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In: Volume 1 Dawn of Ecumenism | Part III. Beginnings: Movements Become a Movement previous chapter 1 The Early Years Lauritz (Lars) Olof Jonathan Söderblom, called Nathan from his boyhood, was born in the small village of Trönö, province of Hälsingland, Northern Sweden, on Jan 15, 1866. He was the second of seven children, two of whom had died in infancy. His father Jonas, an adherent of Carl Olof Rosenius’s new-evangelical revival movement, was the Lutheran pastor there. This movement was strongly indebted to Ang…

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[German Version] from Greek εὐδαίμων/ eudaímōn, “happy.” Although the term sometimes occurs in the works of Aristotle (e.g. Eth. nic. 1127b18), he em…

[German Version] I. History of the Concept – II. Current State of the Problem “Autonomy” (Gk αὐτονομία) refers to self-regulation, self-determination, self-normativity. Autonomy can designate the political independence of states, the self-dependence of individuals, or the internal authority of institutions. The theological problem concerns the relationship of the modern concept of autonomy to the human relationship with God.…

[German Version] I. Religion – II. Philosophy – III. History of Theology and Dogmatics – IV. Ethics I. Religion Talk of happiness refers to a deeper level of experience than enjoying oneself or feeling good. Happiness denotes success in life; the pursuit of happiness is a universal element in human life and thought. The hope of happiness may take ritual forms, especially in connection with rites of passage when a change of social position and status makes life uncertain, for instance at birth and weddings. The…

[German Version] I. Dogmatics – II. Ethics I. Dogmatics In Protestant dogmatics, the debate on the term “heteronomy” (etymology, see II below) is characterized by the fact that “heteronomy” is not only defined as the opposite of “autonomy” but also of “theonomy” (cf. also Graf). P. Tillich regards heteronomy and auton-¶ omy as being essentially rooted in a theonomy that is unattainable under the conditions of existence. In the dialectical course of the history of theonomy, autonomy, and heteronomy, heteronomy represents a reaction to the domin…

[German Version] I. Theology The use of pleasure or enjoyment in a theological context began with Augustine of Hippo, who defined it as “amore alicui rei inhaerere propter seipsam” ( Doctr. chr. I 4.4; PL col. 20). The “res” is solely God, the highest good. The ethically telic uti (“use”) is subordinated to frui (“enjoyment”). Scholasticism followed Augustine but connected frui with the ultimus finis of humanity and secondarily with everything that occasions love of God (Thomas Aquinas In primum librum Sententiarum d.1 q.2 a.1, ratio 2). The German equivalent Genieß was not used in medieval theology; its…

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[German Version] I. History of Literature (Early Church) – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics – VI. Ecumenism – VII. Dialogue and Mission I. History of Literature (Early Church) Dialogue, as a philosophical disputation with the objective of vanquishing the opponent at all costs, originated with the Sophists (Sophistic School); as a literary form, Plato's …

[German Version] The word derives from the Greek ἡδονή/ hēdonḗ (“joy…

[German Version] I. Life – II. Church Historian – III. Systematic Theologian Jul 6, 1912, Berlin-Steglitz – Sep 30, 2001, Zollikerberg/Zürich), Protestant German theologian. I. Life …

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Jewish and Christian Antiquity – III. Middle Ages to Modern Times I. History of Religion Hypocrisy as a deliberate feigning of non-existent situations is a special case of concealment. F. Bacon made a distinction between a morally necessary silence and a passive secretiveness, and between both of these and active hypocrisy or pretence. As a sociologist, G. Simmel regarded non-disclosure as a necessary means for enabling social relationships. Here, social distance and pr…