The essays contained in this book originated as lectures at an international conference held in Princeton organized by Christine Helmer (Northwestern) and the editors of this book. This book itself illuminates in a fresh way the formation, cross-fertilization, break-up, and re-organization of movements of theological renewal during the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic. Three Protestant movements, in particular, demand our attention: the dialectical theology (Karl Barth, Friedrich Gogarten, Rudolf Bultmann); the Luther Renaissance which found adherents amongst the students of Karl Holl (Hans Joachim Iwand, Rudolf Herrmann and Emmanuel Hirsch) and Lutheran confessional movement (Werner Elert and Paul Althaus). Attention is also given to Bultmann's close conversation-partner Martin Heidegger. Rounding out the picture thus drawn is Martin Buber, representing the Jewish Renaissance that flourished briefly in the Weimar years. The goal of this book is twofold: to trace the most significant developments that occurred within and across these movements and, most importantly, to assess the uses made of Luther's theology in all phases of these developments and in relation to dramatically different sets of issues (ranging from the doctrines of revelation, reconciliation and sin to theories of the state). We find Luther at the heart of a number of debates. So important was he that the divergences between and within the various movements can rightly be seen as a dispute over his legacy. Most of the theologians and philosophers treated in this book were educated in the pre-war years - and some at least of what they learned survived in a transfigured form the impact of the collapse of the Wilhelminian Empire. That is especially clear in the impact of the Jeiwsh philosopher of religion Hermann Cohen on K. Barth, R. Bultmann, and R. Hermann. During the years of peace (prior to the stock market crash in 1929), divergences could be accepted with some degree of equanimity by most of those engaged in renewal. To be sure, tensions already existed which could, at any time, have led to splits within the dialectical theology most especially - but did not have to do so. The commentary of R. Bultmann on F. Gogarten's Ich glaube an den dreieinigen Gott, which is published for the first time in this volume, gives vivid expression to these latent tendencies. For the time being, however, a spirit of cooperation and rigorous academic engagement prevailed. That changed with the onset of the Great Depression. After the national election held on 14 September1930 (which saw the National Socialists become the second largest party in the Reichstag, the fortunes of all movements were increasingly held hostage to the uses made of theology to devise theological accounts of the state which stood in differing degrees of support or open resistance to government policy. The result was a realignment of forces within church and theology

The essays contained in this book originated as lectures at an international conference held in Princeton organized by Christine Helmer (Northwestern) and the editors of this book. This book itself illuminates in a fresh way the formation, cross-fertilization, break-up, and re-organization of movements of theological renewal during the tumultuous years of the Weimar Republic. Three Protestant movements, in particular, demand our attention: the dialectical theology (Karl Barth, Friedrich Gogarten, Rudolf Bultmann); the Luther Renaissance which found adherents amongst the students of Karl Holl (Hans Joachim Iwand, Rudolf Herrmann and Emmanuel Hirsch) and Lutheran confessional movement (Werner Elert and Paul Althaus). Attention is also given to Bultmann's close conversation-partner Martin Heidegger. Rounding out the picture thus drawn is Martin Buber, representing the Jewish Renaissance that flourished briefly in the Weimar years. The goal of this book is twofold: to trace the most significant developments that occurred within and across these movements and, most importantly, to assess the uses made of Luther's theology in all phases of these developments and in relation to dramatically different sets of issues (ranging from the doctrines of revelation, reconciliation and sin to theories of the state). We find Luther at the heart of a number of debates. So important was he that the divergences between and within the various movements can rightly be seen as a dispute over his legacy. Most of the theologians and philosophers treated in this book were educated in the pre-war years - and some at least of what they learned survived in a transfigured form the impact of the collapse of the Wilhelminian Empire. That is especially clear in the impact of the Jeiwsh philosopher of religion Hermann Cohen on K. Barth, R. Bultmann, and R. Hermann. During the years of peace (prior to the stock market crash in 1929), divergences could be accepted with some degree of equanimity by most of those engaged in renewal. To be sure, tensions already existed which could, at any time, have led to splits within the dialectical theology most especially - but did not have to do so. The commentary of R. Bultmann on F. Gogarten's Ich glaube an den dreieinigen Gott, which is published for the first time in this volume, gives vivid expression to these latent tendencies. For the time being, however, a spirit of cooperation and rigorous academic engagement prevailed. That changed with the onset of the Great Depression. After the national election held on 14 September1930 (which saw the National Socialists become the second largest party in the Reichstag, the fortunes of all movements were increasingly held hostage to the uses made of theology to devise theological accounts of the state which stood in differing degrees of support or open resistance to government policy. The result was a realignment of forces within church and theology

Karl Holl (1866-1926) ist eine Portalfigur der Theologie- und Kirchengeschichte sowie des Historismus des 20. Jahrhunderts. Der Tübinger und Berliner Patristiker und Reformationshistoriker wird nach 1918 die prägende Gestalt der Lutherrenaissance. Seine epochale Gesamtsicht Luthers und der frühen Reformation erschien 1921 im Ersten Band der Gesammelten Aufsätze Luther. Karl Holls Luther ist neben Karl Barths Römerbriefkommentar das wirksamste Werk evangelischer Theologie in der Weimarer Republik. Das Gesamtwerk Karl Holls ist aber eine Welt mit mehreren Kontinenten. Es umfasst den Patristiker der Gesammelten Aufsätze: Der Osten, Der Westen, den Handschriften-Forscher und Editor des Epiphanius, den Konfessionskundler orthodoxer Kirchen und den Freund und Kritiker der liberalen Christlichen Welt. Gemessen am Rang und der Breite seines Werks ist Karl Holl in seiner biographischen und wissenschaftlichen Genese und ihren Kontexten bis heute nicht hinreichend erschlossen. Es existiert bis heute keine alle Werkteile einschließende Biographie. Seine ca. 900 erhaltenen Briefe in den Nachlässen der Fachgenossen und Freunde seines wissenschaftlichen Netzwerks sind in der Mehrzahl nicht ediert. In den fünfzehn Beiträgen internationaler Autorinnen und Autoren werden erstmals die wichtigsten Werke Karl Holls im Zusammenhang interpretiert und ideenhistorisch eingebettet. Sein Leben wird aus den archivalischen Zeugnissen biographisch umrissen.

Passion for Theology] In this publication internationally renowned representatives of the principal disciplines of theology drawing from the wealth of their experience each give, introductions into their respective subjects on the basis of one current research topic. Thoughtfully and argumentatively, competently and straightforwardly, an overview of theology is created out of authentic passion for theology within the Humboldtian university. These Greifswald University Speeches were held to first-year students on occasion of the opening of the semester. They are eminently suitable as a basic guide to the study of theology. International renommierte Vertreter der theologischen Hauptdisziplinen fuhren aus dem Erfahrungsreichtum eines ganzen Forscherlebens je an einem aktuellen Thema in ihr Fach ein. Nachdenklich und streitbar, souveran und pointiert entsteht ein Panorama der Theologie aus authentischer Leidenschaft fur die Theologie in der Humboldtschen Universitat. Diese Greifswalder Reden wurden zur Semestereroffnung vor Studienanfangern gehalten. Sie eignen sich hervorragend zur grundlegenden Orientierung im Theologiestudium.