Eberhard Jüngel

Eberhard Jüngel (born 5 December 1934) is a German Lutheran theologian. He is also Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology and the Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Evangelical Theology of the University of Tübingen.^[1]

Life and works

Eberhard Jüngel was born into a non-religious home in Magdeburg in the old German Democratic Republic.^[2] His decision to pursue a career in theology met with 'the concerned astonishment of my mother and the resolute refusal of my father.' ^[3] However, it was precisely the socialist milieu into which he was born which led him to Christian theology: "That was the discovery of the church as the one place within a Stalinist society where one could speak the truth without being penalized." ^[4]

Jüngel studied Theology originally at the universities of Naumburg (Saale) and Berlin.^[5] During this time he was particularly interested in developing the works of Ernst Fuchs and Heinrich Vogel, two influences who remain important throughout his work. He concluded his undergraduate theological studies abroad in Switzerland, working with Gerhard Ebeling at the Universität Zürich and Karl Barth at the Universität Basel. In 1961, Jüngel graduated before successfully presenting his Habilitation in 1962 at the Kirchliche Hochschule Berlin-Ost.

In 1962, as a direct result of the erection of the Berlin Wall,^[6] Jüngel was appointed to the position of Dozent für Neues Testament (Lecturer in New Testament) in the Hochschule; a position he retained until 1966. At the end of his tenure at the Hochschule, Jüngel was appointed as Ordinarius für Systematische Theologie und Dogmengeschichte (Full Professor of Systematic Theology and History of Dogmatics) at the Universität Zürich where he taught until 1969. Moving back to Germany in 1969, Jüngel accepted a position of Ordinarius für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie (Full Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion) at the Universität Tübingen, where he also assumed the role of Director of the Institute for Hermeneutics. Despite a plethora of offers for positions at other universities, Jüngel remained at Tübingen until his retirement in 2003. His successor to the professorial chair at Tübingen was the Systematic Theologian Christoph Schwoebel.

Jüngel held a number of additional positions throughout his academic career:

• Between 1987 and 2005, Jüngel held the position of Ephorus (Director) of the 'Evangelischen Stifts Tübingen'. He was succeeded in 2005 by the Theologian and Church Historian Volker Henning Drecoll.

• From 2003 to 2006, Jüngel was the Director of the 'Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft' in Heidelberg.

• In 2007, Jüngel was appointed as the Gadamer-Stiftungsprofessor.

He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.^[7]

Bibliography

German Works

• Gott als Geheimnis der Welt: Zur Begründung der Theologie des Gekreuzigten im Streit zwischen Theismus und Atheismus, Mohr Siebeck, 1982.

English Translations

• "The Christian Understanding of Suffering" in Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 65 (1988), pp. 3–13.
• Christ, Justice and Peace: Toward a Theology of the State in Dialogue with the Barmen Declaration (ET 1992, translated by Alan Torrance and D. Bruce Hamill).
• "The Cross After Postmodernity" in One Incarnate Faith: Christianity's answer to spiritual chaos, ed. by Uwe Siemon-Netto (2002).
• Death: The Riddle and the Mystery (ET 1975).
• The Freedom of a Christian: Luther's Significance for Contemporary Theology (ET 1988).
• God as the Mystery of the World: On the Foundation of the Theology of the Crucified One in the Dispute between Theism and Atheism (ET 1983).
• "God - as a Word of Our Language" in F. Herzog, ed., Theology of the Liberating Word (English translation 1971), pp. 24–45.
• God's Being Is in Becoming: The Trinitarian Being of God in the Theology of Karl Barth - A Paraphrase (ET 2001); previously translated as The Doctrine of the Trinity (ET 1976).
• "The Gospel and the Protestant Churches of Europe: Christian Responsibility for Europe from a Protestant Perspective," in Religion, State and Society 21:2 (1993), pp. 137–149.
• Justification: The Heart of the Christian Faith (ET 2001).
• Karl Barth: A Theological Legacy (ET 1986).
• "The Last Judgment as an Act of Grace" in Louvain Studies 14 (1990), pp. 389–405.
• "Life after Death? A Response to Theology's Silence about Eternal Life" in Word and World 11 (1991), pp. 5–8.
• "On the Doctrine of Justification" in the International Journal of Systematic Theology 1:1 (1999), pp. 24–52.
• "The Relationship between 'Economic' and 'Immanent' Trinity" in Theology Digest 24 (1976), pp. 179–184.
• "Response to Josef Blank" in H. Küng and D. Tracy, eds., Paradigm Change in Theology: A Symposium for the Future (ET 1989), pp. 297–304.
• "Sermon on Matthew 25:1-12" in Toronto Journal of Theology 18:1 (Spring 2002), pp. 13–19.
• Theological Essays I (ET 1989).
• Theological Essays II (ET 1994).
• "Theses on the Relation of the Existence, Essence and Attributes of God" in Toronto Journal of Theology 17 (2001), pp. 55–74.
• "To tell the world about God: The task for the mission of the church on the threshold of the third millennium" in International Review of Mission (April 30, 2000).
• "Toward the Heart of the Matter" in Christian Century 108:7 (1991), pp. 228–233.
• "Trinitarian Prayers for Christian Worship," in Word and World 18 (Summer 1998), pp. 244–253.
• "The Truth of Life: Observations on Truth as the Interruption of the Continuity of Life" in R.W.A. Mackinney, ed., Creation, Christ, and Culture: Studies in Honour of T. F. Torrance (ET 1976), pp. 231–236.
• "What does it mean to say, 'God is love'?" in Hart and Thimell, eds., Christ in our Place: Essays Presented to Prof. James Torrance (ET 1989), pp. 294–312.

See also

• List of Christian theologians
• Christian theology
• Protestantism

References

External links

• Eberhard Jüngel Reading Room, with extensive links to on-line primary and secondary sources(Tyndale Seminary)