Background
Pannenberg was born on 2 October 1928 in Stettin, Germany, now Szczecin, Poland.
(In this classic, two-volume set of collected essays, Wolf...)
In this classic, two-volume set of collected essays, Wolfhart Pannenberg gives special focus to the ways in which history, hermeneutics, reason and truth all guide and inform our various attempts at understanding God. This focus, then, offers the reader a unique insight into the revelation of God. Pannenberg writes, "To say that the revelation of God is not a supernatural event which breaks into history perpendicularly from above but rather that it is the theme of history itself, the power that moves it in its deepest dimension, is to say something about God and his relation to the world." Wolfhart Pannenberg is Professor Emeritus of Theology at the University of Munich and author of several influential books, including Jesus-God and Man, Revelation as History, Theology and the Philosophy of Science, and Anthropology in Theological Perspective.
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(Wolfhart Pannenberg is widely regarded as one of the fore...)
Wolfhart Pannenberg is widely regarded as one of the foremost Christian thinkers of this century. The publication of this book, the third and final volume of his masterful Systematic Theology, brings to completion the English translation of his magnum opus. In Volume 3 Pannenberg completes his theological project with the exposition of the Christian doctrines of the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church, and the eschatological hope. At the heart of this volume lies the theme of the church; it not only comprises the largest chapter but is intimately related to each of the other doctrines-to the Spirit as an eschatological gift and to individual salvation as a sign of its future consummation. Throughout this work Pannenberg brings to bear the vast historical and exegetical knowledge and keen philosophical argumentation for which he is well known.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802864562/?tag=2022091-20
("It is not enough to recite the Apostles' Creed; one must...)
"It is not enough to recite the Apostles' Creed; one must enter into its statements enquiringly, reflectively, critically," states the author. Today's Christian may repeat the Apostles' Creed Sunday after Sunday; but couched as it is in archaic language, its meaning is often lost to him. "In spite of that," says Dr. Pannenberg, "we can still repeat the creed in church without doing violence to our personal sincerity as long as we are able to adhere to the intention behind its statements." This book is not only a fresh interpretation of this ancient creed, but also a convenient introduction to Pannenberg's own understanding of theology.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0664209475/?tag=2022091-20
( Known as one of the most outstanding theologians of the...)
Known as one of the most outstanding theologians of the twentieth century, Wolfhart Pannenberg is also considered a great interdisciplinary thinker. Now, essays and articles on science and theology that are central to understanding Pannenberg's theories have been collected into one volume. Niels Henrik Gregersen, a former student of Pannenberg and now professor of systematic theology at Copenhagen University, has compiled the writings in four sections: Methodology, Creation and Nature's Historicity, Religion and Anthropology, and Meaning and Metaphysics. Included in this volume are: Translations of Pannenberg's principled argument for the consonance between science and religion, including contingency and laws of nature, field theories and space-time, and divine action Translations of Pannenberg's theory of theology as a rational hypothetical science, including his discussions with leading British and American scholars such as A. N. Whitehead, John Cobb, and Langdon Gilkey Previously unpublished articles on the problems between science and theology in the course of modern history, explaining why chance may be more important for theology than design Translations of seminal articles that articulate Pannenberg's understanding of the role of religion in human nature One of the few theological articles on aggression as a psychological and social phenomenon With this collection, the essays of this important contemporary theologian and his illuminating views are presented in one convenient volume.
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(The essays included in this volume focus on specific stan...)
