Christoph Schwöbel (19 February 1955 – 18 September 2021) was a German Lutheran

Theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and Professor of

Systematic Theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

, Scotland.

Life

Christoph Schwöbel was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He studied

Lutheran Theology Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the Kirchliche Hochschule, Bethel, and at

Philipps-Universität Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protes ...

.He received his doctorate in 1978 in Marburg and qualified there as a professor, through his Habilitation, in 1990. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a minister of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1994. Christoph Schwöbel was Lecturer for Systematic Theology at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

from 1986 to 1993 and in 1988 founded the Research Institute in Systematic Theology (RIST), serving as its Director until 1993. Subsequently, he taught as professor of systematic theology at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel from 1993 to 1999. This was followed by a professorship of systematic and ecumenical theology at the Faculty of Theology of

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

from 1999 to 2004, where he was also director of the Ecumenical Institute. From October 2004 to July 2018, he was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar. People First name *Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire *Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian *Eberhard I, Du ...

. His focus was in the area 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 custod ...

and

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known Text (literary theo ...

. In connection with the topic of

creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...

, Schwöbel provided a scholarly theoretical analysis. He considered the juxtaposition ''natural science versus faith'' used by many ideological evolutionists in the debate with creationism to be self-defeating, and pointed out Schwöbel was also director of the Institute for

Hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

and Dialogue of Cultures. He edited the journal '' Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie''. He was a member of the scientific advisory board of the interdisciplinary research center Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses (KCID) at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In September 2018, Schwöbel succeeded the English theologian

John Webster John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

as Chair of Divinity at the

, established in 1643.''Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwöbel appointed to currently vacant Chair in Divinity, from September 2018.''
University of St Andrews communication, 3 October 2017, retrieved 5 December 2017 (English).

Academic works

* '' Martin Rade. Das Verhältnis von Geschichte, Religion und Moral als Grundproblem seiner Theologie''. Gütersloh 1980. * ed.: ''

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

– Martin Rade. Ein Briefwechsel, Mit einer Einleitung''. Gütersloh 1981. * ''Gottes Stimme und die Demokratie. Theologische Unterstützung für das neue demokratische System.'' In: Richard Ziegert (Hrsg.): ''Die Kirchen und die Weimarer Republik.'' Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1994, S. 37–68. * ed. with

Colin Gunton Colin Ewart Gunton (19 January 1941 – 6 May 2003) was an English Reformed systematic theologian. He made contributions to the doctrine of creation and the doctrine of the Trinity. He was Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College, Lond ...

: ''Persons: Divine and Human, King´s College Essays in Theological Anthropology.'' Edinburgh 1991, 2nd ed. 1999. * ''God: Action and Revelation'' (= Studies in Philosophical Theology; 3). Kampen 1992. * ed. (for the Research Institute in Systematic Theology): ''Trinitarian Theology Today. Essays on Divine Being and Act''. Edinburgh 1995. * ''Gott in Beziehung. Studien zur Dogmatik''. Tübingen 2002. * ''Christlicher Glaube im Pluralismus. Studien zu einer Theologie der Kultur''. Tübingen 2003. * ed.with Friedrich Schweitzer: ''Aufgaben, Gestalt und Zukunft Theologischer Fakultäten''. Gütersloh 2007. * ed. with Friedrich Schweitzer: ''Religion – Toleranz – Bildung''. Neukirchen-Vluyn 2007. * ''Die Religion des Zauberers. Theologisches in den großen Romanen Thomas Manns''. Tübingen 2008. * ed. with Bernd Janowski, Friedrich Schweitzer: ''Schöpfungsglaube vor der Herausforderung des Kreationismus''. Neukirchener, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2010. * ''Gott im Gespräch: theologische Studien zur Gegenwartsdeutung''. Tübingen 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwobel, Christoph 1955 births 2021 deaths German theologians Academics of the University of St Andrews People from Frankfurt German expatriates in the United Kingdom German academic journal editors