Systematic Theology

Systematic Theology #3

by Wolfhart Pannenberg, Geoffrey William Bromiley (Translator)

The publication of Volume 3 of German theologian Wolfhart Pannenbergs Systematic Theology completes the English edition of a work that will surely come to stand as one of the lasting theological statements of the twentieth century.

Genres: Theology

713 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 1997

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

[Reinhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the longest of the volumes, as tends to happen with successful multivolume works. Authors are motivated to say everything they want to say before the curtain closes. In some cases, editors are hesitant to trim any text of highly regarded authors, resulting in bloated works that don’t reflect the authors’ best work.

This volume can’t be said to be bloated. Pannenberg’s style is too precise for such a characterization. I would propose that this volume is not so tightly argued because he had not spent as much time speaking, teaching, and writing on these topics, so they don’t have the crisp, razor sharp formulations of the first two. The exception is the chapter on eschatology. The clarity and insight here are worth getting through the rest of the volume. Eschatology is his raison d’ etra.

The longest chapter in the book is on the church, its identity, its purpose, its structure, and its action. He spends a considerable amount of time on baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It may be the best available discussion on these topics, but doesn’t soar above all alternatives like the remaining chapters in this set. In this long chapter on the church (over 1,000 footnotes), his primary interlocutor is Luther, which, considering he was Lutheran, makes sense. He does not uncritically accept all of Luther’s positions but examines them carefully and, like always, traces the development of ideas from origin onward. This volume also includes more Barth than the others, and as always, Aquinas and Schleiermacher are guides and counterparts.

It must be noted again the clarity of the structure. It is remarkable. The work is carefully and logically outlined, lacking tangential flights of fancy in every direction (cf. Barth). Every word, phase, sentence, and paragraph contributes to the argument, and none can be eliminated without loss. (May be slightly less true in this volume.)

The German typographic convention of putting additional details in smaller type is here used to perfection. One could skip over these without losing the logic of the argument; they are deeper dives into ideas, but always, without fail, he picks up the argument right where he left off, usually with a one-sentence summary of the smaller type section. The footnotes are the third (or fourth, depending on how you count) level of detail. They also dig a bit deeper or pull a quote with some reflection on how it fills out details.

One wishes for this level of precision in theoretical works. From this aspect alone, it is a masterpiece. But when one becomes aware of the remarkable theological insights in this work, it becomes clear this is THE Meisterwerk of theology in the last 300 years. It is, or should be, the Protestant Summa Theologica: the starting place for all systematic theology. I’m at a loss to explain why his name is not on every student’s, every teacher’s, every author’s, every pastor’s, and every Christian’s lips.

[Wyatt Houtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A challenging but rewarding read.

[Charles Puskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I have finished the final of three volumes of great ecumenical Lutheran theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg! He interacted well with Jewish, atheistic, and Christian thinkers, philosophers, exegetes and theologians from the past and present, theologies of the eastern and western traditions of Christendom, probing the implications of an immanent and economic Trinitarian life for the redemption of God's creation. It was slow reading, at times, because I was eager to check out his references to Scripture, Augustine, Aquinas, and Barth. Overall, it was a very rewarding theological experience.