Description
Helmut Thielicke’s lectures, first spoken in defiance of the Nazi regime, are recorded here. He covers a wide range of topics, including, ethics, politics, the state, war, atomic power, economics, sex and art. Revolutionary in their time, they offer an example of how Christian faith can provide a strong ground to stand on when living in the constant danger of death.
Delivered during World War II when one after another of Thielicke’s meeting places were bombed, the lectures were aimed at people who were not conventional churchgoers and were not accustomed to the language and premises of the church. They were people who had to be met on their own ground, and then introduced to the Christian faith. Thielicke had a unique gift for finding the “point of contact” and addressing the Gospel to this point. Relevant even to this day, Thielicke’s words remind us what it is to be a Christian.
Originally translated and edited by the American Lutheran theologian John W. Doberstein, this reprinted edition of Man in God’s World was published to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Helmut Thielicke’s death.
About the Author
Helmut Thielicke was one of the most outstanding preachers and theologians of the German Lutheran Church. Dismissed by the Nazi regime from his post of Professor of Theology at Heidelberg in 1940, he came to prominence in Stuttgart where, during the worst of the bombing raids and in spite of continuing Nazi opposition, he continued to preach to a congregation of several thousand each week.
After the war, he joined the faculty of the University of Tübingen as a Professor of Systematic Theology, later becoming Rector at the University of Hamburg, the first Protestant theologian to hold this position. During this time, he also became a world traveller, lecturing and preaching in the United States, South Africa, Australia and Latin America. He died in Hamburg in 1986.
Contents
Foreword
I. Man in the Cosmos
II. Creation and Cosmology
III. World Picture and World View
IV. The World View of Biology
V. This-World and Other-World
VI. The Origin of Man
VII. The Meaning of Miracle
VIII. The Biblical Message of Miracles
IX. Fate and Providence
X. Faith in Providence – Christian and Secular
XI. Freedom and Bondage in History
XII. The Reality of the Demonic
XIII. Free Will and Predestination
Postscript for Theological Readers
Index
