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[German Version] I. Fundamental Theology – II. Philosophy of Religion I. Fundamental Theology The relationship between…

[German Version] I. Philosophy Thinking is a ramified concept. A survey of the phenomena of thinking must register several distinctions. (a) Thinking may be propositional (“X thinks that p”) or nominal (“X thinks of Y ”). (b) Propositional thinking is sometimes a state in which a thinker can be even whe…

[German Version] I. Philosophy Rationality is derived from Latin ratio (“calculation, consideration, reason”) and medieval Latin rationalitas (“reason, capacity for thought”). The term denotes various intellectual capacities that distinguish human beings as “rational animals” from the other more highly developed animals. In German, from the 18th century, these capacities were generally designated as Verstand (Intellect: I) and Vernunft (Rea…

[German Version] I. History – II. System I. History 1. Catholic Tradition In the Catholic tradition today fundamental theology is regarded as an independent theological discipline (Theology: IV) which is concerned with the fundamental discussion of God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ and its credibility within Christian practice and in the context of modern thought, and the provision of a corresponding methodological self-reflection on the discourse about God. Fundamental theology is rooted in Christian apologetics and in theological endeavors to provide a justifica…

[German Version] I. Historical Development When dogmatics represented the totality of theology, the prolegomena laid out the subject area of theology and examined the possibility of apprehending it theoretically: the constitutive conditions of belief and its theological propositions, as well as the sources and structures of theological knowledge. In the brief introduction to his Loci communes (1521), Melanchthon could concentrate on identifying the power of sin, the law, and grace as his central themes, because in them the knowledge of Christ and h…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies In the 1960s, religious studies began to discuss the continuing decline of religious commitment in Europe intens…