Wolfhart Pannenberg

In Chapter 6, Pannenberg discusses the unity and attributes of the divine essence, continuing his theological concern of identifying God as Christians understand God. At the close of this discussion, I will have a brief reference to his use of one of his other books. Karl Barth discusses the reality of God in Church Dogmatics Chapter 6, Volume II.I. He will also discuss what it means for God to act, to act freely, and to act freely as one who loves. After discussing the perfections of God, he will discuss the perfections of divine loving in contrasting terms: grace and holiness, mercy and righteousness, patience and wisdom. He will also discuss perfections of the divine freedom in contrasting terms: unity and omnipresence, constancy and omnipotence, eternity and glory. Paul Tillich discusses the reality of God in Volume I of his Systematic Theology. He will discuss God as ultimate concern. He will discuss the actuality of God as Being itself, as living, as creating in originating, s...

In Chapter 5, Pannenberg offers the first portion of his discussion of the Trinitarian God. In fact, Chapters 5 and 6 present his doctrine of God, keeping in view the plurality and debatability of all religious truth claims. He has already said that theology has to do with the study of God. Therefore, identifying God is important. Pannenberg begins the process of identifying this God from the perspective of Christian belief. He will do so understanding that he will need to reformulate the Christianity understanding of God from the standpoint of experience of the world, humanity, and philosophical reflection. He will want to redefine the relations of these doctrines to their historical origins. He will do so by reference to scripture and to Christian tradition. He does this because he is a Christian wrestling with the new realities of any religion that he laid out in Chapters 2 & 3. In his discussion of the Doctrine of God, he wants to see if he can reformulate Christian teach...

In Chapter 4, Pannenberg discusses the revelation of God. It forms a bridge from his discussion of the preliminary matters of the nature of systematic theology in Chapter 1 and his exploration into the philosophy of religion in Chapters 2 and 3 on the one hand, to a discussion of the Christian notion of God in Chapters 5 and 6. He is finishing his preliminary studies. He has already written that theology must deal with knowledge that comes from God, and is therefore inaccessible to human beings apart from that disclosure. Here is a primary point that he learned from Barth. He has argued that talk of God, even in a secular society, is credible because humanity needs a way to talk about the totality of reality and ultimate commitments. He has already argued that in our finitude as human beings we have awareness of our dependence upon the Infinite. He has argued that the religious quest is constitutive to the human journey. He has argued that the religious experience relies upon the...

Chapter 3 continues a discussion by Pannenberg of his philosophy of religion by specifically considering the reality of the divine (God and the Gods) in the experience of the religions. He is still not ready to discuss Christian teaching. He is still preparing the ground, so to speak. He continues to offer his apologetic in convincing the reader that discussion of Christian teaching remains a credible endeavor. He will now wrestle with the challenge presented by the plurality of the religions in light of the quest for truth. He will present criteria for how one could make a reasonable judgment regarding the truth or falsity of a particular religion. Section 1 deals with the concept of religion and the role it has in theological reflection. The breakdown of the inspiration and authority of the Bible in the 16-1700s led to increased focus upon the nature of religion. The work of W. C. Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion (1964) is helpful to Pannenberg at this point. Pannenberg w...

In Chapter 2, Pannenberg will explore the concept of God and the question of its truth. The chapter is actually an exploration into the philosophy of religion. To offer yet another contrast with Karl Barth, here is a chapter that Barth would say no theologian should write. Barth begins quickly in his prolegomena to proclaim the Word of God and revelation. In contrast, Pannenberg thinks that to gain a hearing for the Christian message, one needs persuade others that the discussion of God is still credible, valuable and meaningful. I will divide this chapter into two considerations, one being whether the word “God” is still meaningful in a secular culture, and the other is the yes Pannenberg gives to the notion of a natural knowledge of God and the no he gives to natural theology.            The challenge of secularity is always before him. In this case, he thinks that the mention of God or the divine sounds like a holdover from a childish and superstiti...