Pannenberg - Systematic Theology, Vol. 3

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Wolfheart Pannenberg

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Known for his concept of history as revelation. Pannenberg in Vol. 3 tries to move past the methodological dependence of modernity, while keeping the modern focus on the individual. The community is finally a means to an end, a personal individual relationship with Jesus.

OF RECENT prominent German Protestant systematic theologians, Pannenberg is the only one to have been himself much involved in the ecumenical movement

(Jensen)

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Systematic Theology V. 3

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Main section are Church and Eschatology with the Church receiving the lions share of the treatment. P. says that this represents a development in his ecclesiology, partially influenced by his eccumenical work.

From Jensen: "As Pannenberg notes, ecclesiology has become a major theological enterprise only in this century, most decisively in the ecumenism that began after World War II. For most of the Church's history, the Church was understood as a presupposition of theology rather than as a problem for it"

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Thesis

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Jesus Christ meets believers in individual fellowship, who gather in a society called the church where temporal signs called sacraments, express by the Spirit the eschatological outcome: unity between the individual and voluntary society.

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Jensen's response

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In 1 Cor. the reality received by individuals in the Eucharist and the community which the rite creates are the very same "body of Christ." In the loaf and cup we receive at once Christ and one another; in the language of Augustine, we receive "the whole Christ" (totus Christus), the Head with the body.

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Mod Theo. Q. The relationship of Christianity to the spirit of the theologians’ milieu

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Not discussed in the third volume, except that the theologians' milieu is properly the church guided by the spirit.

Pannenbergs view of theology from Schlink is that theology is a response to revelation that expresses 'doxilogical' truth which is not necessarily correlative with descriptive 'analogic' truth.

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Systems Q. Pannenberg on major points of conflict in the church

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Christ's physical return very nuanced (629–30)

"Real Presence" - "He (Christ) is present at the Supper only by means of recollection of the historical Lord who went to his death..... We need to correct traditional ideas of the heavenly corporality of the risen Lord becoming present in the bread and wine." (312)

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Systems Q. Pannenbergs view of human ability representing modernism

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Sumner notes that P. is moving past modernity in this third volume, and "succeeds with little need of help from, and only occasional references to, all those heavy methodological lifting machines from earlier in his career"

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Systems Q. Pannenbergs view of the doctrine of salvation

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Focus on individual salvation, on the personal relationship to Jesus.

(Jensen asks if it is sufficient to think of the Church as a society united by individuals shared interest)
cf final ch. God of Election

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Systems Q. Pannenbergs view of authority representing modernism

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Church - Ordination (401-04)
Personal/Individual results from the instrument of community

Councils - S. is concerned for the church in this vol., and in history as revelation, yet he rejects the creeds, esp. Chalcedon in favor of his theology from below which expresses his own construction of Christ "in light of the revelation"

Doxology - P. is equally concerned with ecumenicism, but is not afraid to reconceive the sacraments, so that it seems the only ecclesial community that has authority in P.'s project is the current one, where he goes to great lengths to use very sensitive and nuanced language, yet the Fathers expressions can be countermanded with blasé.