Johann Baptist Metz
Johann Baptist Metz | |
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Born | |
Died | 2 December 2019 Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | (aged 91)
Occupations |
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Organizations | University of Münster |
Johann Baptist Metz (5 August 1928 – 2 December 2019) was a German
Life and career
Metz was born on 5 August 1928 in
He was professor of Fundamental Theology at the
Metz lived in Münster until his death on 2 December 2019.[2][3][8]
Theology
A student of Karl Rahner,[2] Metz broke with Rahner's transcendental theology in a turn to a theology rooted in praxis. Metz was at the centre of a school of political theology that strongly influenced liberation theology.[9] He is regarded as one of the most influential post–Vatican II German theologians.[2] His thought turned around fundamental attention to the suffering of others. Key topics of his theology were memory, solidarity, and narrative.[2] Works in English include: The Emergent Church, Faith in History and Society, Poverty of Spirit, and Hope Against Hope. Collected articles can be found in A Passion for God: The Mystical-Political Dimension of Christianity, translated by Matthew Ashley and in John K. Downey, ed., Love's Strategy: The Political Theology of Johann Baptist Metz.[6]
Fundamental to Metz's work is the concept of "dangerous memory", which relates to anamnesis in the Greek New Testament, a term which is central to the theology of the Eucharist. Metz spoke variously of "the dangerous memory of Jesus Christ", "the dangerous memory of freedom (in Jesus Christ)", the "dangerous memory of suffering", etc. One of the motivating factors for this category is Metz's determination, as a Christian theologian from Germany, to rework the whole of Christian theology from the ground up in light of the disruptive experience of the Holocaust. This need explains in part his break with Rahner, whose transcendental method appeals to historicity but does not come to terms with actual history. Metz was in dialogue with progressive Marxism, especially Walter Benjamin and the authors of the Frankfurt School. He levelled a fierce critique of what he called bourgeois Christianity and believed that the Christian Gospel had become less credible because it had become entangled with bourgeois religion. His work Faith in History and Society develops apologetics, or fundamental theology, from this perspective.[2]
A key motif of his theology is compassion, as a sensitivity for the suffering of others, a compassion of God, and also a passion for God ("Leidempfindlichkeit für andere, die Mitleidenschaft Gottes, auch die Leidenschaft für Gott").[1]
Works
- Metz, Johann Baptist (1969). Theology of the World, trans. William Glen-Doepel. New York: Seabury. ISBN 9780816425686
- Metz, Johann Baptist (1980). Faith in History and Society: Toward a Practical Fundamental Theology. New York: Seabury. ISBN 9780816404261
- Metz, Johann Baptist (1998). Poverty in Spirit. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 9780809137992
References
- ^ a b c d "Neue Politische TheologieTheologe Johann Baptist Metz gestorben". Stern (in German). 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Main, Andreas (3 December 2019). Nachruf auf Johann Baptist Metz / Der Mitleidende (in German). Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d Arens, Edmund (3 December 2019). "Gottespassion und Compassion. Zum Tod von Johann Baptist Metz". feinschwarz.net (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ a b c "Johann Baptist Metz". Munzinger (in German). 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ISBN 9780800637965.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8091-3755-8.
- ^ "Prof. DDr. Dr. h.c. mult. Johann Baptist Metz". University of Münster (in German). 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ "Begründer der "Neuen Politischen Theologie" wurde 91 / Theologe Johann Baptist Metz gestorben". katholisch.de (in German). 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ Assheuer (5 August 2008). "Jesus war Jude / Die Erneuerung des Christentums aus dem Geist Jerusalems. Zum 80. Geburtstag des faszinierenden Theologen Johann Baptist Metz". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 4 December 2019.
External links
- The political theology, life, and works of Metz: https://www.johannbaptistmetz.com.
- Literature by and about Johann Baptist Metz in the German National Library catalogue
- Chinn, Colleen E. "Johannes Metz (Biography and Bibliography)". Theology Library. Mobile, Alabama: Spring Hill College. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- Chapter 17. Johann Baptist Metz. Blackwell Publishing. Abstract of The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
- Johann Baptist Metz (1928 - 2019) philos-website.de
- "Einer der einflussreichsten Theologen seit dem Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil" / Theologe Johann Baptist Metz erhält NRW-Landesverdienstorden (in German) kirche-und-leben.de 7 December 2019
- Ministerpräsident Armin Laschet würdigt Johann Baptist Metz als einen der bedeutendsten Theologen unserer Zeit North Rhine-Westphalia 15 February 2019
- Johann Baptist Metz Gesammelte Schriften (11 Artikel) Verlag Herder