Oscar Cullmann
Oscar Cullmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 February 1902 Strasbourg |
| Died | 16 January 1999 (aged 96) Chamonix |
| Known for | Christian theologian |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Strasbourg seminary |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Christian eschatology and Christology |
| Institutions | Basel Reformed Seminary, Sorbonne - Paris |
| Influenced | John Howard Yoder[1] |
Oscar Cullmann (25 February 1902, Strasbourg – 16 January 1999, Chamonix) was a French Lutheran theologian. He is best known for his work in the ecumenical movement and was partly responsible for the establishment of dialogue between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions. Because of his intense ecumenical work, Cullmann's Basel colleague Karl Barth joked with him that his tombstone would bear the inscription "advisor to three popes".[2]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Cullmann was born in Strasbourg (then in Germany) and studied classical philology and theology at the seminary there. In 1926, he accepted an assistant professorship, a position previously held by Albert Schweitzer.
In 1930, he was awarded a full professorship of New Testament. From 1936, he also taught the history of the early church. In 1938, he began teaching both subjects at Basel Reformed Seminary. In 1948 Cullmann accepted a position teaching theology in Paris at the Sorbonne while he continued at Basel. He retired from both in 1972.
He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1960.[3]
He was invited to be an observer at the Second Vatican Council.[4]
Upon his death at 96, the World Council of Churches issued a special tribute to Cullmann to honour his ecumenical work.
Theology
[edit | edit source]Cullmann's studies on Christian eschatology and Christology drove him to propose a third position over against the popular positions of C. H. Dodd and Albert Schweitzer, known as "redemptive history" or "inaugurated eschatology". His Christology is described as 'event' rather than the doctrine of natures.[5] He wrote that Jesus Christ was the midpoint of sacred history, which informs general history and runs linearly from creation to consummation.[4] He stressed the objective reality of sacred history against the existentialist interpretation of Rudolf Bultmann, a fellow German theologian. Cullmann suggested the analogy of D-Day and VE-Day to illustrate the relationship between Jesus' death and resurrection on the one hand, and his parousia on the other.[6]
Selected works
[edit | edit source]Among Cullmann's important works are:
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- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - (trans from the Zollikon-Zürich: Evangelischer Verlag a. g., 1946 1st edition).
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - (trans from the Basel & Zürich, 1944 1st edition).
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - (trans from the Zürich : Zwingli, 1952 1st edition).
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).[7]
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - (trans from the Kampen: Kok, 1911 1st edition).
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). - (trans from the Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1965 1st edition).
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/press/99/03pre.html Archived 2025-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, pp. 441-442, article Cullmann, Oscar
- ^ Woodfin, Yandall. “Ontological Thresholds and Christological Method.” Religious Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 1972, pp. 137–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20004950 Archived 2024-12-02 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 12 Feb. 2024.
- ^ C. Marvin Pate, The End of the Age Has Come: The Theology of Paul, p. 33.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Publications by and about Oscar Cullmann in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library
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- 1902 births
- 1999 deaths
- Clergy from Strasbourg
- 20th-century Lutheran theologians
- French Lutheran theologians
- 20th-century French theologians
- Academic staff of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences
- Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques
- Commanders of the Legion of Honour
- Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 20th-century German theologians
- German biblical scholars
- French biblical scholars
- New Testament scholars
- Academic staff of the University of Paris
- Alsatian-German people
- Academic staff of the University of Basel
- Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg
- University of Strasbourg alumni
- Lutheran biblical scholars
- Corresponding fellows of the British Academy