critical Essays, London, 1903; W Herrmann, Faith and Morals, London and New York, 1904; C. Stange, Der dogmatische Ertrag der, Ritschl' schen Theologie nach Julius Kaftan, Leipsic, 1906; C. Fabricius, Die Entwicklung in Albrecht Ritschls Theologie von 1874 bis 1889 nach Werke dargestellt und beurteilt, Tubingen, 1909; J. K. Mozley, Ritschlianism: An Essay, London, 1909; and C. Fabricius, Die Entwicklung in A. Ritschls Theologie, 1874-89, Tubingen, 1909; E. A. Edghill, Faith and Fact; a Study of Ritschlianism, London and New York, 1910. An important periodical literature is indicated in Richardson, Encyclopaedia, pp. 939-940.
RITSCHL, GEORG KARL BENJAMIN: German Lutheran, father of the preceding; b. at Erfurt Nov. 1, 1783; d. at Berlin June 18, 1858. He was educated at the universities of Erfurt (1799- 1801) and Jena (1801-02), where he came under rationalistic influences, though later he returned to positive Christianity. In 1804 he settled in Berlin as a private tutor, also acting as an instructor at the Gymnasium zum grauen Kloster, where he gradually rose to be subrector. He also preached after 1807, and in 1810 was chosen third pastor of St. Mary's, Berlin, where his simple and direct style of preaching, based on the Bible only, made a deep impression on all classes. On the reestablishmcnt of the consistories in the Prussian provinces in 1816, Ritschl was appointed assessor for Brandenburg, and in the following year was made a councilor. Here his duties were practically restricted to the examination of theological candidates, but in 1818 he collaborated in the preparation of the Berlin hymnal which appeared in 1829. In 1827 he was appointed bishop of the Evangelical Church, general superintendent of Pomerania, director of the consistory, and first preacher at the castle church of Stettin. These positions he filled for many yeara, his service being interrupted only in 1829-30, when he was sent to St. Petersburg to collaborate on the agenda for the Russian Lutherans which was pub-