It covers the fine art of persuasion and argues that there are four speeches every leader has to know: the opening speech, the executioner speech, the consolation speech, and the farewell speech.
The interpretation of communicatio idiomatum in Early Modern Lutheranism
Joar Haga traces the Lutheran doctrine of communicatio idiomatum, the exchange of properties between the natures of Christ, as it developed in some important controversies of the 16th and the early 17th Century. Regarding it as the nerve of his soteriology, Luther stressed the intimacy of the two natures in Christ to such a degree that it threatened to end the peaceful relationship between theology and philosophy. At the same time as the Wittenberg reformers broke with certain strains of their philosophical heritage, they would insist that the continuation of Christ’s bodily presence was a reality in sacrament and nature (!), irreducible to a sign or to a memory. On the other hand, they did not want to be ignorant of the claims of reason. By rejecting the classic framework for a peaceful coexistence of philosophy and theology on the one hand, and insisting on Christ’s bodily reality on the other, the quest for a new concept of how philosophy and theology related was implicitly stated. Earlier research identified two traditions of Lutheran Christology: One train of thought follows Luther in emphasising the difference between philosophy and theology. This can be seen in the Tübingen solutions where Johannes Brenz and Theodor Thumm are the most interesting thinkers. Another train of thought can be found in the conservative pupils of Melanchthon, where Martin Chemnitz and Balthasar Mentzer are the most prominent theologians. This research does not merely group the thinkers within the confines of a tradition, but underlines their individual contributions to an open-ended history.
Die Aufklärung bezeichnet nicht nur eine historische Epoche, sondern auch einen Anspruch, der bis in die Gegenwart reicht. Der Sammelband spürt diesem historisch-systematischen »Projekt der Aufklärung« nach, indem er zum einen wichtige Debatten vor allem der deutschen Aufklärung vor und nach Kant beschreibt und zum andern aus philosophischer und theologischer Sicht kritisch danach fragt, welche Bedeutung dem »Projekt der Aufklärung« gegenwärtig zukommt. Hierbei soll an das Werk Walter Sparns angeknüpft werden, der in seinen thematisch sehr breit und interdisziplinär angelegten Forschungen das weite Feld der Geschichte der Frühen Neuzeit bis in die Gegenwart hinein vermessen und mit systematischen Studien zum Wesen der Theologie und Philosophie ergänzt hat. Die Festschrift erscheint im Nachgang zum 75. Geburtstag von Walter Sparn am 15. November 2016. [The Enlightenment Project. Philosophical-Theological Debates from the Early Modern Period to the Present. In Honour of Walter Sparn] What is Enlightenment? Even without recurring to the famous words of Immanuel Kant, it could be regarded as more than a mere episode, narrowly confined to a specific historical period. In one sense, Enlightenment represents a claim or question that poses a challenge, relevant even to modern readers. This book traces the historical and systematic aspect of such a »project Enlightenment«. The articles shed light on the one hand over important conjectures and problems before and after Kant, on the other hand they ask what theological and philosophical impact they may signify for the present. Taken together, the articles reflect the breath and scope of Walter Sparn’s scientific production, ranging from Early Modern History to (post-) modern themes and questions. The occasion for the Festschrift? Walter Sparn celebrated his 75th birthday November 15, 2016.