Over 40 interested attendees gathered for the first Weingarten Theological Colloquium at the academy building on Martinsberg to hear the lecture “God Between Theology and Philosophy” by Professor Dr. Karlheinz Ruhstorfer from Freiburg.
The Weingarten Theological Colloquium, a new forum for discussion bridging theory and practice, is a collaboration between the Weingarten Institute for Religious Education (RPI) and the Department of Catholic Theology / Religious Education at the University of Education Weingarten (PH) and is scheduled to take place once a year in the future.
The RPI Weingarten sees itself as a vibrant hub for religious education, continuing education, and counseling, said Institute Director Andrea Bremer in her welcoming remarks. “We promote education and upbringing rooted in the Christian faith and provide support through certification programs, practical continuing education, and personal counseling.” The RPI library is open to all interested parties. In addition, the institute offers seminars, workshops, evening lectures, and other events. Close collaboration with the PH Weingarten is a particular priority. The students at the PH, some of whom attended the colloquium, are one of the institute’s largest user groups. As a Catholic school dean and adjunct professor, she herself has many connections to the PH’s theology student council. “This closeness enables us to develop projects together.” This was confirmed by Dr. Hilary Mooney, professor of Catholic Theology and Religious Education. The newly created discussion forum is a wonderful opportunity to engage in dialogue on current theological topics.
Dr. Dr. Klaus Viertbauer, Academic Advisor in the Department of Catholic Theology / Religious Education at the PH was very pleased to welcome Professor Dr. Karlheinz Ruhstorfer as the first speaker. Ruhstorfer, who is a professor of dogmatic theology and Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Freiburg, took the audience on an intellectual journey that is as unusual as it is stimulating. Viertbauer referred to, among other things, the speaker’s latest monograph titled “Philosophy is Theology – The Provocation of the Modern Age.”
New Interpretive Frameworks and Perspectives
In his monograph, published in 2024, Ruhstorfer sought to further develop existing approaches and introduce new ideas, he said. “We live in a time when theology and religion are on the sidelines.” It is therefore important, he argued, to counter a dwindling sense of religious meaning and the crisis of postmodern ideals of plurality with new, central interpretive frameworks and readings. Reflecting on the relationship between religion, philosophy, and ethics can open up new horizons, especially in times of social upheaval.
Modern metaphysics possesses an unexpected relevance—as an intersection of mysticism, scholasticism, and Reformation theology, but also of Christian subject-philosophy, Jewish panentheism, the Enlightenment, democracy, and ethics, according to Ruhstorfer. The theologian interpreted Immanuel Kant as an interpreter of Paul and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel as a philosopher of the life of Jesus. “From this, central interpretive patterns of the modern era can be developed.”
Especially at a time when religion is losing ground in Europe, when the postmodern ideals of alterity and plurality are in crisis, and social cohesion is breaking down, a return to modern metaphysics takes on a provocative urgency and opens up a new perspective in the current turning point of history for both theology and philosophy, says Ruhstorfer. He views the entire history of humanity as a story with God — one that constantly reveals new aspects. God reveals himself in the weak and in the margins. “We must find the way — seek and find,” said the theologian.
Ruhstorf’s inspiring ideas were then the subject of lively discussion. The message was that the search for something that all people have in common and that provides guidance requires more than just a European answer. One’s own identity creates a certain limitation here. “We must still strive for universality in a globalized world,” said Ruhstorf.
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Text and photos: Barbara Müller