Circe Hall of Theological Courage | 1

More Than 100 Pioneers in Theological Thought (1/4)
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-6951-3842-5
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 474 Seiten

Reihe: People-of-Theology

Anyone who is religious or beginning to explore theology will find this multi-volume work a concise introduction to more than 100 Pioneers in Theological Thought: What moves the conscience of theology? Who are the courageous voices that are reshaping our thinking about God, justice, and society? This book opens a spacious house with over 100 doors - each one leading into the life and work of a theological figure who not only thought about their faith, but lived it, challenged it, expanded it, and carried it out into the world. The collected portraits combine theological depth with biographical intimacy. They show how faith changes, how thinking opens up, and how a transdisciplinary theology - interwoven with philosophy, psychology, social psychology, sociology, and cultural studies - paves new paths into the present: paths of justice, solidarity, diversity, and spiritual sincerity. This is not a lexicon, but a living space for thought. Not an encyclopedia, but a land of exploration. A book that provides inspiration for all those who want to rediscover theology with an open heart and an inquiring mind - beyond familiar pulpit words and beyond narrow church boundaries, denominations, or disciplines. Created with excellent artificial intelligence, this work is a new chapter in theological education: insightful, accessible, inspiring: a book for all who believe that theology needs conscience. And that conscience needs thought. Volume 1: James Alison | Franz Alt | Marcella Althaus-Reid | Regina Ammicht-Quinn | María Pilar Aquino | Karen Armstrong | Jan Assmann | Ursula Baltz-Otto | Karl Barth | Tina Beattie | Jeremy Bentham | Helena Petrovna Blavatsky | Leonardo Boff | Thomas (Tom) Bohache | Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Malcolm Boyd | Giordano Bruno | Sergej Bulgakow | Judith Butler | Johannes Calvin | Patrick S. Cheng | Kittredge Cherry | Joan Chittister | James Hal Cone | Nicolaus Copernicus | Mary Daly | Charles Darwin | Richard Dawkins | Honoré de Balzac | Simone de Beauvoir | Michel de Montaigne | Henri de Saint-Simon | Baruch de Spinoza.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Circe, Eureka

Leseproben

Franz Alt

– Journalist, author, and Christian visionary on responsibility for creation

Franz Alt was born on July 17, 1938, in Untergrombach near Bruchsal (Baden-Württemberg). He is a German journalist and author who studied politics, history, and philosophy as well as theology. He experienced the post-war period in Germany at a young age and thus belongs to a generation shaped by World War II and the tensions of the Cold War. Alt developed into a personality who closely linked social commitment and Christian faith: as a professing Christian, he explicitly bases his commitment to peace and environmental protection " This combination of spirituality and activism makes Alt an extraordinary figure in the German-speaking world. One portrait even called him because Alt is a theologian, best-selling author, and environmental activist all rolled into one.

From a conservative family to an ecological pioneer: biographical background

Franz Alt grew up in a conservative, Catholic environment. His father was a coal merchant — a representative of the fossil fuel era — and Alt himself was initially sympathetic to the post-war belief in technology. He joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1963 and was long considered a staunch supporter of nuclear energy and Western integration. Education played a central role in Alt's life: he studied not only political science and history at the universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg but also philosophy and theology. In 1967, he earned his doctorate with a dissertation on the first German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer – an early indication of how much he was preoccupied with questions of politics, society, and Christian ethics.

However, a decisive experience marked a break in Alt's life: the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986. This event shook his confidence in nuclear energy to its core. As he himself reported in retrospect, he was originally a supporter of nuclear power, very much in line with his father's views but Chernobyl was the turning point. In an open letter to Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Alt sharply criticized the government for sticking to nuclear power despite the accident. In 1988, he demonstratively left the CDU. From then on, he became involved with the small ecological party ÖDP, whose conservative but environmentally oriented program he praised as in the best sense of the word. Alt thus underwent a political and social conversion: from the established conservative camp to the role of a maverick and warning voice in the peace and environmental movement.

Personal crises and changes also shaped his life. Alt married Bigi Alt, with whom he still works today, and unexpectedly became the father of twins at around the age of 40. He reflected on such private experiences, including a sheltered Catholic childhood and later family challenges, in his autobiographical interview biography " (You Must Not Split the Core), published in 2006. In it, he looks back on his childhood, his student days, and his decades of work in public broadcasting. Taken together, these experiences shaped him into a socially critical journalist who remained firmly rooted in his own tradition but was willing to radically question himself and his convictions.

