Hans Waldenfels (20 October 1931 – 12 November 2023) was a German Jesuit priest, biblist, and theologian. He was a professor of

fundamental theology Fundamental theology, in John Hardon's ''Modern Catholic Dictionary'', is a "branch of theology which establishes the fact that God has made a supernatural revelation and established the Church, founded by Christ, as its divinely authorized custodi ...

at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

Biography

Born in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

on 20 October 1931, Waldenfels was the older brother of philosopher . On 5 April 1951, he joined the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and completed his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

and philosophy studies in

Pullach Pullach, officially Pullach i. Isartal, is a municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the Isar Valley Railway and is served by the S 7 line of the Munich S-Bahn, at the Großhesselohe Isartalbahnhof, Pullach and ...

. From 1960 to 1964, he studied philosophy at Sophia University in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and was ordained on 18 March 1964 by

Archbishop of Tokyo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tokyo ( la, Archidioecesis Tokiensis, ja, カトリック東京大司教区) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Japan. It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate ...

Peter Doi. From 1965 to 1968, he studied for his doctorate at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the University of Münster. His thesis, titled ''Révélation - Le Concile Vatican II sur fond de la théologie nouvelle'', was published in 1969 under the direction of Karl Rahner. In 1976, he became a professor at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

. In 1977, Waldenfels became a professor of fundamental theology, religious theology, and theological philosophy at the University of Bonn. He was dean of the faculty of theology there from 1979 to 1980 and from 1988 to 1990. He became a professor ''emeritus'' in 1997. He was a vicar in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

from 1991 to 2006. From 2006 to 2007, he was a guest professor at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in the United States. Waldenfels earned an honorary doctorate from the

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (UKSW) (Latin: ''Universitas Cardinalis Stephani Wyszyński Varsoviae'') is a Polish state university created on the basis of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw. UKSW is a public university t ...

in 1993. He wrote numerous works on theology and

Biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

. He also sought interreligious dialogue with Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Hans Waldenfels died in Essen on 12 November 2023, at the age of 92.

Publications

*''Offenbarung. Das 2. Vatikanische Konzil auf dem Hintergrund der neueren Theologie'' (1969) *''Absolutes Nichts. Zur Grundlegung des Dialogs zwischen Buddhismus und Christentum'' (1976) *''Kontextuelle Fundamentaltheologie'' (1984) *''Phänomen Christentum. Eine Weltreligion in der Welt der Religionen'' (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waldenfels, Hans 1931 births 2023 deaths German Jesuits 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests 21st-century German Roman Catholic priests German biblical scholars German theologians Sophia University alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Academic staff of the University of Bonn People from Essen