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1. Term The term “reconciliation” has been an important one in Christian theology, although it is used sparingly in the NT. It is most prominent in 2 Cor. 5:18–21. God has restored to himself the relationship with the world that human transgressions had irretrievably broken. Reconciliation really involves a new creation, in which a person “is in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17; New Self). God accomplished this new creation by redeeming the world “in Christ.” Reconciliation is the same as atonement, which strictly means “at-one-ment.” But atonement has come to have a narrower use…

1. Protestant Theology 1.1. Theology in Confrontation with the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Materialism 1.1.1. Theology in Relation to Church and State Protestant Despite the many similarities and convergent tasks that connected Protestant theology in many countries in the 19th and 20th centuries, there were significant differences, dependent on the relation of theology, church, and state or society. In central Europe and Scandinavia, theology was mostly an integral part of the state universities, except for countries where Protestants were a minor…

1. Term Tolerance is, according to its literal sense, “bearing” (Lat. tolero, “carry, bear, tolerate”). At a first level, this means to accept others, including something that is different. On a secondary level, there is the added point of seeing the existence of others as valid, as well as their special features within defined arrangements, without being significantly concerned about, or striving for, integration. In a further step, others—strangers—are accepted, along with their particularities. Finally,…

The original meaning of “hermeneutics” is “translation” in the broadest sense: the authoritative communication of a message (e.g., from God) that needs a mediator, the rendering of a text from one language into another, and the exposition of something said or written with a view to bringing out its meaning. The term is derived from the Greek hermēneuō, “interpret, explain, translate.” The root derives from the name of the Greek god Hermes, the mediator of meaning between the realm of gods and that of human beings. In the NT the term (including its use with the prefixes dia. and meta-) is t…

1. The Phrase “Dialectical theology” is the name for a movement that after World War I initiated a new period in theology and the church, first of all in Germany. It found expression in the journal Zwischen den Zeiten (Between the times; 1923–33), produced by Karl Barth (1886–1968), Friedrich Gogarten (1887–1967), Georg Merz (1892–1959), and Eduard Thurneysen (1888–1974). Coworkers were Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) and Emil Brunner (1889–1966); for a time, Paul Tillich (1886–1965) was also in dialogue with them. 1.1. Purpose What the proponents of the trend had in mind can ha…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament – IV. History of Dogma – V. Dogmatics – VI. Ethics – VII. Philosophy of Religion – VIII. Judaism – IX. Islam (cf. Present and Future Eschatology, Consistent Eschatology) I. Religious Studies 1. The Problem of Terminology Eschatology (“discourse” or “doctrine” [Gk λόγος/ lógos] concerning the “last things” [Gk ἔσχατα/ éschata]) is a neologism that was introduced in the late 18th century in the con- text of the definition of the “last things,” i.e. of the novissima of medieval theology (death, …

[German Version] I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions – II. Old Testament – III. Jewish Apocalypticism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Islam – VIII. Art History I. Definition of the Term as a Problem for the History of Religions As a phenomenon in the history of religions, apocalypticism represents a form of revealed communication distinct from other types such as prophecy (Prophets and prophecy: I), oracle, mantic…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Dogmatics – III. Art History I. History of Religions The Last Judgment is a divine judgment of all humankind that takes place at the end of time (End of the world). Unlike the particular judgment of each individual immediately after death, it is necessarily associated with the idea of universal history, which plays a fundamental role in Zoroastrianism (Zarathustra) as well as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Here the understanding of reality is shaped by the eon…

[German Version] (Dec 24, 1901, Krosno Odrzaúskie [Ger. Crossen an der Oder], Poland – Apr 15, 1970, Bonn), became pastor in Bernau near Berlin in 1927, lecturer in theology at the foreign seminary in Ilsenburg in 1929, and director of studies at the seminary in Naumburg/Queis in 1933 (illegal seminary of the Confessing Church from 1934 to 1938). He was removed from office in 1935 and forbidden to speak ¶ publicly or publish. Expelled from Silesia in 1938, he pastored in Erfurt from 1939 onward; he was appointed provost in 1945, professor of systematic theology in…

1. Definition and substanceEschatology (the doctrine of the “last things,” Greek  éschata, Latin  novissima,  extrema) is the term coined in the 17th century for the theological doctrine of the end and consummate state of each individual as well as the cosmos as a whole (see 3.3. below); it also includes religious imaginings and their (pictorial) representation. But eschatology is not the same as futurology, which attempts to present a likely future through extrapolation, or utopia, which sketches a speculat…

1. Begriff und GegenstandE. (Lehre von den »letzten Dingen«, griech. éschata; lat. novissima, extrema) ist die im 17. Jh. geprägte Bezeichnung für die theologische Lehre von dem Ende und der Vollendung des einzelnen Menschen wie des Kosmos insgesamt (s. u. 3.3.); sie schließt auch die religiösen Vorstellungen und ihre (bildliche) Darstellung mit ein. E. meint jedoch nicht Futurologie, die durch Extrapolation Zukünftiges wahrscheinlich macht, oder Utopie, die solches spekulativ entwirft, sondern versucht auf der Basis der christl. Offenbarung Aussagen über Endgültiges u…