Poetic dogmatics

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The Poetic Dogmatics is the eleven-volume work by the Cologne theologian Alex Stock , in which he develops an independent theology that is derived from the poetic sources of Christianity . The stories, chants, prayers, poems and pictures that have been handed down are combined to form a new whole according to the methodical model of the liturgy , the coherence of which justifies the title “ dogmatics ”.

Concept and characteristic

The title Poetic Dogmatics is an “irritating oxymoron ” because “dogmatic” primarily suggests authoritarian stubbornness and “poetic” apparently stands for an adaptation to the “ease of being of an aestheticizing late culture”. But Stock here declares something to be an attribute of his dogmatics, something that he had tried out over the years as a poetic theology with "detailed attention and fragmentary modesty on many pictures and texts". In the sense of the Greek word, “poetic” means a force that uses language and art to create something new.

Both in the selection of the sources and in the methodological approach, as well as in the overall disposition of the whole, a poetic element determines the course of the work. According to Alex Stock, the creative wealth of tradition develops precisely there, "where the drive of religion goes beyond the confessional indispensable". "Anyone who appreciates this spacious house of Christian tradition, which is angled in chambers, and wanders around in it, comes across pieces that touch him, often cannot say exactly why, can cancel them, hold them to light, suggest validity without compelling evidence."

This creative work expands the view beyond the narrower field of scripture and the development of church teaching to include the cultural creativity of the Christian religion. The division into tracts is “retained as a structural identification melody of the genre 'dogmatics'” and its claim to coherence is redeemed from Christology to the doctrine of God and the doctrine of creation to ecclesiology .

Tracts

Christology : The fact that Alex Stock starts poetic dogmatics with Christology and not, as is usual in dogmatics - according to the creed - with the doctrine of God, has to do with his methodological orientation towards the liturgy. Just as the individual festivals in the church year determine the liturgy and Christian life, Stock also chooses the focal points and the corresponding titles of the individual volumes.

The first volume of Christology deals with "names" in the sense of " Jesus' own name and the many names assigned to him". The second volume is entitled “Scripture and Face”, whereby it first deals with the written form of the name and then with images of the face of Jesus Christ . The third volume (“Body and Life”) follows “the life of Jesus and the polymorphism of the Corpus Christi ”. Finally, the fourth volume under the title “Figures” extends the topic of the offices of Christ “to a spectrum of seven figures: teacher, savior , shepherd , judge, king, lamb , cross ”.

Doctrine of God : The three volumes of the Treatise on Doctrine of God are based on the corresponding requirements of the creed. The first volume, “Places”, is about exploring the diverse seat in the life of speaking about God, in the second, “Name”, about “the labyrinthine movement of language” that is attached to the name, and in the third, “ Pictures “for clarity.

Since the Old Testament is recorded as a binding source of knowledge in the Christian speech of God and reference is made to it in all writings of the New Testament , “a speech from God comes into play that does not already have the name of Jesus Christ as a permanent attribute, even if the Christian theologians finally read it there ”. This also applies to the talk of God in other religions.

Creation Theory : The first volume of the Creation Theory is cosmologically oriented and is entitled "Heaven and Earth". First, the poetic-dogmatic approach to the topic with a view to natural sciences and natural philosophies is explored from an epistemological perspective. This is followed by a commentary on the biblical account of creation. Then the creed is read from the perspective of creation. This is followed by chapters on psalms and songs about the Eucharist and finally images of creation in art.

The second volume is devoted to theological anthropology . It begins with what in the biblical "prehistory" appears anthropologically worth considering today. The second part is about the diversity of human species; among other things z. For example, the saints are considered , "for whose anthropological sorting the All Saints' Litany seems suitable".

Ecclesiology : This dogmatic treatise, which deals with the church , discusses poetic dogmatics under the double meaning of “church” as a building (“space” vol. 1) and as an institution (“time” vol. 2). In the first part, liturgies such as B. the consecration of the church to approach a poetic "definition" of the church. According to this, institutions are “related to the question of the structure they represent”, such as B. " Altars ". Ultimately, it is about how artists and poets understand the "Church in today's world".

In the second part, under the heading “time”, it is on the one hand about the fact that the church has a history, and on the other hand about the rhythm of time that people of all times share and that the church seeks to accentuate. "The ecclesiology of time investigates this rhythmic interference."

criticism

In the opinion of the Jesuit Andreas Batlogg, admirers and despisers are by no means in balance when it comes to the work of Alex Stock . “Alex Stock was always an insider tip for the former. I kept tracking down or accidentally spotting reviews. Anyone who understood what Alex Stock wanted could only be enthusiastic - the others were silent. ... Alex Stock leaves behind a work that inspires, encourages, fires my theological imagination - and survives it. "

