Robert Jenson
Encyclopedia
Robert W. Jenson is a leading American Lutheran and ecumenical theologian.
in the late 1940s, before beginning theological studies at Luther Seminary
in 1951. Due to a car accident he missed most of his first-year seminary studies, and during that year he immersed himself in the works of Kant
and Kierkegaard. Jenson began reading historical-critical scholars like Hermann Gunkel
and Sigmund Mowinckel
, and as a result he became deeply interested in the biblical texts and in the theological significance of the Old Testament.
At Luther Seminary, Jenson was assistant to the renowned orthodox Lutheran theologian, Herman Preus. Preus infused Jenson with an admiration for the theology of post-Reformation Lutheran scholasticism
, and with a strong belief in the orthodox Lutheran understanding of predestination
. Against the majority of the staff at Luther Seminary at that time, who believed that God elected individuals to salvation on the basis of "foreseen faith", Preus held that God had decreed the salvation of a definite number of the elect, without a decree of reprobation. Other influences at Luther Seminary included Edmund Smits, who introduced Jenson to the work of Augustine, and fellow-student Gerhard Forde, who introduced him to the work of Rudolf Bultmann
. While studying at seminary, Jenson also met and married Blanche Rockne, who became one of the major stimuli for his theological work (one of his later books includes a dedication to Blanche, "the mother of all my theology").
After seminary, Jenson taught in the department of religion and philosophy at Luther College
from 1955 to 1957, before moving to Heidelberg
for doctoral studies in 1957-58. Though he had planned to write his dissertation on Bultmann, his supervisor, Peter Brunner, advised him to work on Karl Barth
's doctrine of election. Thus Jenson worked on Barth's theology at Heidelberg, and he also studied nineteenth-century German theology and philosophy, partly with the help of the new Heidelberg lecturer, Wolfhart Pannenberg
. He also attended a seminar there with Martin Heidegger
(and, during a later visit to Heidelberg, with Hans-Georg Gadamer
). Even more significantly, at Heidelberg he became friends with another young Lutheran scholar, Carl Braaten
, who would later become his "chief theological companion" and his most important theological collaborator.
, with Barth's approval, and so Jenson returned to Luther College, where he continued to study Barth while also developing an increasing interest in the philosophy of Hegel. The faculty of the religion department was uncomfortable with Jenson's theological liberalism, and his openness to biblical criticism and evolutionary biology was strongly condemned. When the college failed to force Jenson's retirement, several professors from the religion and biology departments resigned in protest. From 1960 to 1966, Jenson was thus left with the task of helping to rebuild an entire religion department, and he became especially involved in the development of a new philosophy department. During these years, he also wrote A Religion against Itself (1967), which sharply critiqued the American religious culture of the 1960s.
Jenson finally left Luther College to spend three years as Dean and Tutor of Lutheran Studies at Mansfield College, Oxford University. Here he was able to focus for the first time on teaching theology, and he was deeply influenced by his encounters with Anglicanism
and with ecumenical worship. The three years at Oxford marked a creative and productive period in Jenson's career. In The Knowledge of Things Hoped For (1969), he sought to integrate the traditions of European hermeneutics and English analytical philosophy, while also drawing on patristic and medieval theologians such as Origen
and Thomas Aquinas
. And in God after God (1969), he sought to go beyond the "death of God" theology by emphasizing the actualism and futurity of God's being. The proposal advanced in God after God was in many respects parallel to the new "theology of hope" that was being developed at the time in Germany by young scholars like Jürgen Moltmann
and Wolfhart Pannenberg
. At Oxford, Jenson also supervised the doctoral work of Colin Gunton
, who went on to become one of Great Britain's most distinguished and influential systematic theologians.
From Oxford, Jenson returned to America in 1968 and took up a position at the Lutheran Seminary
in Gettysburg
. His work here focused in part on distinctively Lutheran themes, especially in the books Lutheranism (1976) and Visible Words (1978). He also began to engage deeply with patristic thought (especially with Gregory of Nyssa
, Cyril of Alexandria
, and Maximus the Confessor
), which led him to develop a creative new proposal for trinitarian theology in The Triune Identity (1982).
