All-death theory

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The whole death theory assumes that with death the whole person - body and soul - has died. Resurrection is understood as a new creation of the whole person after his complete extinction . Such an interpretation of the Christian resurrection belief was v. a. Represented by some Protestant theologians in the 20th century, who thus reject the immortality of the soul.

Representative

The total death theory is represented by the theologians Paul Althaus , Karl Barth , Oscar Cullmann , Carl Stange and Werner Elert as well as by the process philosopher Charles Hartshorne . It is also found in some religious communities such as the churches of Christ , the Seventh-day Adventists , the Bible Students' Movement, and the Christadelphians .

argumentation

The proponents of a total death theory see the separation of body and soul as a more Greek philosophical concept that is less manifest in Old and New Testament texts. There no immortality of the soul is taught, but ultimately a resurrection is hoped for, which would be superfluous if the soul continued to live according to its own nature. Rather, their continued existence is understood as an act of grace which is only possible through Christ and which is particularly necessary because sin and death affect the whole existence of man.

criticism

Some critics of the total death theory see the personal identity interrupted and refer to passages in the Bible from which a distinction between body and soul can be derived, e.g. Mt 10.28  EU , Acts 20.10  EU , as well as passages that suggest an eternal existence of the soul ( about Mt 25,46  EU and Jn 11.25 to 26  EU ; 2 Cor 1.1 to 10  EU ), which must be said that the term "soul" in Mt 25:46  EU does not appear.

See also

literature

  • Reinhard Brandt, Peter Godzik , Ulrich Kühn : Images of hope against death (= templates. NF 20). Lutherisches Verlagshaus, Hannover 1994, ISBN 3-7859-0680-3 .
  • Gisbert Greshake , Jacob Kremer : Resurrectio mortuorum. On the theological understanding of the physical resurrection. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1986, ISBN 3-534-07037-2 , pp. 273 ff. Et passim.
  • Fritz Heidler: Total Death or Post-Death Existence? In: Theological Contributions . Vol. 16, No. 4, 1985, pp. 169-175, ( digitized ).
  • Christian Henning : Really dead? New thoughts on the immortality of the soul against the background of the total death theory. In: New journal for systematic theology and philosophy of religion. Vol. 43, No. 2, 2001, ISSN  0028-3517 , pp. 236-252.
  • Christian Herrmann: Immortality of the soul through resurrection. Studies on the anthropological implications of eschatology (= research on systematic and ecumenical theology. 83). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997, ISBN 3-525-56290-X (also: Erlangen - Nürnberg, University, dissertation, 1995/1996).
  • Eberhard Jüngel : Death (= Gütersloher Taschenbücher Siebenstern. 339). Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1979, ISBN 3-579-03760-9 .
  • Siegfried Kettling: "Where are our dead?" In: Accents for theology and service. 1987; (Now under the title: Glanz und Elend der Ganztod-Theory. In: Peter Godzik (Ed.): The way into light. Reading book on the last questions of life. Steinmann, Rosengarten near Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-927043-63 -3 , pp. 98-119).
  • Theodor Mahlmann: Resurrection of the dead and eternal life. In: Konrad Stock (ed.): The future of redemption. On the more recent discussion of eschatology (= publications of the Scientific Society for Theology. 7). Kaiser - Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1994, ISBN 3-579-00258-9 , pp. 108-131.
  • Wolfhart Pannenberg : Systematic Theology. Volume 3. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-52190-1 , p. 599 ff.
  • Albrecht Peters : Death in the more recent theological anthropology. In: Albrecht Peters: Accountability of Faith. Essays. Edited by Reinhard Slenczka and Rudolf Keller on the author's 60th birthday . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-525-58143-2 , pp. 239-277.
  • Reinhard Slenczka : goal and end. Instruction in the Christian end-time expectation: "The Lord is near". Freimund, Neuendettelsau 2008, ISBN 978-3-86540-054-3 , 192 ff.
  • Werner Thiede , Resurrection of the Dead - Hope without Attractiveness? Basic structures of the Christian expectation of salvation and their misunderstood relevance to religious education (= research on systematic and ecumenical theology. 65). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1991, ISBN 3-525-56272-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See, for example, Paul Althaus : The last things , 111ff et al. Karl Barth : Dogmatik im Grundriß , Zurich, 7th edition 1987, p. 138 et al. Karl Barth : Die Kirchliche Dogmatik , Vol. III / 2, Zollikon-Zurich 1948, pp. 524ff and o .; Paul Tillich : Systematic Theology , Vol. 3, Stuttgart 1966, pp. 450ff. 459ff. Carl Stange : The immortality of the soul , studies of the apologetic seminar 12, Gütersloh 1925. Charles Hartshorne : The logic of perfection , Lassalle, Ill. 1962, p. 257u.ö.
  2. ↑ See e.g. B. Werner Thiede: Karl Barths individual eschatology and the crisis of the total death theology , in: ders. (Ed.): Karl Barths Theologie der Kris. Transfer attempts on the 50th anniversary of death , Leipzig 2018, pp. 253–278.