Theology for the Future
Eugen Biser and Richard Heinzmann in Dialogue
von Eugen Biser und Richard Heinzmann, übersetzt von Kenneth L. PlotnikEugen Biser enjoys a special place among the prominent theologians of the period spanning the end of the Twentieth Century and the beginning of the Twenty-First. He succeeded in fulfilling the requirements to become a professor in both philosophy and theology. He began his career as a professor of fundamental theology and gradually extended his great competence to all the major areas of theology.
At one point in his career, Father Biser was invited to assume the Chair for Christian Worldview and Philosophy of Religion—known as the Romano Guardini Chair—of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich. By accepting this invitation, he left both the insularity of a theological faculty as well as the classical demarcations of the theological disciplines.
This meant freedom from the limitations imposed by a specific branch of theology with its specific requirements—a freedom from a tendency to become myopic. It allowed Father Biser to wholeheartedly direct his attention and his endeavors to the original vital source of Christianity. His subsequent wide-ranging explorations led him to discover anew the heart and identity of Christianity, and to see this as the source of understanding what it means to be a Christian.
It is particularly important to note that Eugen Biser does not pursue theology for its own sake, despite the rigorous theological discipline he imposes on himself. He is convinced that a pursuit of theology for its own sake is meaningless and unjustifiable. In Jesus Christ, God reaches out to humanity. In a similar way, every reflection on this mystery must speak to men and women in their daily lives. If theology is not to be an empty activity, it must be proclamation. This is a kerygmatic theology, or a theological kerygma, that does not address an abstract humanity, but rather addresses concrete men and women living in a particular historical period with their own existential challenges. Consequently, theology must be a reflection on the Christ event that will answer each person’s existential questions. This is exactly what the theology of Eugen Biser does. Therefore, it is natural—perhaps even imperative—to make his theology available to a wider public, and this is what this book endeavors to do.
These thoughts about a theology for the future and the future of Christianity were originally produced for the Cultural Channel of Bavarian Television, BR-alpha, and were re-transmitted repeatedly. They can be watched in German in the media library of the German public broadcast ARD. The lively response to this program led the Eugen Biser Foundation to transform this dialogue between Eugen Biser and Richard Heinzmann into a book, now in its third edition. It seemed that a translation was advisable for the English-speaking world, especially in the U. S. A., where there is an increasing interest in this work.
At one point in his career, Father Biser was invited to assume the Chair for Christian Worldview and Philosophy of Religion—known as the Romano Guardini Chair—of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Munich. By accepting this invitation, he left both the insularity of a theological faculty as well as the classical demarcations of the theological disciplines.
This meant freedom from the limitations imposed by a specific branch of theology with its specific requirements—a freedom from a tendency to become myopic. It allowed Father Biser to wholeheartedly direct his attention and his endeavors to the original vital source of Christianity. His subsequent wide-ranging explorations led him to discover anew the heart and identity of Christianity, and to see this as the source of understanding what it means to be a Christian.
It is particularly important to note that Eugen Biser does not pursue theology for its own sake, despite the rigorous theological discipline he imposes on himself. He is convinced that a pursuit of theology for its own sake is meaningless and unjustifiable. In Jesus Christ, God reaches out to humanity. In a similar way, every reflection on this mystery must speak to men and women in their daily lives. If theology is not to be an empty activity, it must be proclamation. This is a kerygmatic theology, or a theological kerygma, that does not address an abstract humanity, but rather addresses concrete men and women living in a particular historical period with their own existential challenges. Consequently, theology must be a reflection on the Christ event that will answer each person’s existential questions. This is exactly what the theology of Eugen Biser does. Therefore, it is natural—perhaps even imperative—to make his theology available to a wider public, and this is what this book endeavors to do.
These thoughts about a theology for the future and the future of Christianity were originally produced for the Cultural Channel of Bavarian Television, BR-alpha, and were re-transmitted repeatedly. They can be watched in German in the media library of the German public broadcast ARD. The lively response to this program led the Eugen Biser Foundation to transform this dialogue between Eugen Biser and Richard Heinzmann into a book, now in its third edition. It seemed that a translation was advisable for the English-speaking world, especially in the U. S. A., where there is an increasing interest in this work.