Further, as a result of his encounter with Anglicanism at Oxford, Jenson was appointed to the first round of Lutheran-Episcopal ecumenical dialogue in 1968. This was the beginning of his long involvement with the ecumenical movement, which would deeply shape his later theology. With George Lindbeck
, he became involved in the Roman Catholic-Lutheran dialogue; and in 1988, he spent time at the Institute for Ecumenical Research at Strasbourg
. Throughout his career, Jenson's theology continued to move in an increasingly Catholic, conservative and ecumenical direction. He interacted extensively with the work of Catholic theologians like Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI
) and Hans Urs von Balthasar
, and with Eastern Orthodox theologians like Maximus the Confessor
, John Zizioulas
and Vladimir Lossky
.
in Gettysburg
, Jenson moved in 1988 to the religion department of St. Olaf College
in Northfield, Minnesota
. He was joined in Northfield by his friend Carl Braaten
, and together they founded the conservative Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in 1991. The founding of this Center marked a new period of intensive ecumenical involvement for Jenson: with Braaten, he organized numerous ecumenical conferences, and began publishing the theological journal Pro Ecclesia.
Jenson continued to teach at St. Olaf College until 1998, when he retired and took up a position as Senior Scholar for Research at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey
. Before leaving St. Olaf College, he completed work on his magnum opus, the two-volume Systematic Theology (1997-99), which has since been widely regarded as one of the most important and creative recent works of systematic theology
. In a review of this work, Wolfhart Pannenberg
described Jenson as "one of the most original and knowledgeable theologians of our time".
Jenson currently resides in Princeton, NJ.
Student years
Jenson studied classics and philosophy at Luther CollegeLuther College
Luther College is the name of several educational institutions:*Luther College , in Decorah; a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
in the late 1940s, before beginning theological studies at Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary
Luther Seminary is the largest seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America . Located in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of St...
in 1951. Due to a car accident he missed most of his first-year seminary studies, and during that year he immersed himself in the works of Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
and Kierkegaard. Jenson began reading historical-critical scholars like Hermann Gunkel
Hermann Gunkel
Hermann Gunkel was a German Protestant Old Testament scholar. He is noted for his contribution to form criticism and the study of oral tradition in biblical texts. He was an outstanding representative of the "History of Religion School."...
and Sigmund Mowinckel
Sigmund Mowinckel
Sigmund Olaf Plytt Mowinckel was one of the world's most significant Psalms scholars.-Life:...
, and as a result he became deeply interested in the biblical texts and in the theological significance of the Old Testament.
At Luther Seminary, Jenson was assistant to the renowned orthodox Lutheran theologian, Herman Preus. Preus infused Jenson with an admiration for the theology of post-Reformation Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism was a theological method that gradually developed during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures...
, and with a strong belief in the orthodox Lutheran understanding of predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
. Against the majority of the staff at Luther Seminary at that time, who believed that God elected individuals to salvation on the basis of "foreseen faith", Preus held that God had decreed the salvation of a definite number of the elect, without a decree of reprobation. Other influences at Luther Seminary included Edmund Smits, who introduced Jenson to the work of Augustine, and fellow-student Gerhard Forde, who introduced him to the work of Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
. While studying at seminary, Jenson also met and married Blanche Rockne, who became one of the major stimuli for his theological work (one of his later books includes a dedication to Blanche, "the mother of all my theology").
After seminary, Jenson taught in the department of religion and philosophy at Luther College
Luther College
Luther College is the name of several educational institutions:*Luther College , in Decorah; a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...
from 1955 to 1957, before moving to Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
for doctoral studies in 1957-58. Though he had planned to write his dissertation on Bultmann, his supervisor, Peter Brunner, advised him to work on Karl Barth
Karl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
's doctrine of election. Thus Jenson worked on Barth's theology at Heidelberg, and he also studied nineteenth-century German theology and philosophy, partly with the help of the new Heidelberg lecturer, Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg is a German Christian theologian. His emphasis on history as revelation, centred on the Resurrection of Christ, has proved important in stimulating debate in both Protestant and Catholic theology, as well as with non-Christian thinkers.-Life and views:Pannenberg was baptized as...
. He also attended a seminar there with Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
(and, during a later visit to Heidelberg, with Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method .-Life:...
). Even more significantly, at Heidelberg he became friends with another young Lutheran scholar, Carl Braaten
Carl Braaten
Carl E. Braaten is an American Lutheran theologian.-Biography:Carl Braaten has been one of the leading theologians and teachers in the Lutheran church for the past 50 years...
