The interview with Johanna Rahner, Head of the Chair of Dogmatic and Ecumenical Theology at the University of Tubingen, addresses major issues of theology's presence in public universities. How scientific is theology and how it is related to the doctrine of the Churches? How is theology different from religious studies? Who enrolls in theological departments? How does theology relate to natural sciences? What is the meaning of the inter-church and inter-religious dialogue? Dr. Rahner shows difficulties theology faces when discussing religious experience, and how theology, with a special interpretation of the world and the human being, represents a challenge to other disciplines.
Keywords: theology, science, university, Church doctrine, religious studies, dialogue, the image of religion.
The interview was given to the educational channel of the Bavarian radio ARD-alpha and published on September 22, 2015 under the title " Warum gehört die Theologie an die Universität, Frau Rahner?" [http://www.br.de/fernsehen/ard-alpha/sendungen/campus-diskurs/diskurs-rahner-theologie-1 00.html]. The editors would like to thank the ARD-alpha channel and Professor I. Rahner for their kind permission to publish the Russian translation (with minor abbreviations).
I. Rahner "We must re-position religion in the enlightened society..." (interview) / / State, Religion, Church in Russia and abroad. 2016. N 3. pp. 241-250.
Rahner, Johanna (2016) "We need to re-position religion in an enlightened society..." (interview), Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 34(3): 241-250.
page 241
There are opinion, what times university level theology department gone in the past. Why to the university theology?
Johanna Rahner: The presence of theology at the university is primarily due to historical tradition. Today we are faced with the question of whether this still makes sense. It seems to me that this is a double challenge: first, for theology itself, and second, for other university disciplines. It is indeed a difficult task for theology to reflect on religious experiences at the level of modern discourse, in dialogue with other disciplines. At the same time, theology is also a challenge for other sciences, which consists in the fact that it offers its own interpretation of the world and man. I think the presence of theology at the university is good for both sides.
But there is whether an alternative?
The alternative is theological education as a private matter of the church community. And then theology begins to boil in its own juice.
But many exactly this and do they want to?
Of course, there are people who believe that religion is a private sphere, and therefore the German state should not finance theology in universities. Here arises an "unholy alliance" [of opponents of university theology. - Note. perev.] with church conservatives who say: why is this necessary? We firmly believe in the doctrinal principles of our church and will not allow ourselves to be confused.
University - not simply public service space, but and space sciences. How much scientific theology? With by the Bible disciplines clearly: in of them applied historical, literary studies methods. But in than scientific background systematic theology, which you do you teach?
page 242
Here the situation is similar. We also have certain methods by which we reflect on the history of our faith. A doctrinal proposition - as opposed to what is usually conceived of as a "dogma" - is not, of course, something that has fallen from the sky. It arises at a certain time against the background of a challenge that brings theology to the limit of its capabilities. Thinking strategies, philosophies, and social circumstances all affect how the church articulates its faith. That is, dogmatics cannot do without thinking about the context. This is what concerns the story. But if you look at modern times, you will see that it is impossible to explain faith simply by repeating ancient doctrinal formulas - no one will believe you, and they will have the right to do so. Therefore, if we want to convey faith to our interlocutors today, we need to take into account the current context.
In which one in relation to are located church and theology, or bishops, Dad Roman and - professors? Because Teaching staff1 - by extreme at least, in catholic in the context of - there is task episcopate and dads. How much theology offline?
Фома Аквинский - великий богослов Средневековья и настоящий образец богослова-ученого - исходил из того, что в церкви есть два источника учительства: университетское богословие и учащие епископы. И те и другие размышляют о предметах веры. Представление о том, что теология - лишь служанка церковного Учительства и что последнее слово за ним, является результатом позднейших процессов, начавшихся в XIX в. и не сослуживших доброй службы ни богословию, ни церкви. Сегодня мы снова пытаемся перевести эти натянутые отношения в модус взаимного слышания. Бывают, конечно, ситуации, когда богословие как наука ведет себя иначе, чем епископ в своем учительном призвании. Вместе с тем и учащий епископ не может обойтись без богословских аргументов. Я думаю, что богословию нужно на-
1. Церковное Учительство (нем. Kirchliches Lehramt, лат. magisterium ecclesiae) - вероучительный авторитет церкви, привязанный к епископскому служению на основании учения об апостольском преемстве. В Католической церкви церковное Учительство осуществляется отдельными епископами, собором епископов и Папой Римским. - Здесь и далее все примечания А. Брискиной-Мюллер.
стр. 243
стаивать на том, чтобы вероучительные решения обосновывались серьезными доводами. Проблема в том, что между обеими сторонами сегодня непростые отношения. Но в истории богословия это не новость - простых отношений не было никогда.
Мы с вами находимся в Тюбингене - особом месте для богословия в целом, но и для католического богословия в особенности. Здесь одновременно преподавали Ханс Кюнг и Йозеф Ратцингер. Что значит быть преемницей подобных предшественников?
