Wolfhart Pannenberg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wolfhart Pannenberg, 1983

Wolfhart Pannenberg (born October 2, 1928 in Stettin ; † September 4, 2014 in Munich ) was a German Protestant theologian .

Childhood, youth

Wolfhart Pannenberg was born the son of a customs officer. The family moved frequently due to the father's job. In 1942 Pannenberg came to Berlin. He had been baptized as a child, but had no Christian upbringing because his parents had become so estranged from the Church that they quit. In an autobiographical note, Pannenberg mentions that his father was occasionally worried, his son neglected going to school and dealing with serious objects because of his love for music.

During the Second World War , Pannenberg became a soldier in 1944 at the age of sixteen; in 1945 he was a British prisoner of war for a short time . Although he grew up in a non-Christian environment, he began studying theology and philosophy in 1947 . The trigger for this decision was his critical examination of the work of Friedrich Nietzsche . According to Klaus Koschorke, the image of Christianity conveyed by Nietzsche contradicted Pannenberg's experiences.

Teaching activity and church duties

Pannenberg studied in Berlin , Göttingen , Basel and Heidelberg . In Basel Pannenberg was among others a student of Karl Barth . His doctoral thesis, which he submitted in 1953 and which was published a year later, he wrote with Edmund Schlink in Heidelberg on Duns Scotus' doctrine of predestination . His habilitation thesis from 1955 deals with the relationship between analogy and revelation, especially the discussion about the concept of analogy in the doctrine of the knowledge of God, and was only published in 2007 - with slight additions. On July 8, 1956, he was ordained to the ministry in St. Peter's Church in Heidelberg.

Wolfhart Pannenberg taught from 1958 to 1961 as a professor of systematic theology at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal , from 1961 to 1967 at the Theological Faculty of the University of Mainz and from 1967 to his retirement in 1994 at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . There he founded the Institute for Fundamental Theology and Ecumenism, which was supposed to promote dialogue with Roman Catholic theology , and gained recognition as one of the most prominent representatives of Lutheran-Catholic theological dialogue. Numerous Catholic theologians dealt with Pannenberg's theology, including the later Cardinals Kurt Koch and Walter Kasper . From 1975 to 1990, Pannenberg was also a delegate of the Evangelical Church in Germany to the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches .

His theology exerted great influence internationally. Pannenberg was one of the most famous Protestant theologians of our time. His students include Christine Axt-Piscalar , Walter Dietz , Ekkehard Mühlenberg , Friederike Nüssel , Jan Rohls , Falk Wagner and Gunther Wenz .

Theological meaning

Pannenberg's approach is fundamentally presented in his program publication Revelation as a story from 1961, in which he explicitly set himself apart from the theology of the Word of God in both Barth 's and Bultmann 's style. Based on exegetical studies by Rolf Rendtorff and Ulrich Wilckens , he developed the position that revelation in the sense of a self-revelation of God does not take place directly through individual revelation events, but through God's action as a whole in history. God's self-revelation can therefore only be fully understood from its end, in the eschatological future . However, the Christ event, especially the resurrection , should be understood as an anticipation ( prolepse ) of this eschatological future, which is why Christian theology rightly assigns exclusive importance to it. In doing so, Pannenberg opens up the Christian faith to general human experience and rational interdisciplinary discourse.

Revelation must not be justified by the authority of an ecclesiastical body, but must prove itself before the forum of autonomous philosophical and historical reason. Consequently, the intensive discourse with philosophy, but also with the social and natural sciences, was one of the salient features of Pannenberg's theological work.

In his further theological work, Pannenberg developed the approach of revelation as history. His work on the scientific theory of theology is particularly important . He took the view that theological statements up to and including the statement of the existence of God were " hypotheses " that had to be proven in experience. This proving can only happen indirectly, a final verification is only possible in the afterlife - an idea that Pannenberg adopted from John Hick . For this reason (systematic) theology should not formally presuppose the truth of the Christian statements of faith due to the authority of the revelation event; rather, it is their task to substantiate this truth in terms of content.

Memberships and scientific contacts

In 1977 Pannenberg was elected a full member of the Philosophical-Historical Class of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . He maintained close contact with various scientific institutions in the USA, Great Britain and Italy (philosophy) as well as with the Comillas University in Madrid. Until April 1, 1998, Pannenberg was (Protestant) Scientific Director of the Ecumenical Working Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians.