, who would later become his "chief theological companion" and his most important theological collaborator.
Early career
Jenson's doctoral dissertation (revised and published in 1963 as Alpha and Omega) was completed in BaselBasel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, with Barth's approval, and so Jenson returned to Luther College, where he continued to study Barth while also developing an increasing interest in the philosophy of Hegel. The faculty of the religion department was uncomfortable with Jenson's theological liberalism, and his openness to biblical criticism and evolutionary biology was strongly condemned. When the college failed to force Jenson's retirement, several professors from the religion and biology departments resigned in protest. From 1960 to 1966, Jenson was thus left with the task of helping to rebuild an entire religion department, and he became especially involved in the development of a new philosophy department. During these years, he also wrote A Religion against Itself (1967), which sharply critiqued the American religious culture of the 1960s.
Jenson finally left Luther College to spend three years as Dean and Tutor of Lutheran Studies at Mansfield College, Oxford University. Here he was able to focus for the first time on teaching theology, and he was deeply influenced by his encounters with Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
and with ecumenical worship. The three years at Oxford marked a creative and productive period in Jenson's career. In The Knowledge of Things Hoped For (1969), he sought to integrate the traditions of European hermeneutics and English analytical philosophy, while also drawing on patristic and medieval theologians such as Origen
Origen
Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
and Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
. And in God after God (1969), he sought to go beyond the "death of God" theology by emphasizing the actualism and futurity of God's being. The proposal advanced in God after God was in many respects parallel to the new "theology of hope" that was being developed at the time in Germany by young scholars like Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann is a German Reformed theologian. The 2000 recipient of the Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion.-Moltmann's Youth:...
and Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg is a German Christian theologian. His emphasis on history as revelation, centred on the Resurrection of Christ, has proved important in stimulating debate in both Protestant and Catholic theology, as well as with non-Christian thinkers.-Life and views:Pannenberg was baptized as...
. At Oxford, Jenson also supervised the doctoral work of Colin Gunton
Colin Gunton
Colin Ewart Gunton was a British systematic theologian. As a theologian he made contributions to the doctrine of Creation and the doctrine of the trinity. He was Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College London from 1984 and co-founder with Christoph Schwoebel of the Research Institute for...
, who went on to become one of Great Britain's most distinguished and influential systematic theologians.
From Oxford, Jenson returned to America in 1968 and took up a position at the Lutheran Seminary
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg is America's oldest Lutheran seminary and a site of 1863 Battle of Gettysburg military engagements.-History:...
in Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
. His work here focused in part on distinctively Lutheran themes, especially in the books Lutheranism (1976) and Visible Words (1978). He also began to engage deeply with patristic thought (especially with Gregory of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa
St. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
, Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
, and Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
), which led him to develop a creative new proposal for trinitarian theology in The Triune Identity (1982).
Further, as a result of his encounter with Anglicanism at Oxford, Jenson was appointed to the first round of Lutheran-Episcopal ecumenical dialogue in 1968. This was the beginning of his long involvement with the ecumenical movement, which would deeply shape his later theology. With George Lindbeck
George Lindbeck
George Arthur Lindbeck is an American Lutheran theologian. He is best known as an ecumenicist and as one of the fathers of postliberal theology.-Early life and education:...
, he became involved in the Roman Catholic-Lutheran dialogue; and in 1988, he spent time at the Institute for Ecumenical Research at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. Throughout his career, Jenson's theology continued to move in an increasingly Catholic, conservative and ecumenical direction. He interacted extensively with the work of Catholic theologians like Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
) and Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Hans Urs von Balthasar was a Swiss theologian and priest who was nominated to be a cardinal of the Catholic Church...
, and with Eastern Orthodox theologians like Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
, John Zizioulas
John Zizioulas
John Zizioulas is the Eastern Orthodox metropolitan of Pergamon. He is the Chairman of the Academy of Athens and a noted theologian.-Academic Education and Career:...
and Vladimir Lossky
Vladimir Lossky
Vladimir Nikolayevich Lossky was an influential Eastern Orthodox theologian in exile from Russia. He emphasized theosis as the main principle of Orthodox Christianity....
.
