Does God Exist?

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The book Does God Exist? from 1978 is one of the main theological works by Hans Küng , who at the time of publication was a Catholic theologian and professor of dogmatic and ecumenical theology in Tübingen . In this highly acclaimed classic, which has been translated into eight languages, Küng examines the question of whether and how one can believe in God in the 20th century.

Content and structure

According to Küng, the Christian churches - not just the Roman Catholic ones - are increasingly losing their credibility by clinging to parts of the medieval worldview. In this work, Küng shows how theology can also survive in dealing with the Age of Enlightenment , criticism of religion and atheism . For him it is important that the philosophical insights of the Age of Enlightenment are recognized and implemented in Christian theology. For him, this includes recognition of the historical-critical method of biblical research and the natural laws developed in natural science.

The non-fiction book is strictly structured throughout. In the first part, Küng wonders what certainty there is for humans. On the basis of René Descartes and Blaise Pascal , he weighs the reason for faith from. Above all, he emphasizes that the natural sciences are no longer capable of proclaiming the one truth. He advocates rationality, but against rationalism .

The second area of ​​his book is about the new understanding of God. Using Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , the author would like to create a synthesis between faith and reason. God must be seen from the perspective of history. The phenomenology : God is the absolute spirit.

In the third chapter, "Does God Exist?" Is devoted to the atheistic approaches of Ludwig Feuerbach , Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud , which in his opinion ultimately lead to nihilism , which the fourth chapter deals with.

In the following pages, Küng speaks out against nihilism and shows alternatives: Freedom and basic trust as the basis of ethics and science .

After all, he sees God as an alternative to atheism. Küng does not try to prove its existence, but makes scientific arguments.

In the last chapter he introduces the Christian God, whom he sees as the living answer and liberation of man. But the Trinity is also discussed.

literature

Primary literature

Secondary literature

  • Hans Albert : The misery of theology. Critical examination of Hans Küng , Heidelberg 1979 (extended new edition: Aschaffenburg 2005, ISBN 3-86569-001-7 )
  • Ivo Frenzel: God in the horizon of nihilism. Notes on Hans Küng's new book , in: Hermann Häring / Karl-Josef Kuschel (Ed.): Hans Küng. Weg and Werk , DTB, Munich 1981, pp. 126–132
  • Hermann Häring: Hans Küng. Breaking boundaries , Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1998
  • John Leslie Mackie : The Miracle of Theism , Ditzingen 1985, ISBN 3-15-008075-4
  • Eduard Schweizer : Does God Exist? Hans Küng on the understanding of God from Descartes to Hegel , in: Hermann Häring / Karl-Josef Kuschel (ed.): Hans Küng. Weg and Werk , DTB, Munich 1981, pp. 132-139