Awards and honors

Opinion on homosexuality

In 1997 Pannenberg returned his Federal Cross of Merit in protest, after the deaconess and social worker Herta Leistner had been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1996 . According to Pannenberg, the award is in contradiction to the protection of marriage and family anchored in Art. 6 Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law. In addition, the commitment to homosexuality is contrary to theological teaching. Pannenberg referred in the text standards for the church's judgment on homosexuality from 1994 decidedly on the topic. He stated that the biblical testimonies are clear in their sharp rejection of homosexual behavior. This expresses the turning away from God particularly blatantly. The task of the church, which on the one hand must show tolerance and understanding, is to call those concerned to repentance. If the church were to recognize homosexual unions, it would no longer stand on the basis of the Scriptures. However, he emphasized - here Pannenberg agreed with Rendtorff - that the church could tolerate homosexuality. However, he rejected equal rights with marriage.

Works (selection)

  • The doctrine of predestination of Duns Scotus in the context of the scholastic doctrinal development . Research on the history of church and dogma 4. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1954 (dissertation)
  • (Ed. :) Revelation as a story . Kerygma and Dogma supplement 1. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen (1961) 5th edition 1982 (English: Revelation as History, 1968)
  • Fundamentals of Christology . (1964) 7th edition Mohn, Gütersloh 1990; ISBN 3-579-04014-6 (English: Jesus - God and Man, 1968)
  • Reformation between yesterday and tomorrow . Aspects of modern theology 7. Mohn, Gütersloh 1969
  • Theology and Kingdom of God . Mohn, Gütersloh 1971; ISBN 3-579-04096-0
  • Christianity and Myth. Late horizons of myth in biblical and Christian tradition . Mohn, Gütersloh 1972; ISBN 3-579-04228-9
  • Presence of God. Sermons . Claudius Verlag, Munich 1973; ISBN 3-532-61128-7
  • Philosophy of Science and Theology . (1973) stw 676. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1987; ISBN 3-518-28276-X (Theology and the Philosophy of Science, 1976)
  • Ethics and ecclesiology. Collected essays . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1977; ISBN 3-525-56139-3
  • The purpose of man. Human Being, Election and History . Small Vandenhoeck series 1443. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1978; ISBN 3-525-33423-0
  • Thought of God and human freedom . (1974) 2nd edition Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1978; ISBN 3-525-01605-0
  • Basic questions of systematic theology. Collected essays . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1967/1980 (Volume 1: 1967. 2nd edition 1971; ISBN 3-525-58141-6 ; Volume 2: 1980; ISBN 3-525-58142-4 )
  • The image of God as a human determination in recent theological history . Meeting reports / Bavarian Academy of Sciences: Philosophical-Historical Class 1979.8. Verl. Of the Bavarian Akad. Der Wiss., Munich 1979; ISBN 3-7696-1501-8 for the online version
  • Christian spirituality. Theological Aspects . Small Vandenhoeck series 1519. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986; ISBN 3-525-33522-9
  • (Ed.) With Karl Lehmann (Ed.): Part: 1. Justification, sacraments and office in the age of the Reformation and today , (= Ecumenical Working Group of Evangelical and Catholic Theologians (Ed.), Doctrinal Condemnations - Church Separating ?, Part 1), (= Dialogue of the Churches, Volume 4), 3rd edition 1988 Freiburg 1988, ISBN 3-451-20849-0 and ISBN 3-525-56925-4 .
  • Christianity in a secularized world . Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1988; ISBN 3-451-21244-7
  • Metaphysics and the idea of ​​God . Small Vandenhoeck series 1532. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1988; ISBN 3-525-33541-5
  • The Creed. Designed and responsible for the questions of the present . Gütersloher Taschenbücher Siebenstern 1292. 5th edition Gütersloher Verlagshaus Mohn, Gütersloh 1990; ISBN 3-579-01292-4
  • Systematic Theology , 3 volumes. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1988/1991/1993 (central work) (English: Systematic Theology, 1991ff.)
  • what is the human? Contemporary anthropology in the light of theology . Kleine Vandenhoeck series 1139. 1962, 8th edition. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995; ISBN 3-525-33187-8
  • Anthropology in Theological Perspective , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1983 (English: Anthropology in Theological Perspective, 1985)
  • (Ed. :) Binding certificate , 3 volumes. 1992, 1995.
  • Basics of ethics. Philosophical-theological perspectives . UTB 2458. 1996. 2., through. and supplementary edition Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003; ISBN 3-8252-2458-9 Table of Contents
  • Theology and philosophy. Their relationship in the light of their shared history . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996; ISBN 3-525-56189-X
  • Problem history of the more recent Protestant theology in Germany. From Schleiermacher to Barth and Tillich . UTB 1979. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997; ISBN 3-8252-1979-8
  • [together with Bernd Jochen Hilberath (Ed.):] On the future of ecumenism. The “ Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification ” . Pustet, Regensburg 1999; ISBN 3-7917-1626-3
  • Background of the dispute over the doctrine of justification in Protestant theology. Presented at the January 14, 2000 meeting . Session reports / Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class 2000.3. Verl. Of the Bavarian Akad. Der Wiss., Munich 2000; ISBN 3-7696-1609-X for the online version
  • Contributions to systematic theology , 3 volumes. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999/2000 (multi-volume collection of articles)
  • Joy of faith. Sermons . Claudius, Munich 2001; ISBN 3-532-62262-9
  • Contributions to ethics . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004; ISBN 3-525-56950-5
  • Analogy and Revelation. A critical investigation into the history of the concept of analogy in the doctrine of knowledge of God , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007; ISBN 978-3-525-56158-4 (habilitation thesis expanded by two chapters)

