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[German Version] The protagonists of the South Korean Minjung theology (Korea: IV) that emerged in the 1970s have always stressed that they, as Christians, only represent a minority within a much larger movement. The Sino-Korean name formed through the combination of the syllables Min (people) and Jung (mass) refers to the Korean people and their suffering under foreign rule and oppression. Centuries of Chinese domination, the Japanese colonization (1905–1945), the division of the country (1945), the Cold War, and a bloody civil war (1950–1…

[German Version] The term “intercultural theology” does not yet refer to a clearly circumscribed subdiscipline of theology nor to a specific method. Its respective meaning is defined by the research interests of those who employ it. Nonetheless, a paradigm shift is taking place here at the margins of the traditional canon of disciplines that will influence the entire discipline of theology. Important impulses originate in the disciplines of the history of religions or religious studies, missiology and ecumenics …

[German Version] I. Systematic Theology – II. Missiology I. Systematic Theology …

[German Version] I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology - II. Missiology I. Dogmatics, Fundamental Theology The term “accommodation” (from Latin accommodatio, “accommodation, adaptation”) originated in classical rhetoric (I); it denotes the adaptation of an object to its environment – in rhetoric (II), the adaptation of linguistic expression to its subject matter, purpose, and audience. In Christian rhetoric, it took on a deeper theological …

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Meaning – III. Missiology I. Terminology The term local church owes its theological rediscovery to Vatican II and must be understood against the background of the Roman Catholic understanding of the church (VIII, 2.b). There it denotes the church in a specific region, usually a diocese. From a systematic perspective, it refers to the middle level of ecclesiastical organization, between the Roman Catholic universal church and the Catholic parish. In German Protestanti…

[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, …

[German Version] ¶ I. Terminology To an unusual degree, the theology of the Trinity is c…

[German Version] I. The Concept 1. History. As a sign of modern reflection on religion from an anthropo-philosophical perspective, we may take the emergence of philosophical anthropology (Human beings) c. 1600 (Odo Marquard) and the philosophy of religion c. 1770. However these two disciplines are defined – whether as (sub)disciplines of philosophy or simply as philosophy –, they are related to the problems raised by the various positions taken in modern debates over (Christian) religious belief (Faith) and the Chris…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. Christianity – V. Dogmatics – VI. Islam I. History of Religions The terms messiah and messianism derive from the Hebrew word māšîaḥ, “anointed one.” Under the impact of foreign rule in Israel and Judah beginning in the 6th century bce, the word took on a new meaning: the Messiah was expected to bring deliverance from foreigners and oppressors, and in part to inaugurate the eschatological age of salvation (see II–IV below). The word's meaning was expanded in the 13th century, when it entered the technical language of Christian theology in religious polemic against the Jews. In addition, around 1900 the term messianism was coined as a term of disapprobation applicable to all other religions: messianism became synonymous with redemption religion, characterizing religions that awaited redemption from without (more extremely: from the beyond), in contrast to Christianity, which actively shaped the world. If the redeemer is expected to be a political leader, then political religion and cults of personality come under the heading. ¶ As an analytical concept, messianism is not universally human; it is associated with a social movement, a specific histo…

[German Version] I. History of the Discipline – II. Methodology – III. Missiology and Other Disciplines – IV. Missiological Hermeneutics – V. Topics of Missiology – VI. Research and Study I. History of the Discipline From the outset, Christians have reflected on the practical and theological questions posed by the Christian mission, as illustrated, for example, by the Pauline Epistles, the book of Acts, and, c. 600, the well-known missionary instructions of Gregory the Great. At certain critical times in the history of Christianity, this reflection has produced focused systematic and conceptual attention – for instance in the era of the Crusades on Islam (Peter the Venerable, R. Lull)…

[German Version] I…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies, Systematics – II. Academic Research Disciplines – III. History – IV. Christian Theology I. Religious Studies, Systematics 1. Methodology. In defining the relationship between art and religion from the perspective of religious studies, one cannot speak of a universal concept of art and religion on the phenomenal level. To do comparative work, however, sufficient abstract characteristics must be established as a tertium comparationis to enable a systematic examination of the relationship between art and religion. This is possible through a moderately functional perspective that determines the pertinent function of art and religion as well as their contributions to each another apart from their historically and culturally varying manife…