Review of Dale M. Schlitt, German Idealism’s Trinitarian Legacy. Albany, NY

Sean J. McGrath

In this follow up to several detailed studies of Hegel’s philosophy of religion, Dale Schlitt takes a decidedly Schellingian turn. German Idealism’s Trinitarian Legacies is as much about the Trinitarian thought of the late Schelling as it is about Hegel. In this regard alone, the book stands apart. Where Hegel’s philosophy of religion has been well mapped and explored, the late Schelling’s alternative remains the most underresearched chapter in the English reception of modern German philosophy. Schlitt shows how Schelling and Hegel are never closer than in their appreciation for the logical, historical, and universal significance of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Precisely because they come so near on this point, the fundamental dispute that divides the two comes into sharp focus in their disagreement about the nature of Trinity. Behind the dispute lies their related conflict concerning the structure of personality, with ramifications that extend to psychology and politics. Schlitt’s book is an important contribution to the history of philosophy and theology, and will remain a standard work in the field for years. In the following review  essay, I offer some unsystematic reflections as to why I think this book is indispensable both for scholars of German Idealism and twentieth-century theology.