literature

Books

  • EF Tupper: The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg . London 1974
  • Karl Friedrich Reith : Critique of the hermeneutics of 'wholeness' (to W. Pannenberg). In: Karl Friedrich Reith: Micrology: Reflections on a Critical Theology. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-8204-5817-4 , pp. 53-58.
  • Jan Rohls (Ed.): Reason of Faith. Scientific theology and church teaching. Festschrift for the 60th birthday of Wolfhart Pannenberg. With a bibliographical appendix . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1988; ISBN 3-525-58152-1 Table of Contents
  • CE Braaten, P. Clayton: The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg . Augsburg Press, Minneapolis 1988
  • Franz-Josef Overbeck : The God-related person. A systematic investigation into the determination of man and the “self-realization” of God in Wolfhart Pannenberg's anthropology and trinity theology. Aschendorff, Münster 2000 (Münster contributions to theology; Vol. 59). zugl .: Univ. Diss., Münster (Westphalia) 1999/2000; ISBN 978-3-402-03964-9 .
  • André Kendel: History, Anticipation and Resurrection. Theological and text-theoretical investigation of W. Pannenberg's understanding of reality . International Theology 8. Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2001; ISBN 3-631-37898-X .
  • Klaus Vechtel: Trinity and Future. On the relationship between philosophy and theology of the Trinity in Wolfhart Pannenberg's thinking . Frankfurt theological studies 62. Neudr. Knecht, Frankfurt a. M. 2001; ISBN 3-7820-0862-6 .
  • Heinrich Springhorn: Immanence of God and transcendence of the world. An analysis of the systematic theology by Karl Rahner and Wolfhart Pannenberg . Theos 48. Kovač, Hamburg 2001; ISBN 3-8300-0207-6 .
  • Zbigniew Slaczka: Revelation and Salvation in Non-Christian Religions? A study on W. Pannenberg, HR Schlette and G. Gäde . European university publications 23/718. Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2001; ISBN 3-631-38013-5 .
  • Bettina Kruhöffer: Reflections on “Evil”. Linguistic differentiations in dealing with the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg . Studies on systematic theology and ethics 31. Lit-Verlag, Münster, Hamburg a. a. 2002; ISBN 3-8258-5936-3 .
  • Jochen Kunath: “Being with the other”. The concept of perspective in Wolfhart Pannenberg's theology . Studies on systematic theology and ethics 30. Lit, Münster u. a. 2002; ISBN 3-8258-5868-5
  • Christiaan Mostert: God and the Future. Wolfhart Pannenberg's Eschatological Doctrine of God . T. & T. Clark, London et al. a. 2002; ISBN 0-567-08821-9 .
  • Giuseppe Accordini: La rivelazione di Dio come storia e come atto. Scenari e codici nella teologia di W. Pannenberg . Quodlibet 11. Glossa, Milan 2002; ISBN 88-7105-145-9 .
  • Michael Gilbertson: God and History in the Book of Revelation. New Testament Studies in Dialogue with Pannenberg and Moltmann . MSSNTS 124. Univ. Press, Cambridge 2003; ISBN 0-521-82466-4 .
  • Gunther Wenz : Wolfhart Pannenberg's Systematic Theology. An introductory report. With a bibliography of works 1998–2002 and a bibliography of selected secondary literature compiled by Miriam Rose . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003 (Systematic Theology Supplementary Volume); ISBN 3-525-56127-X .
  • Armin Lange: Religion as world empowerment. On the foundation of theology through the theory of religion in Wolfhart Pannenberg . Contributions to Protestant theology 121. Kaiser, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2003; ISBN 3-579-05399-X .
  • Vasile Cristescu: The anthropology and its christological justification with Wolfhart Pannenberg and Dumitru Staniloae . International Theology 9. Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2003; ISBN 3-631-50526-4 .
  • Klaus Koschorke , Jürgen Moltmann , Wolfhart Pannenberg: Paths to a Trinitarian eschatology. Speeches on the occasion of the ceremony to celebrate the 75th birthday of Wolfhart Pannenberg by the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University (December 11, 2003) Utz, Munich 2004; ISBN 3-8316-0431-2 .
  • San Myat Shwe: The Significance of the Resurrection of Jesus for Systematic Theology. A Comparative Study of Karl Barth's and Wolfhart Pannenberg's Understanding of Jesus' Resurrection . Marek, Brno 2004; ISBN 80-86263-45-2 .
  • Günther Boss: Loss of nature. Studies on the theological understanding of nature with Karl Rahner and Wolfhart Pannenberg. Innsbruck Theological Studies Volume 74, Tyrolia-Verlag, Innsbruck 2006; ISBN 978-3-7022-2799-9 .
  • Santiago Sanz: El futuro creador del Dios trinitario. Un estudio en la Teología Sistemática de Wolfhart Pannenberg , Edicep, Valencia 2007; ISBN 978-84-7050-941-4 .
  • Christoph Glimpel: Thought of God and Autonomous Reason. A critical and constructive examination of the philosophical foundations of Wolfhart Pannenberg's theology , Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2007; ISBN 3-89971-363-X .
  • Anja Lebkücher: Theology of Nature. Wolfhart Pannenberg's contribution to the dialogue between theology and science. Neukirchener Theologie, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2011; ISBN 978-3-7887-2505-1 .
  • Alejandro Mingo: Amor verdaderamente infinito en mutua autodistinción personal. La Trinidad como futuro en Wolfhart Pannenberg. EDUCC, Cordoba 2015; ISBN 978-987-626-270-5 .

