Christian Polke

Theology, by definition, is the discourse about God. However, since the Enlightenment, the subject of this science has become increasingly contentious. This particularly presents new challenges for systematic theology in its relevance to contemporary issues: Is the death of God the theological symbol through which this discourse remains a powerful cultural hermeneutical tool even today? And is God not the one who truly enables a free life? Does the anthropologically fundamental perception of faces provide a visual hermeneutical approach to the concept of the Trinitarian God? Or is this merely a cipher for the entirety of viable human trust relationships in light of the experience of broken reliability? Is the meaning of the discourse about God only to be derived directly from the practice and pragmatics of human expressions of faith? All these impulses foster discussion among the contributions. They share the conviction: There is still much new to say about God.