The essays included in this volume focus on specific standpoints inherent to our understandings of God. From a survey of Western philosophies, Pannenberg concludes that the Christian view of truth is distinctive because of its emphasis on the future. On the subject of faith, he asserts that rational knowledge does not oppose faith, but rather gives support to it. Also, the ideas of Feuerbach and Nietzsche as well as those of the dialectical theologians are critiqued by the author. All in all, Pannenberg's uniting of classic theological insights with contemporary life will speak to the contemporary appropriation of traditional Christian themes. In this classic, two-volume set of collected essays, Wolfhart Pannenberg gives special focus to the ways in which history, hermeneutics, reason, and truth all guide and inform our various attempts at understanding God. This focus, then, offers the reader a unique insight into the revelation of God. Pannenberg writes, "To say that the revelation of God is not a supernatural event which breaks into history perpendicularly from above but rather that it is the theme of history itself, the power that moves it in its deepest dimension, is to say something about God and his relation to the world."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0800662571/?tag=2022091-20
(Marked by a creative blend of philosophical, historical, ...)
Marked by a creative blend of philosophical, historical, anthropological, and exegetical analysis, this volume focuses on the Christian doctrine of God, offering original material on the concept of truth, the nature of revelation, language about God, the nature of the Trinity, and the public aspect of theology.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802836569/?tag=2022091-20
( This highly acclaimed work demonstrates Wolfhart Pannen...)
This highly acclaimed work demonstrates Wolfhart Pannenberg's belief that at the heart of every Christian theology lies its teaching about Jesus Christ. The second edition, available for the first time in paperback, contains an Afterword in which the author reviews other theologians' responses to his thesis and methodology and shows the progression of his own interpretation.
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(Two Volume Set. Westminster Press (blue cover) soft cover...)
Two Volume Set. Westminster Press (blue cover) soft covers with clean pages and tight spines.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0664244661/?tag=2022091-20
(Widely regarded as the foremost theologian in the world t...)
Widely regarded as the foremost theologian in the world today, Wolfhart Pannenberg here unfolds his long-awaited systematic theology, for which his many previous (primarily methodological) writings have laid the groundwork. Volume 2 of Pannenberg's magnum opus moves beyond the highly touted discussion of systematic prolegomena and theology proper in Volume 1 to commanding, comprehensive statements concerning creation, the nature of man, Christology, and salvation. Throughout, Pannenberg brings to bear the vast command of historical and exegetical knowledge and philosophical argumentation for which he is well known.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802837077/?tag=2022091-20
Pannenberg was born on 2 October 1928 in Stettin, Germany, now Szczecin, Poland.
Growing up during the Nazi era, he was pressed into military service during the final days of the Third Reich-an experience which helps account for his wariness of all ideological and political promises. His interest in religion developed after the war as the result of study and reflection during his university days, first at Berlin, then at Gottingen, Basel, and Heidelberg, where he received his doctorate in 1953, writing on the idea of predestination in the thought of Duns Scotus.
In 1958 he was appointed professor of systematic theology at Wuppertal, a theological seminary of the Confessing Church. Important university positions followed, first at Mainz (1961) and then at Munich (1968). Pannenberg insisted that it was rational reflection that led him to Christian faith.
Rather, as G. W. F. Hegel suggested at the dawn of the 19th century, God is revealed through history (or reality) as a whole, and God's revelation can be recognized and understood by reason.
Of course, no human being actually knows the whole of history, being limited by time and space. Furthermore, history is not yet complete, and therefore cannot be completely understood. But it is possible for reason to discern in the life, the death, and (especially) the resurrection of Jesus a key to the meaning and an anticipation of the goal of universal history. His thought was far too complex to be easily categorized.
In the mid-1960s he was often cited as a leading proponent of the "theology of hope" because of his interest in the future. But Pannenberg disassociated himself from most proponents of that school, both because they were too dependent upon the philosophy of Ernst Bloch rather than on the resurrection of Jesus and because they were too easily deceived by the premature and idolatrous promises of socialism. These judgments would seem to mark Pannenberg as a conservative.
But consider that he bases his faith in the resurrection not upon the authority of the Bible or of the church but upon its demonstrability to rational investigation. Furthermore, he considered authentic religion to be a response to reality as a whole, including world religions, not just parochial and institutional Christianity.
