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1. Term The term “suffering” describes the involvement of all life in finitude and vulnerability. As a rule, distinction is made between social, psychological, intellectual, and physical dimensions. Each affects the sufferer as a whole. Anxiety and grief are mainly but not exclusively emotional. In some recent discussions suffering has been more fully ascribed to organic and inorganic nature. Theologically, the experience of suffering calls for discussion in the doctrine of God. The question of God’s part in suffering is linked to the relation between s…

1. Philosophy A philosophical discussion of time faces the task of inquiring into the original, objectively first, and fundamental experience of time, of reflecting on its multiplicity, and then of defining it. It should not be forgotten that time, for its part, has its own temporal and historical conditions. The relationship of time and being, the distinction between time and the temporal, and the fact that those who try to understand time are in time themselves must all be focal points in the discussion. 1.1. Gnostic Philosophy and Thomas Aquinas Classical metaphysics (Philosophy o…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. Early Judaism – III. New Testament – IV. Dogmatics I. Old Testament Before the Exile, the Jerusalem priesthood was headed by a primus inter pares – called either הַכֹּהֵן/ hakkohen (“the priest,” e.g. 1 Kgs 4:2; 2 Kgs 11:9; 12:8*) or כֹּהֵן הָרֹש/ kohen hāroš (“chief priest,” cf. 2 Kgs 25:18 par. Jer. 52:24) –, but not by a high priest. The term הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדֹל/ hakkohen haggādol (“high priest”) is securely ¶ attested only after the Exile; it emphasizes the importance of the office (Num 35:25, 28 [P; cf. Lev 21:10; Josh 20:6]; …

[German Version] I. Primitive Christianity – II. History of Doctrine – III. Dogmatics – IV. Forms of Extra-ecclesial Christology I. Primitive Christianity 1. History of research and preliminary questions a.  The term Christology, which originated in the early 17th century, was coined for systematic reflection concerning Jesus Christ. Initially, conceptions and Christologies dealing with the salvation history of the whole Bible beginning with the Old Testament were as highly valued as the New Testament (cf. e.g. G.F. Händel's Messiah). NT Christology went its own way…