I attributed to its progressives the theory of "accomodation" ...
To my excuse, I read about it in a 19th C. Swedish book. Note that for the term "ackomodation" the theological sense was treated before the physiological one, about the human eye.
Ackommodation ... 1) I teol. betydelse skiljer man emellan en formel eller negativ a., som endast angår sättet för en läras bibringande, och en materiel eller positiv a., som har afseende på lärans innehåll. Formel a. eger rum, när läraren i sin sträfvan att kläda sina tankar i en för okunniga åhörare fattlig form, likasom sänker sig till deras ståndpunkt och från deras tankekrets lånar föreställningar, i hvilka han inlägger en ny och högre mening, sålunda småningom höjande lärjungarne upp till sig. Men om läraren för att ej stöta sina åhörare för hufvudet, med afsigt hemlighåller vissa sanningar och i sitt föredrag upptager andras falska föreställningar, så kallas detta en materiel a. S e m l e r, i spetsen för förra århundradets tyska rationalister, uppställde i den s. k. ackommodationsteorien det påståendet, att Jesus i sina läror om änglar, djeflar o. s. v. i sistnämnda mening lämpat sig efter de samtida judarnes föreställningar, och att derför dessa lärosatser ej utgjorde Jesu sanna lära, utan borde från denna utmönstras. Mot denna uppfattning protesterade det djupare kristliga medvetandet och sökte häfda den i dessa föreställningar liggande andemeningens kristliga betydelse.
Semler, J o h a n n S a l o m o, tysk protestantisk teolog, född 1725 i Saalfeld, död 1791, var sedan 1752 professor i Halle. Genom en mängd skrifter, i hvilka han bl. a. sökte genomföra en historisk-kritisk revision af Gamla testamentets kanon och ådagalägga dogmernas af tids- och rumsförhållanden framkallade yttre vexling, blef han en grundläggare af den historiska bibelkritiken och rationalismen, mot hvilken sistnämnda han dock sedermera ifrigt uppträdde. Bland hans skrifter märkas: De daemoniacis (1760, 4:de uppl. 1779), Selecta capita historiaeecclesiasticae (3 bd, 1767–69) m. fl.
Accomodation ... in the theological sense you distinguish between formal or negative accomodation which only concerns the manner of teaching a doctrine, and a material or positive accomodation, which has a bearing on its content. Formal accomodation occurs when a teacher, strivng to clothe his thoughts in a form that ignorant hearers can fathom, so to speak lowers himself to their point of view and from their circle of thoughts borrows concepts, in which he inserts a new and higher meaning, in this manner slowly raising the hearer to himself. But if the teacher in order to not offend his hearers intentionally keeps certain truths secret and in his discourse accepts the false imaginations of others, this is called a material accomodation. Semler, at the head of the previous century's German rationalists, proposed in the so called accomodation theory that Jesus, in his teachings on angels, devils, and so on, in the latter sense had accomodated Himself to the then contemporary Jews and their concepts, and that, therefore, these doctrines were not constitutive of Jesus' true teaching, but should be weeded out from it. Against this view, the deeper Christian consciousness protested and sought to promote the spiritual Christian meaning in these concepts.
Johann Salomo Semler, German Protestant theologian, born 1725 in Saalfeld, died 1791, was since 1752 Professor in Halle. By a series of writings, in which he among other things sought to pull through a historical critical revision of the OT canon and expose the outward change in dogmas as a function of time and place, he became one of the founders of the historical criticism and of rationalism, against the latter he nevertheless later acted strenuously. Among his writings, noteworthy ones are De daemoniacis (1760, 4:th ed. 1779), Selecta capita historiaeecclesiasticae (3 vol., 1767–69) and some more.
So, the idea of excusing myself is, it was actually Semler, a German, not a Swede, and from the 18th, not the 19th C. who brought forth this theological monstrosity. However, the phrase:
Mot denna uppfattning protesterade det djupare kristliga medvetandet och sökte häfda den i dessa föreställningar liggande andemeningens kristliga betydelse.
Against this view, the deeper Christian consciousness protested and sought to promote the spiritual Christian meaning in these concepts.
... disconcerts me. Was the author (very certainly a 19th C. Swede) really believing that angels and devils exist, or was he reinterpreting these in some "spiritual" sense?
The German wikipedia doesn't really state that he went back on this accomodation theory. It also attributes to him a spurious distinction between Confession and Religion, or as one would say today, Dogma and Spirituality. If Oprah Winfrey doesn't change her mind, she's likely to join him down in Hell.
While I most certainly don't at present need a state authority to impose on me what they perceive as a Confessional utterance coherent with my Confession of Catholicism, I most certainly DO need to take due diligence to make sure my beliefs match actual Catholic dogma. My differences with certain other Catholics about what that is has nothing to do with the Winfrey~Semler idea of a personal religiosity free from the dogmas that are just useful to keep Church discipline going (if, on Winfrey's view, even that)./HGL