Although, in the opinion of Peter B. Steiner and many of his reviewers, Poetic Dogmatics should not only be found in every theological library, but should also be read and taken to heart by all theologians and as many art and literary historians as possible, there are also critical remarks in detail. So holds z. B. Jan-Heiner Tück called the title somewhat misleading. He would have preferred “Poetic Theology”. Despite the great recognition for the entire work, “some particles of poetic dogmatics” make Hermann Pius Siller at a loss. "They seem exotic and museum-like, to be included from the point of view of found objects rather than promising new discoveries and the future." Critical comments of this kind, however, are the exception. The opinion of Christian Schuler can be regarded as representative of the high esteem of the reviewers:

"Stock succeeds in a small miracle with his 'Poetic Dogmatics': He presents theology as a festive, even cheerful discipline. Although the dark sides of church history are not ignored, such as the anti-Jewish figuration of Judas, he leaves treasures of a rich tradition Sparkle. This creates the image of a rugged, yet idealistic cultural landscape that still exists today with barely broken charisma. "

A mediation between Stock's 'Poetischer Dogmatik' and a first philosophical responsibility to believe is shown in Dirk van de Loos`s book with the oxymoron title "Holzerne Eisen?" tries. There, not only are two theological worlds of thought, which could not be more different, connected with one another and an attempt is made to gain criteria for theological claims to validity, but their hermeneutical needs are also taken into account.

Awards

When the Theological Faculty of the University of Lucerne awarded Alex Stock an honorary doctorate in theology in 2012, his poetic dogmatics was the focus of the laudation. In this "monumental work", in the opinion of the laudator, Monika Jakobs, "aesthetic sensitivity, religious instinct and theological acumen are combined. On the one hand, he collects diverse testimonies of the 'cultural creativity of the Christian religion'. At the same time, he considers them systematically-theologically, unfolds it in the history of piety, makes it vivid and fruitful in visual theology. "

Works

  • No art. Aspects of Image Theology, Paderborn 1996
  • About the idea of ​​a poetic dogmatics. In: G. Larcher (ed.): Gott-Bild. Broken by modernity? Graz 1997, pp. 118-128.
  • Poetic dogmatics. Christology. 1st name, Paderborn 1995
  • Poetic dogmatics. Christology. 2. Font and face, Paderborn 1996
  • Poetic dogmatics. Christology. 3. Leib und Leben, Paderborn 1998
  • Poetic dogmatics. Christology. 4. Figures, Paderborn 2001
  • Poetic dogmatics. Doctrine of God. 1. Places, Paderborn 2004
  • Poetic dogmatics. Doctrine of God. 2nd name, Paderborn 2005
  • Poetic dogmatics. Doctrine of God. 3. Pictures, Paderborn 2007
  • Poetic dogmatics. Creation doctrine. 1. Heaven and Earth, Paderborn 2010
  • Poetic dogmatics. Creation doctrine. 2. People, Paderborn 2013
  • Poetic dogmatics. Ecclesiology. 1st room, Paderborn 2014
  • Poetic dogmatics. Ecclesiology. 2nd time, Paderborn 2016

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.alex-stock.de/
  2. ^ Peter B. Steiner: Stock, Alex: Poetic Dogmatik. In: Christ in der Gegenwart, 26th year 2016, archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.christ-in-der-gegenwart.de
  3. ↑ Alex Stock: Poetic Dogmatics. Christology, 3. Leib und Leben, Paderborn 1998, p. 9f
  4. ↑ Alex Stock: Poetic Dogmatics. Christology. 1.Name, Paderborn 1995, p. 11
  5. ↑ Alex Stock: Poetic Dogmatics. Christology. 1.Name, Paderborn 1995, p. 12
  6. ↑ Poetic Dogmatics. Christology, [1]
  7. ↑ http://www.alex-stock.de/
  8. ↑ Alex Stock: Poetic Dogmatics. Doctrine of God. 1. Places, Paderborn 2004, p. 16
  9. ↑ Poetic Dogmatics: Creation Theory, [2]
  10. ↑ Poetic Dogmatics: Ecclesiology, [3]
  11. ↑ Andreas R. Batlogg SJ: Alex Stock (1937-2016): “Theology full of poetry”. In: Voices of the Time 2016.
  12. ↑ Peter B. Steiner: Stock, Alex: Poetic Dogmatics ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.christ-in-der-gegenwart.de
  13. ↑ Jan-Heiner Tück: The poetic energy of faith [4]
  14. ^ Hermann Pius Siller: Insights into the workshop of the Spiritus Creator. The poetic Christology of Alex Stock
  15. ↑ Christian Schuler: Find the blind, believe the deaf. With Alex Stock, dogmatics becomes poetic. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 19, 1999.
  16. ↑ Dirk van de Loo: Wooden irons? Bridging the gap between poetic dogmatics and first philosophical responsibility for faith, Regensburg 2007
  17. ↑ Laudation: https://www.unilu.ch/fileadmin/universitaet/unileitung/dokumente/dies_academicus/2012/Dies_2012_Jacobs-Stock_Laudatio.pdf