Alt began his professional career in 1968 at Südwestfunk (SWF) and quickly rose through the ranks as a reporter and presenter. From 1972, he presented the political television magazine in Baden-Baden for twenty years. His journalistic career spanned the turbulent decades of the Cold War, Ostpolitik, and the emergence of new social movements. Alt was thus confronted early on with issues such as rearmament, the peace movement, and environmental issues. His family and social background — Catholic values, academic education, and experience of political upheaval — created the breeding ground for a person who would combine .

The politics of the Sermon on the Mount and the ecological Jesus: Alt's theological positions

Franz Alt is not a professor of theology in the classical sense but his theological positions permeate his journalistic work. At the center of his work is always the question of how faith can be translated into the practice of peace, justice, and responsibility for creation. His guiding principle is the biblical Sermon on the Mount: his best-known early work bears the programmatic title (1983). In it, Alt interprets Jesus' teachings — love of one's enemies, nonviolence, solidarity — as a concrete political mandate for the present. In Alt's thinking, God appears above all as a God of love and peace. Accordingly, he harshly criticizes any justification of war and armament from a Christian perspective. In his view, the radical peace ethic of the New Testament is not an unrealistic utopia but the only viable way to overcome global conflicts. Alt's consistent rejection of military violence is partly at odds with the official church doctrine of "just war" and brought him into conflict with conservative circles but he sees himself firmly on the side of Jesus' message.

Theologically, Alt is rooted in the Christian tradition but he transcends denominational boundaries. Raised Catholic and trained in theology, he is influenced by philosophical and contemporary spiritual currents. His books testify to an eclectic approach: he speaks of an "ecological Jesus" (the title of a book published in 1999), of and of Alt reinterprets central concepts of Christian dogma in a contemporary way. He emphasizes creation as a revelation of God — for him, nature is "God's second Bible" and its protection is therefore an act of faith. He propagates a theology of creation preservation long before Pope Francis' encyclical (2015) focused on the theme of responsibility for creation. While traditional dogma and ecclesiastical authority hardly feature in Alt's writings, he focuses on : living charity, global compassion, and responsibility for future generations.

One of Alt's effective arguments is his contrast between the "God of love" in the New Testament and the supposedly vengeful God of the Old Testament. This striking distinction earned him criticism from theologians, who accused him of oversimplification and anti-Judaism. Alt's intention was to emphasize Jesus' unconditional commandment of love but critics complained that he did so at the expense of an understanding view of the Old Testament. Overall, Alt's theological stance can be described as undogmatic, practical, and deliberately outside narrow denominational categories. He also draws on non-Christian wisdom: for example, he maintains an intensive dialogue with the Dalai Lama on ethics and spirituality in the context of global crises. Franz Alt functions less as a systematic theologian and more as a "preacher" in the public sphere, using religious language and imagery to call for social change. His theology is in this sense it seeks to realize heaven on earth in the form of peace, justice, and ecological sustainability.

Bestsellers from the Sermon on the Mount to the energy transition: key works and style

Over the course of decades, Franz Alt has produced an extensive body of work that stylistically ranges from committed preaching to journalistic analysis and visionary blueprints for the future. Many of his books have become bestsellers and reached an audience of millions. His writings have been translated into over a dozen languages and sold more than 2 million copies – a testament to the international resonance of his ideas. Below are some of Alt's key works and their significance:

• "Peace is Possible. The Politics of the Sermon on the Mount (1983) – In this early major work, Alt interprets Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as a radical political instruction manual. The book was published at the height of the rearmament debate and sparked controversy because Alt questions the logic of the arms race in favor of Christian nonviolence. became the programmatic slogan of his message.
• "Liebe ist möglich. Die Bergpredigt im Atomzeitalter" (Love is Possible: The Sermon on the Mount in the Atomic Age, 1985) – A continuation of his interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, now with a special focus on the nuclear threat. Alt emphasizes here that Christian love for one's neighbor and love for one's enemies remain valid even in the atomic age and are ultimately the key to the survival of humanity. Stylistically, he combines biblical quotations with current political references and creates a powerful appeal against the logic of deterrence.
• "Jesus – der erste neue Mann" (Jesus...