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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Church History – III. Survey of the Christian Confessions – IV. Systematic Theology I. Religious Studies For an overview of Christianity at the end of the second millennium of its development, it is reasonable to give a comparative presentation against the background of the world of religion. It must be remembered, however, that “religion” is not an immutable, ahistorical quantity: it is variable and controversial. The modern concept of religion is …

[German Version] I. Law 1. Catholicism. Within the total structure of the church, the teaching office is the court of final authority for preserving, transmitting and interpreting the faith. The teaching office stands under the Word of God (Vatican II, DV 10: magisterium …

[German Version] I. European Christian Churches – II. Churches Worldwide – III. Islam I. European Christian Churches 1. Catholic Church A division of the …

[German Version] I. Terminology Ecumenical discussion (Ecumenicalism), in particular, assumes that the term “apostolic succession” refers to an original and clearly defined characteristic of the church office. However, the notion that the notae ecclesiae indicate an unbroken chain, going back to the apostles, of officeholders who have each come into office through the laying-on of hands by another legitimate officeholder, appeared only relatively late and is not the original meaning of the underlying Greek and Latin semantic field. The Greek and Latin terms διαδοχή/ diadochḗ/successio, διάδοχος/ diádochos/successor and διαδέχεσθαι/ diadéchesthai/succedo initially described the most varied forms of continuity: “succession,” “successor” and “to succeed.”…

[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 philosophical dialogues became a model for posterity. Characteristic here are the intention to free from false opinions and to communicate …

[German Version] In essence, any theology is ecumenical in that the Christian truth is addressed to all. Ecumenical theology in a narrower sense deals with the division of Christianity into exclusive confessions (denominations) and reflects possibilities for overcoming the various divisions with the objective of one fellowship among the Christian churches. Ecumenical theology developed out of the controversial theology that defended the claim to be the church of Jesus Christ against competing claims, refuting them (polemi…

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[German Version] I. Church History – II. Church Law – III. Dogmatics I. Church History 1. Early Church Council (Lat. concilium, Gk σύνοδος [Lat. synodum]; the two terms were first differentiated in modern usage; see also synod) are meetings of bishops from various communities for binding clarification of disciplinary, organizational, or doctrinal questions, whose decisions, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, are not in principle revisable and claim validity for the whole church r…

[German Version] (May 6, 1796, Igersheim – Apr 12, 1838, Munich), Catholic church historian and systematic theologi…

[German Version] I. Concept – II. Religious Studies – III. Early Christianity – IV. Early Church to the Reformation – V. Modern Era – VI. Orthodox Churches – VII. Asia, Africa, Latin America – VIII. Systematic Theology – IX. Ethics – X. Practical Theology – XI. Ecumenical Discussion – XII. Law I. Concept 1. Theology The loan-word, church, which in common parlance can mean both the Christian worship service and the building dedicated to its performance as well as the constituted social configuration of Christian faith in the sense of an institution and its representative organs, apparently stems from an adjectival derivative of the Greek substantive κύριος/ kýrios. While, in accordance with this etymology, the church concept indicates affiliation to the…

[German Version] (May 21, 1892, Cologne – Nov 14, 1971, Munich), Catholic fundamental theologian and philosopher of religion. He headed the Albertus Magnus Academy in Cologne from 1924 to 1930. In 1937 he was appointed professor at Braunsberg. From 1947 to 1958 he held the chair of fundamental theology and philosophical propaedeutics at the University of Munich. Within the context of Neoscholasticism, he sought to break through a purely rest…

[German Version] I. Terminology Especially in ecumenical discussion (Ecumene), there is a widespread assumption that the expression apostolic succession denotes a primitive and clearly defined attribute of ecclesiastical office. However, the notion that the marks of the church (Notae ecclesiae) inc…

[German Version] It was Cyprian of Carthage who first used the term collegium for the collective episcopate ( Ep. 68, c. 254/255). The expression recalls the college of the Twelve in the New Testament and establishes communion among the bishops as leaders of their particular churches, thus guaranteeing the unity of the universal church (Church unity). Bishops were to be consecrated (Bishop, Consecration of) by at least three bishops as representatives of the collegium. With the development of papal primacy, the notion of collegiality receded into the background. The Roman Catholic Church took it up again in the reassessment of the episcopal office by Vatican II. The Bishops' College wields supreme authority in the church, which it exercises in councils and in other collegial acts (LG 22). The tension between collegiality and papal primacy was resolved by pointing to the fact that the pope, as bishop of Rome, is a constitutive member of the Bishops' College, which cannot exist without him. As members of the college, individual bishops have a responsibility toward the entire church. Vatican II also speaks of other bodies that represent portions of the church,…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Law – IX. Missiology I. Religious Studies Over the course of history, the word office has been used for a wide variety of functions. In every case, however, what is peculiar to the term is that it refers to an activity independent of the unique personal characteristics of the officeholder. In the context of religious studies, what first comes to mind is t…

[German Version] I. General – II. Latin America I. General Catholic Action is a general term denoting the corporate involvement of Catholic laity in the church and the world. In the context of 19th-century liberation movements, there emerged various Catholic associations, l…

[German Version] (Dec 31, 1911, Mannheim – Nov 19, 1998, Munich), Catholic fundamental theologian and ecumenicist. He became professor of fundamental the-¶ ology at Tübingen in 1950, and professor of fundamental theology and ecumenics at Munich in 1958. Shaped by the Catholic Tübingen School and by his Newman research, Fries endeavored to ground the faith in the context of contemporary philosophical inquiry. His Fundame…