Later career
After two decades of teaching at Lutheran Theological SeminaryLutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg is America's oldest Lutheran seminary and a site of 1863 Battle of Gettysburg military engagements.-History:...
in Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
, Jenson moved in 1988 to the religion department of St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...
in Northfield, Minnesota
Northfield, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,147 people, 4,909 households, and 3,210 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,452.2 people per square mile . There were 5,119 housing units at an average density of 732.1 per square mile...
. He was joined in Northfield by his friend Carl Braaten
Carl Braaten
Carl E. Braaten is an American Lutheran theologian.-Biography:Carl Braaten has been one of the leading theologians and teachers in the Lutheran church for the past 50 years...
, and together they founded the conservative Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in 1991. The founding of this Center marked a new period of intensive ecumenical involvement for Jenson: with Braaten, he organized numerous ecumenical conferences, and began publishing the theological journal Pro Ecclesia.
Jenson continued to teach at St. Olaf College until 1998, when he retired and took up a position as Senior Scholar for Research at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
. Before leaving St. Olaf College, he completed work on his magnum opus, the two-volume Systematic Theology (1997-99), which has since been widely regarded as one of the most important and creative recent works of systematic theology
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
. In a review of this work, Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg
Wolfhart Pannenberg is a German Christian theologian. His emphasis on history as revelation, centred on the Resurrection of Christ, has proved important in stimulating debate in both Protestant and Catholic theology, as well as with non-Christian thinkers.-Life and views:Pannenberg was baptized as...
described Jenson as "one of the most original and knowledgeable theologians of our time".
Jenson currently resides in Princeton, NJ.
Authored Works
- Cur Deus Homo? The Election of Jesus Christ in the Theology of Karl Barth (Heidelberg doctoral dissertation; 1959)
- Alpha and Omega: A Study in the Theology of Karl Barth (1963)
- A Religion against Itself (1967)
- God after God: The God of the Past and the God of the Future, Seen in the Work of Karl Barth (1969)
- The Knowledge of Things Hoped For: The Sense of Theological Discourse (1969)
- (with Carl E. Braaten) The Futurist Option (1970)
- Story and Promise: A Brief Theology of the Gospel about Jesus (1973)
- (with Eric W. GritschEric W. GritschEric W. Gritsch is an American Lutheran ecumenical theologian and Luther scholar.-Early life and student years:...
) Lutheranism: The Theological Movement and Its Writings (1976)
- Visible Words: The Interpretation and Practice of Christian Sacraments (1978)
- The Triune Identity: God According to the Gospel (1982)
- Story and Promise: A Brief Theology of the Gospel about Jesus (1983)
- America's Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards (1988)
- A Large Catechism (1991)
- Unbaptized God: The Basic Flaw in Ecumenical Theology (1992)
- Essays in Theology of Culture (1995)
- Systematic Theology: Volume 1: The Triune God (1997)
- Systematic Theology: Volume 2: The Works of God (1999)
- On Thinking the Human: Resolutions of Difficult Notions (2003)
- Song of Songs (2005)
- (with Solveig Lucia Gold) Conversations with Poppi about God: An Eight-Year-Old and Her Theologian Grandfather Trade Questions (November 2006)
- Ezekiel (2009)
- Canon and Creed (2010)
Edited Works
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Christian Dogmatics, 2 vols. (1984)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) A Map of Twentieth Century Theology: Readings from Karl Barth to Radical Pluralism (1995)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Either/Or: The Gospel or Neopaganism (1995)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) The Catholicity of the Reformation (1996)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Reclaiming the Bible for the Church (1996)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) The Two Cities of God: The Church's Responsibility for the Earthly City (1997)
- (edited with Oswald Bayer and Simo Knuuttila) Caritas Dei: Beiträge zum Verständnis Luthers und der gegenwärtigen Ökumene: Festschrift für Tuomo Mannermaa zum 60. Geburtstag (1997)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther (1998)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Marks of the Body of Christ (1999)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Sin, Death, and the Devil (1999)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Church Unity and the Papal Office: An Ecumenical Dialogue on John Paul II's Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (2001)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) The Strange New World of the Gospel: Re-Evangelizing in the Postmodern World (2002)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Jews and Christians: People of God (2003)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) The Last Things: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Eschatology (2003)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) In One Body through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity (2003)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) The Ecumenical Future (2004)
- (edited with Carl E. Braaten) Mary, Mother of God (2004)