An analysis of the educational-political setting of Wolfhart Pannenberg's "Theology & the Philosophy of Science" in consideration of contemporary challenges to German university theology

A historical analysis of both the setting of Wolfhart Pannenberg’s 1973 publication, Wissenschaftstheorie und Theologie and its reception in the light of educational-political challenges concerning university theology in Germany contributes to a revival of a largely dormant contemporary theological debate on method. The book was called a preliminary climax and concentrated on the epistemology of science, yet it remains one of Pannenberg’s least critiqued works. Throughout his life, Pannenberg was concerned to demonstrate the universality of theology and the indirect revelation of God through history in a rational matter; Wissenschaftstheorie supported this quest. Pannenberg was driven to develop a critical scientific basis by which to judge theology, due not only to scientific threats but also to educational-political changes in German science policy. This thesis considers the scientific basis of Pannenberg’s theology, his academic background and its German historical and contemporary educational-political setting. Next, it turns to analyze the book’s reception, particularly in the US, before concluding by suggesting the contemporary requirement for theologians to recognize the interdependence between theological method and the discipline’s scientific setting within the Academy, both in state-funded jurisdictions such as Germany and beyond.