Wolfgang Thönissen
Wolfgang Thönissen (born September 28, 1955 in Brühl ) is a German Roman Catholic theologian. He is Managing Director of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism in Paderborn and Professor of Ecumenical Theology at the Paderborn Theological Faculty and was its Rector from 2003 to 2005 and from 2017 to 2019.
Life
After attending primary school and grammar school in Brühl, Thönissen studied theology and philosophy in Bonn and Tübingen from 1975 . In 1981 he received the diploma in Catholic theology and in 1984 passed the master's examination in philosophy. Thönissen was founded in 1986 with the topic “The Gift of Freedom. Investigations into the relationship between dogmatics and ethics ”under the then chair holder and later Cardinal Walter Kasper . In 1994 he qualified as a professor in the fields of dogmatics and ecumenical theology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg on the subject of “Community through participation in Jesus Christ. A Catholic model for the unity of the churches. "
From 1981 to 1985 he was a research assistant at the Dogmatic Chair of the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen. In 1985 he began working as managing director of the Christian Churches Working Group (ACK) in Baden-Württemberg. In 1995 he began teaching as a private lecturer at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg im Breisgau.
Since 1999 he has been managing director of the Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism in Paderborn and is professor of ecumenical theology at the Paderborn Theological Faculty. For the terms of office from 2003 to 2005 and 2017 to 2019, Wolfgang Thönissen was elected Rector of the Paderborn Theological Faculty.
The main research area is ecumenical theology. Particular attention is paid to research on Martin Luther's criticism of indulgence in the context of an ecumenical project. Recent research is directed towards the question of Luther's catholicity. In 2016 he lectured as part of the Levy P. Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary .
Stefan Kopp succeeded him in October 2019 as rector of the Paderborn Theological Faculty .
Wolfgang Thönissen is married and has two sons.
Participation in working groups
- Consultor of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
- Adviser to the International Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission On Unity
- Adviser to Commission II of the German Bishops' Conference (Ecumenical Commission)
- Member of the Ecumenical Working Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians
- Member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (2007-2014)
- Member of the dialogue commission of the VELKD and the German Bishops' Conference
- Member of the advisory board of the Institute for Theology and Peace in Hamburg (until 2015)
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Theological Studies Tantur in Jerusalem
- Participation in the consultation between the Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe (CPCE) and the Pontifical Unity Council
- Member of the Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission in Finland
Works (selection)
- Luther. Catholic and reformer , Paderborn-Leipzig 2017
- A council for an ecumenical age. Key topics of the Second Vaticanum , Paderborn-Leipzig 2013
- Ecumenical Personal Lexicon , Freiburg 2010
- Dogma and symbol. An ecumenical hermeneutics , Freiburg – Basel – Vienna 2008
- The discovery of ecumenism. On the participation of the Catholic Church in the ecumenical movement , Paderborn-Frankfurt a. M. 2008
- Lexicon of Ecumenism and Denominational Studies , Freiburg i. Br. 2007
- The Bible in the Life of the Church , Paderborn-Göttingen 2007
- "Unitatis redintegratio". 40 years of Ecumenism Decree - Legacy and Mission , Paderborn-Frankfurt a. M. 2005
- Faith and Baptism from a Free Church and Roman Catholic Perspective , Paderborn-Stuttgart 2005
- Justification from a free church and a Roman Catholic perspective , Paderborn-Stuttgart 2003
- Keywords on ecumenism. A small reference work on the basic concepts of ecumenism (Topic Ecumenism, Vol. 2), Paderborn 2003
- Church fellowship possible? Understanding of unity and unity concepts in discussion (Topic Ecumenism, Vol. 1), Paderborn 2001
- Community through participation in Jesus Christ. A Catholic model for the unity of the churches , Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1996 (also habilitation thesis Freiburg i.Br. 1994)
- The gift of freedom. Studies on the relationship between dogmatics and ethics (Tübinger Theologische Studien, Vol. 30), Mainz 1988 (also inaugural dissertation Tübingen 1986)
Web links
- Literature by and about Wolfgang Thönissen in the catalog of the German National Library
- Literature by and about Wolfgang Thönissen in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Search for "Wolfgang Thönissen" in the German Digital Library
- Website Wolfgang Thönissen (Theological Faculty Paderborn)
- Website Wolfgang Thönissen (Johann Adam Möhler Institute for Ecumenism)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Homepage of the institute: project presentation , accessed on January 5, 2015.
- ↑ http://av.ptsem.edu/detailedplayer.aspx?PK=c553a0e6-388b-e611-b265-0050568c0018
- ^ Carinthian priest new rector at Paderborn theology faculty. In: kathpress.at. October 2, 2019, accessed October 3, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thönissen, Wolfgang |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 28, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bruehl (Rhineland) |