Presented in a condensed version as the opening lecture and inaugural lecture as Professor of Systematic Theology by Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel at the official opening of the academic year at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, 23 September 2024.
In this inaugural lecture, Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel presents his vision on the task of public theology. Within this relatively recent theological tradition, he investigates what contribution can be made from the richness of the Christian tradition to thinking through current, ‘public’ questions—the challenge of climate change is an example of this. The starting point of his contribution is the theology of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), an important inspiration for public theology. He specifically starts from what Bonhoeffer writes in his Ethics about the structure of the responsible life. This structure is fourfold.
The first—and fundamental—element is Stellvertretung: ethics, according to Bonhoeffer, is based on Christ’s vicarious work. Christ accomplished vicariously what we could not, on our behalf. Such vicarious action is also the basis of ethics—in moral life we take responsibility for each other. Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel applies Bonhoeffer’s proposal within environmental ethics, where he explain how his insight can help analyze and criticize patriarchal relationships and help (re)evaluate ‘indigenous wisdom’ in our dealings with nature.
The second element in Bonhoeffer’s ethics of responsibility is Wirklichkeitsgemäβheit: ethics must connect with what is actually happening, by means of an inductive approach, where the primary task of ethics is to listen carefully. Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel applies this attitude to research into the phenomenon of ‘hope’, specifically in the context of the climate crisis. He argues that—despite the seriousness of this crisis—there is reason for hope, if we look carefully at what is going on.
Thirdly, Bonhoeffer emphasizes that responsibility embraces Bereitschaft zur Schuldübernahme. All our actions, from a moral point of view, have negative consequence —they are inevitable. This insight resonates with insights from other thinkers and has important implications, including 4 ‘Who is Jesus Christ for us Today?’ for the ethics of technology in which we are confronted with ‘double effects’.
The fourth and final element in Bonhoeffer’s ethics of responsibility is what he calls the Wagnis der konkreten Entscheidung; he calls for active participation in moral life, in which we take ‘ownership’ and therefore accept the limitations that every position in life has. Prof. Dr. Steven C. van den Heuvel connects this with an appeal to develop a ‘theology of work’. After having introduced Bonhoeffer’s ethics of responsibility in this way and illustrating how it can make a positive-critical contribution to contemporary public debates, he turn his attention to the methodology; he defends his choice for an adapted form of the method of mutual-critical correlation, as developed by Paul Tillich and David Tracy. He also discusses critical questions that can be asked of public theology as such. He closes with a conclusion.
Van den Heuvel, Steven C. ‘Who is Jesus Christ for us Today?’ Bonhoeffer’s Ethics of Responsibility as a Promising Paradigm for Contemporary Public Theology. Leuven: Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, 2024.