You can, of course, walk on the road trodden by others, but I think that you can go your own way. Interestingly, it is the University of Tübingen that has made theology one of the main disciplines in recent years. For four or five years now, we have been running the Institute of Islamic Theology 2, and there are full-fledged Protestant and Catholic faculties, so we have become a kind of theological center. And the state consciously supports and finances all this, because it sees that society and politics need a dialogue between different religions at the scientific level.
Traditional religious information Wednesday in Germany getting shorter. Which influence this renders on university name theology?
This is noticeable if you look at those who enter theological faculties: here we see a real cross-section of society. We teach people who are far from religious and just want to learn something that they have heard about, that it is interesting. But we also have those who are imbued with the traditional Catholic spirit and know exactly what to "believe" in. Some should be taught to think, while others should be taught to explain the binding nature of doctrinal propositions. Both of them make the learning process extremely interesting.
2. The words "institute" and "center" in German universities can refer to a wide variety of educational and research structures. In this case, we are referring to a small (four professors) autonomous structure created in parallel with the already existing theological faculties of Tubingen for the purpose of training school teachers of Islam and for research purposes. Official name: Zentrum für Islamische Theologie.
page 244
In 1990s years thesis form about volume, what religion loses it yours meaning, considered not subject for discussion. With beginnings new one millennia religion and politics, religion and secular society again become by subject discussions. Than this explain it?
We are used to explaining this, of course, as " September 11, 2001." But wise people like Jan Assmann already got the impression in the mid-1990s that the old thesis, according to which the more enlightened, civilized and developed a society becomes, the less it is influenced by religion, is erroneous. In fact, we live in a society in which both exist in parallel. The challenge is to position religion in a modern, secular, postmodern society in such a way that it does not go to extremes. Extremes are, on the one hand, a fundamentalist attitude to faith that has nothing to do with this postmodern society and creates a parallel society, and on the other, a kind of "fluid" that serves the religious needs of people and has no substance of its own. We must re-position religion in an enlightened society. Today, the external image of religions is, of course, their political potential, not to say the potential for violence. When I compare the old, traditional criticism of nineteenth-century religion with that of twenty-first century religion in my lectures, the difference is obvious: today, critics of religion pay attention primarily to the potential for violence hidden in it, that is, they perceive religion at the political level. In the nineteenth century, argumentation was more along the lines of the individual, on a philosophical level.
Some scientists they say about global on the market religions, on which one a believer performs in roles the consumer, but religious organizations communities competing friend with a friend. What you you think about this models?
This is a reasonable model, because it explains certain phenomena, namely the fact that in fully enlightened societies, rather extremes are served, or at least rather extreme forms of re-education are conspicuous.-
page 245
ligiosity. But this is still not the norm, but a distorted image of religion. The experiences of the average believer are interesting - for example, on television-primarily in terms of influencing the audience. And here you need to be careful and see what image of religion is formed under the influence of mass media.
But in inter-Christian events relationships there is whether meaning compete friend with a friend, pushing out on first plan your own advantages?
Indeed, in recent decades, there has been a rigid juxtaposition of advantages, at least in the German-speaking space. Of course, this is due to the upcoming anniversary of the Reformation in 2017: both denominations [Catholic and Protestant. - Note. perev. they are trying to appropriate this religious event and thereby draw attention to their rightness. This is bad from the point of view of confessional dialogue. In Germany, we are trying to somehow weaken this confrontation, to stop separating from each other and rather identify what unites us, to take a common position in those situations when it is necessary to respond to questions about the presence of religion in the public space.
Межрелигиозный диалог - еще труднее. Как он вообще возможен, если у разных религий - взаимоисключающие притязания на истину?
Диалог, конечно, возможен. Я думаю, мы сейчас находимся на первой стадии: для начала нам надо познакомиться. Подобное было и в истории межхристианского диалога. После долгой фазы взаимных обвинений в ереси, когда христиане разных конфессий конструировали образ врага, этот образ врага нужно было устранить. На следующей стадии нужно рассмотреть основные темы богословия и выяснить, почему у нас столь разные представления о Боге, о человеке, и понять, каким образом можно говорить об этом на общепонятном языке. Но важнее всего - вывести религию из того контекста насилия, в котором она сегодня воспринимается. В этом смысле в Германии, где религии сотрудничают друг с другом на научном уровне, то есть в университетах, на них лежит большая ответственность.
стр. 246
Не является ли это скорее задачей сравнительного религиоведения? Или богословие обладает каким-то преимуществом, чтобы вести подобный диалог?
Здесь мы имеем дело с внутренней и внешней перспективой. Богословы тоже могут применять религиоведческие методы и подходить к предмету извне. Но при таком, внешнем, подходе религиозный феномен остается все-таки охвачен не до конца, потому что индивидуальная, внутренняя перспектива - это неотъемлемая часть работы, если нужно адекватно описать характеристики явления и дать им оценку.