Therefore, Pannenberg argues, the proper home for theology is not the institutional church but the university, where the theologian's propositions must be defended and corrected, not just asserted. The church, however, is the home of spirituality and community, where both depend upon the Eucharist-received not as a church supper (owned by an institution), but as the Lord's Supper (transcending all denominational boundaries) and anticipating God's plan for the fullness of time to "unite all things" (Ephesians 1:10).
He has served as a professor of theology at the University of Heidelberg, Kirchiliche Hochschule Wuppertal, University of Mainz, and the University of Munich. He has had visiting professorships at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the Claremont School of Theology.
Throughout his career Pannenberg remained a prolific writer. As of December 2008, his "publication page" on the University of Munich's website lists 645 academic publications to his name. Pannenberg has also served as an Erasmus Lecturer and contributor to theology journals.
He retired in 1993, and died at age 85 in 2014.
(Marked by a creative blend of philosophical, historical, ...)
(Widely regarded as the foremost theologian in the world t...)
(In this classic, two-volume set of collected essays, Wolf...)
( This highly acclaimed work demonstrates Wolfhart Pannen...)
( Known as one of the most outstanding theologians of the...)
("It is not enough to recite the Apostles' Creed; one must...)
("Christianity and Myth" starts off this particularly valu...)
(The essays included in this volume focus on specific stan...)
(Wolfhart Pannenberg is widely regarded as one of the fore...)
(Format Paperback Subject Religion Bible Studies Publisher...)
(Format Paperback Subject Literary Collections Publisher W...)
(Basic Questions in Theology: Collected Essays Volume II B...)
(Book by Wolfhart Pannenberg, Francis McDonagh (Translator))
(Book by Pannenberg, Wolfhart, John Maxwell)
(Book by Pannenberg, Wolfhart)
(1 SOFTCOVER BOOK)
(Two Volume Set. Westminster Press (blue cover) soft cover...)
(Religion)
Pannenberg was an outspoken critic of the approval of homosexual relations by the Evangelical Church in Germany, going so far as to say that a church which approves of homosexual practice is no longer a true church. He returned his Federal Order of Merit after the decoration was awarded to a lesbian activist.
Wolfhart Pannenberg insisted that the resurrection of Jesus provides the best key for understanding that reality. He believed that faith should be based, not upon feeling or supposed authority, but upon what is known, most reasonable, or most probable. There is such a thing as revelation through which God becomes known, but revelation is not something selected for a few chosen people or even for a chosen nation.
Pannenberg believed, as Reinhold Niebuhr once argued, that Christianity can be shown to be empirically superior to all alternative interpretations of the meaning of life and history. One must not, however, begin with supernatural doctrines about the person and work of Jesus-that he was the incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, or the Divine Logos. Rather, this traditional Christology "from above" must be replaced with the conclusions that result from established methods of historical scholarship, or Christology "from below. "
It is only when one studies the New Testament with such utter honesty that the event of Jesus' resurrection becomes acknowledged as objective historical fact, thereby confirming the high Christology of the New Testament that Jesus was "descended from David according to the flesh, " but was "designated Son of God . .. by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).
The significance of that fact becomes clear when we ask about the meaning of our own lives. Death would seem to cancel any meaning to life. The promise of a future earthly utopia, so popular among Marxists, leaves past generations out of any participation in the final fulfillment. But the New Testament understands the resurrection of Jesus to be an anticipation of the end and goal of history, the first fruit of a larger harvest, which will be the general resurrection of the dead. Then, as written words only have meaning in relation to a sentence, and as sentences find their meaning in relation to a book, so too the lives of individuals and the history of nations will fulfill their meaning in this transcendent solution, the general resurrection, judgment, and the life everlasting.
New Testament eschatology in general, and especially the "Kingdom of God" which Jesus proclaimed, is this retroactive power of a future fulfillment to bring to completion the fragmentary character of life as we know it. In Jesus there pre-occurred what will finally occur for all of us-the consummation of personal life in the eschatological future.
Pannenberg was a brilliant and creative intellect, interested in the broad spectrum of academic knowledge.
Pannenberg married Hilke Shütte in 1954.