Wolfhart Pannenberg

  The most widespread and longest-lasting theological controversies of the 4th century focused on the Christian doctrine of the   Trinity—that is, the threeness of   God represented in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Augustine's Africa had been left out of much of the fray, and most of what was written on the subject was in Greek, a language Augustine barely knew and had little access to. But he was keenly aware of the prestige and importance of the topic, and so in 15 books he wrote his own exposition of it,   De trinitate   (399/400–416/421;   The Trinity ). Augustine is carefully orthodox, after the spirit of his and succeeding times, but adds his own emphasis in the way he teaches the resemblance between God and man: the threeness of God he finds reflected in a galaxy of similar triples in the human soul, and he sees there both food for meditation and deep reason for optimism about the ultimate human condition. He argues against skepticism by saying t...

            I want to raise the question of the church in relationship to its culture. In fact, Wolfhart Pannenberg ( “ Kingdom of God and the Church,” 1967, in   Theology and the Kingdom of God,  1969) notes that one can understand the church only in relationship to the world. For him, too many people take the church seriously by denigrating the world. The relationship is essential for the authentic vocation of the church. In fact, the very concept of a Christian community presupposes an other larger community.   A classic statement of the relationship is in Augustine ( City of God,  Books 11-22) saying that the city of humanity was one that began with Cain, who served himself, while the city of God is symbolized by Abel. The city of God is traceable through Noah, Abraham, Moses, the children of Israel, David, the prophets, and the church. The church is a witness to this city, for humanity will find its fulfillment in the city of G...