The Council for Science 3 made a reasonable decision a few years ago, according to which religious studies is good, but universities also need departments of theology divided by faith. Thus, the society was made to understand that the internal perspective is also subject to scientific reflection. Theological faculties are called upon to present their vision in such a way that non-believers, atheists, and ordinary people can look inside theology, but at the scientific level, that is, so that what is said is clear to them.
You studied and on faculty biology. Join names whether faith in Of god with natural science course by picture the world?
Of course! If you are a true theologian and you are not a fundamentalist who believes that Genesis is a scenario for the Earth to come into being, but rather see it as a theological text dealing with basic, existential issues, then there can be no such conflicts.
But because there is evolutionary biologists, speakers, what at of them own theory and what God them not required.
If you need God to build a natural science model of the world, then as a natural scientist you are doing something wrong. God and re-
3. The Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat) is an advisory body to the German Government and the land governments. Its tasks include advising the Government on the development of higher education institutions and universities, in particular, scientific research.
page 247
differences are not factors that can or cannot be inserted into natural science models. In theology, we are talking about existential questions, about the basic questions of being. The conversation becomes more concrete when the question is raised about what a person is. Is a person an independent, autonomous, free, responsible being, capable of making decisions? Are we free? Or are we just the sum of our genes, the result of certain neurological processes in the brain? It is precisely around such questions that theology today must formulate its positions in conversation with the natural sciences. In this case, theology can remind us of the intuition that every person carries, namely, the feeling of being a free and responsible being, able to make decisions. Of course, theology justifies this intuition from the perspective of its religious beliefs, but it is also quite capable of communicating it in philosophical language. I think the conversation should be conducted in this plane. That is, not stunning the interlocutor with a club of doctrinal formulations, but presenting their theological position with arguments.
There are whether difference between the truth and knowledge? And need whether us the concept truths at all? Because many scientists they don't have to without truths.
I think that we should not consider knowledge and truth as adversaries. Knowledge tends to the truth, at least if we are guided by the classical philosophical definition. But with the advent of modern natural sciences, a fundamental change has taken place. People stopped striving for the truth, and began to strive only for technology: to manipulate things, to own things, to be able to change things - it does not matter whether it has to do with the truth, for good or for evil. This, I think, is the problem in which representatives of the natural sciences are slowly but surely beginning to see the question addressed to themselves: can they do everything they can do? This is an ethical question. Therefore, even for representatives of the natural sciences, the question of truth becomes meaningful, at least as far as practice is concerned.
What there is human - this important moment, especially when we got closer to expand-
page 248
full name of the genome human. In this moment you should have would To know, than human must to be in optimal option. Because human may now to change, and the science already to this one I started it. Need purpose.
That's exactly the problem. Purely formally, in the plane of natural sciences, you cannot describe what this optimality of a person is. Optimality is an ethical decision, and so we find ourselves back in the search for truth. As soon as you create a certain image in accordance with which you are going to manipulate a person, you leave the field of natural science and make a certain philosophical decision.
This, sure, classic theological department question: which must to be human and why he lives in the world?
That's right. And today theologians can discuss this issue together with philosophers, sociologists, and representatives of other humanities. Naturally, as a theologian, I have certain beliefs that are rooted in my religious tradition, and I, of course, have the right to defend them. But at the same time, I must do it in such a way that others understand me. If the question "what is man?" is being discussed, then all the sciences, including theology, should indicate their position, so that later, by joint efforts, they can somehow come closer to solving the problem. It would be extremely imprudent to exclude theologians from such discourses.
Relationships between a human being and By God, broken ones the fall, - this classic topic theology. Today we have begun ask questions this question in feedback form perspective: why God created it world such - with evil, suffering? To what? led to this change prospects? What it means for theology?
First, of course, we are burdened by the heavy legacy of the entire history of theology. For centuries Christianity has been based on sinfulness
page 249
it belittled the person, did not trust him. Secondly, we have a concrete experience of the 20th century, when we came face to face with evil. And the question of where this evil came from has become one of the main existential questions of man. Explaining evil simply by saying that it comes from man himself - on the background of the scale that it reached in the twentieth century-is no longer satisfactory. That is why today the question of evil is approached quite differently. Theology today tries to describe man in quite positive terms as a free being, capable of making decisions, but it also cannot close its eyes to his dark sides: this, so to speak, remains a sting sticking out in this very modern image of man.
Jürgen Habermas says about religions how about storage "resources meaning" (Sinnressourcen) and counts, what secular society needs it in this storage. What would not it was enough to the world without religions?
The world would lack depth. Namely, there would be a lack of these existential questions that each person carries within himself, sometimes displacing them, sometimes dealing with them. To put your head to these questions, to find an intuitive answer to them - this is what the world would lack if there were no religion. Because religions do provide the world with at least some ideas of answers to human existential questions. An enlightened person can look at these ideas and reflect on them.
Translation with german language Annas Briskinoy-Muller
page 250
New publications: |
Popular with readers: |
News from other countries: |
![]() |
Editorial Contacts |
About · News · For Advertisers |
![]() 2020-2025, LIB.AM is a part of Libmonster, international library network (open map) Keeping the heritage of Armenia |