Essays

  • Klaus Ahlheim : La potenza del futuro e l'antisocialismo per tradizione , in: IDOC internazionale, Heft 3-4 / 1979, pp. 113-119.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Graf : Believe sensibly. The theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg turns seventy . In: NZZ, October 2, 1998.
  • Raymund Schwager: René Girard and Wolfhart Pannenberg: Religious Studies and Theology . In: Kerygma and Dogma 44 (1998), pp. 172-192. On-line
  • James Page: Critical Realism and the Theological Science of Wolfhart Pannenberg: Exploring the Commonalities . In: Bridges: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, Theology, History and Science 10 (1/2) (2003), pp. 71–84 (online)
  • Alejandro Mingo: Mística y anuncio. Un acceso ignorado a la teología trinitaria de W. Pannenberg . In: Teología 47 (2010), pp. 27–49.
  • B. Hoon Woo: Pannenberg's Understanding of the Natural Law . In: Studies in Christian Ethics . Vol. 25, No. 3 , 2012, p. 346-366 ( academia.edu ).

Web links

Commons : Wolfhart Pannenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Wolfhart Pannenberg  - Quotes

Remarks

  1. ↑ Wolfhart Pannenberg: The meaning of baptism and the Lord's Supper for Christian spirituality . In: Ders .: Contributions to Systematic Theology , Volume 3: Church and Ecumenism . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, p. 80.
  2. ^ Klaus Koschorke: Greetings on the occasion of Wolfhart Pannenberg's 75th birthday, 2003
  3. ↑ Reinhard Bingener: Wolfhart Pannenberg died . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of September 6, 2014, p. 6.
  4. ↑ Klaus von Stosch: Introduction to systematic theology . Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2006, p. 91.
  5. ↑ Bavarian Academy of Sciences: Competence Handbook ( Memento from October 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Theodor Schneider, Wolfhart Pannenberg (Ed.): Understanding and Use of Scripture (= Dialogue of the Churches, Vol. 10). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, p. 11.
  7. ↑ German Bundestag Printed Matter 13/7221 of 13 March 1997
  8. ^ Wolfhart Pannenberg: Contributions to ethics . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, p. 99. Excerpts: [1]
    Andreas Roth: Regional Church lives on with tensions . ( Memento of February 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Sunday, January 25, 2012
  9. ↑ Wolfhart Pannenberg: Systematic Theology . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-525-52203-5 , p. 398 , doi : 10.13109 / 9783666880070 .
  10. ↑ Wolfhart Pammemberg: Neutrality of the State towards Religion? In: Philipp Jenninger (Ed.): Tamen! Against the current. Günter Rohrmoser on his 80th birthday . S. 381-389 .
personal data
SURNAME Pannenberg, Wolfhart
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Szczecin
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 2014
Place of death Munich