Wolfhart Pannenberg

              Here is a reflection stimulated by my reading of The Fullness of Time: Jesus Christ, Science, and Modernity Kindle Edition, 2021 by Kara N. Slade.          In my studies of philosophy, I weaned myself away from finding a philosopher that I thought approximated the truth. I approach philosophy as a means toward helping me think through a viewing of the world that seems right to me. Such a view of philosophy is always open to further amendments that may make me shift my perspective. What this means is that I can read both Plato and Aristotle with great profit, and not think I must choose between them. The same is true of Hegel and Kierkegaard, both of whom have perspectives that have nourished me in my intellectual journey. Hegel, for example, has a powerful critique of the “scientific human being” of his time, represented in both Rationalism (Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza) and Empir...

  Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, and John of Damascus were among those who urged church councils to adopt a set of beliefs regarding God, Christology, and the Holy Spirit. They would present their beliefs in concise, summary form. I thought I would put my mind to the same task.  Christian theology builds upon the ambiguous human experience of the divine, the sense that our finite and temporal lives connect to something much larger, and we are accountable for the lives we lead.  The Trinity is the way Christians identify God. This doctrine seeks a glimpse into the inner life of God, even though God is beyond our comprehension. God is Infinite and Eternal, meaning that God is present in every place and in every moment, giving God intimate knowledge of every place and every moment. The Infinite and Eternal essence of God means that the energy, grace, and presence of God is a reality for every finite and temporal thing. Yet, the Infinite...

  The following two works,   Purity of Heart  and   Works of Love,   ought to have placed Kierkegaard in the ranks of classic devotional works.               In 1846, Kierkegaard published  Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing  as part of the volume,  Edifying Discourses in Various Spirits.  He wrote it in his name. He dedicated it “that solitary individual.”              He wrote a brief “Preface.”             Chapter 1 has the title, “Introduction: Man and the Eternal.” He quotes from Ecclesiastes 3:11, “God made all things beautiful in his time; also he hath set eternity within man’s heart.” Eternity must be able to exist within us. A discussion of it must have a different ring. Something shall always have its time. For some people, repentance came late...

Existentialism Essay Every great work makes the human face more admirable and richer, and this is its whole secret. [1] The one thing your friends will never forgive you is your happiness. - Albert Camus It is Europe’s mystery that life is no longer loved. – Albert Camus   This essay on existentialism will explore the role it might play in the formation of a theological approach to humanity, clarify the place philosophy and science in relation to any notion of divine revelation, explore the strangeness of the kerygma/gospel to modern ears, gain clarity into the act of faith, and even re-examine my view of Jewish apocalyptic and eschatology and their continuing relevance for theology and church today. I take Heidegger in  Being and Time  as providing the pattern of existential philosophy. However, the family of existential philosophers do not all think alike, and I will broaden our understanding of the possibilities within existentialism by consideration of other authors, ...