Wolfhart Pannenberg

          In Chapter 1, Pannenberg wants to explore the way in which truth needs to be the theme of any exploration into Christian teaching. If one reads this chapter carefully, the result will be a thorough grasp of the approach to the theological task that Pannenberg will develop throughout the three volumes. For example, “theology” refers to the divine as the all-embracing founding principle of all being. In Plato, illumination is the result of dialectical reasoning. He will want to stress that God makes possible the knowledge of God through revelation. Truth is the theme of theology, and not just the training of the leaders of the church. Theology is not simply a “practical” or “moral” discipline. Therefore, theology has a deep ambiguity in that it may be nothing more than human talk and therefore not be theology at all. Theology, he thinks, must include the act of advocating for the truth of Christian discourse about God. As such, it must be able to f...

     My introduction to German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg was a class at Asbury Seminary in 1975. His Basic Questions (1967, 1971) was a series of essays that I found challenging. I read his Jesus: God and Man (1964, 1968) as I got into being pastor of churches. He did not write his Systematic Theology 1988 and Geoffrey W. Bromiley did not complete the English translation until 1991. I was excited, devouring the book.   Although I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, he has been my teacher through the years. He wrote Theology and the Philosophy of Science in 1973 and Anthropology in a Theological Perspective in 1985. Given his approach to theology, these were two books he needed to write before he could he write his Systematic Theology.             My journey with Pannenberg is a gift that has kept giving. One reason his writings have attracted me is his insightful reflection on Hegel. My...