Christian Spirituality

by Wolfhart Pannenberg

Discusses piety, guilt, the Eucharist, the separation of church and state, the presence of God, and the individual's search for personal identity

115 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1983

About the author

Wolfhart Pannenberg, born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), was a German Christian theologian. His emphasis on history as revelation, centred on the Resurrection of Christ, has proved important in stimulating debate in both Protestant and Catholic theology, as well as with non-Christian thinkers.

Reviews

[Matthew Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pannenberg's little treatise on spirituality felt more like a small anthology than a sustained consideration of the topic. His first chapter was a short, but very astute analysis of the historical development and decay of the relationship between guilt and the spiritual climate of Christianity, particularly in Protestantism and was unquestionably the most significant writing in the book. His second chapter offered his suggestion for a new way of perceiving Protestant spirituality that accepts the decay of the guilt conscience and rise of social disconnection in the wider Western world, and while the suggestion is sound, it feels naive in that simply making the suggestion for how contemporary spirituality ought to be centered is not sufficient to bring forces sufficient to change the cultural tenor. He unfortunately makes no suggestions as to how to make his ideas take root in the church practically.

The remaining chapters, comprising the second half of the book, were far less relevant to his topic, though not without merit. He analyzes the proper relationship between the church and politics, the influence of how changing ideas of the self have altered the cultural affinity for Buddhism and Christianity's place in understanding the self, and one additional topic that was, sadly, forgettable.

As is not surprising, Pannenberg is highly thoughtful, analytical, and articulate, though much more heady and intellectual than is really compatible with contemporary spirituality. He makes some exceedingly astute observations and critiques in the first and last chapters, but what happens in between was too philosophical and abstract for my taste.

[AARON · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection of five essays, the German systematic theologian ranges across topics like rediscovering the significance of the Eucharist, liberation theology’s misuse of Aristotelian suum cuique (distributive justice), the post-Enlightenment reframing of Christianity as a private conviction “without objective or public validity,” God’s “absence” as a biblical sign that judgment is at hand, the Buddhist contradiction over the ego, and more.