„Erkenntnis aus Glauben“: Notwendigkeit und Wissenschaftlichkeit von Kirchengeschichte und Kirchlicher Zeitgeschichte als theologische Disziplinen
The present methodological debate about the need for a particular theological perspective when researching on the subject of contemporary church history raises central issues about the question of the validity of theology as a subject for scientific investigations. On the one hand, we should seek to...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
1997
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| In: |
Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
Year: 1997, Volume: 10, Issue: 2, Pages: 263-304 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The present methodological debate about the need for a particular theological perspective when researching on the subject of contemporary church history raises central issues about the question of the validity of theology as a subject for scientific investigations. On the one hand, we should seek to avoid any dualtrack approach which would question the whole notion claimed by theologians to be advancing the cause of truth in a scientific manner. On the other hand, theology is a "thorn in the flesh" for the world of scholarship, since it seeks to guarantee openness as a central maxim in scholarly research, and to oppose any reductionist tendency which would pervert the secular methods of scholarly work by advancing the monopolistic claim of a systematic, ideological atheism. The right of theologians to propose their own special approach to theological questions should not be based on abstract principle, but is better defended-drawing on the researches of Itopper, Ricoeur and Marrou-as being in accordance with man's sinful nature and pragmatically meaningful. Drawing a distinction between the discovery of knowledge and assessment of its meaning can lead to a positive evaluation of experiences and their various connections. Any examination of experience, from a theological or ecclesiastical point of view, should not therefore be dismissed as illegitimate. Rather, it can add a valuable dimension in producing new horizons and perspectives. Of course, any such theological endeavour will still be subject to the rigorous disciplines of interdisciplinary discourse. Church history, as well as contemporary church history, is therefore in some ways competing with other historical disciplines. They are all attempting to make sense out of the welter of events by means of a theoretical ordering of experience. As such they provide a desirable, but by no means an exclusive, method of guiding men and women in their on-going search for insights into the nature of the world, man and God. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-808X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
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