Racjonaliści i ortodoksi
The Rationalists and the Orthodox

Pastor Leopold Otto and the Main Currents in 19th-Century Protestantism

Summary/Abstract: Two currents clashed in Protestantism in the 19th century, including in the Kingdom of Poland: the Rationalist, whose adherents believed that the content of the revelation should be interpreted in a manner consistent with the requirements of rational thinking, according to which God should be known through using reason, and the second current, the Orthodox, which strictly followed the principles established by Martin Luther. The former had considerable support among the clergy, the latter among the majority of the faithful. To the Orthodox movement belonged Leopold Otto, a pastor in Warsaw and Cieszyn, editor of "Zwiastun Ewangeliczny" [The Evangelical Announcer], the first periodical of Polish evangelicals. In the press and in sermons printed later, he argued with the views of the rationalists. The vehemence of Otto’s attacks on rationalism stemmed not only from religious motives, but also from the fact that its supporters were at the same time opponents of the national idea propagated by Otto in Poland.

• Details
• Contents