Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts

Major

History

Date of Defense

11-9-2020

Graduate Advisor

Dr. Minsoo Kang

Co-Advisor

Dr. Andrew Hurley

Committee

Dr. Minsoo Kang

Dr. Peter Acsay

Dr. Andrew Hurley

Abstract

The Europe of the 1800s saw remarkable change. Previously unthinkable ideas and 'isms' made their way to the forefront of exploration in European society, forcing Christianity to a crossroads it had never before experienced. This thesis examines the fusion of politics and religion into a sort of surrogate religion for the Post-Enlightenment world. Above all, it examines historical Christianity through precedent-setting writers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Given the unique process of secularization in the nineteenth century, both writers offer something often overlooked; the inevitable progress or decline of the Lutheran tradition depends, in true existentialist fashion, on the individual.

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