American theologian (1929?2023)
Carl Edward Braaten
(January 3, 1929 ? October 28, 2023) was an American
Lutheran
theologian and minister.
Braaten authored and edited numerous books and theological papers, including
Principles of Lutheran Theology
(Fortress Press, 1983),
Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism
(Fortress Press, 1998) and
In One Body Through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity
(Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003). Along with
Robert Jenson
, was an influential figure in developing and restoring the catholic roots of Lutheranism at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Biography
[
edit
]
Carl Edward Braaten was born in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
on January 3, 1929. His parents were
Norwegian-American
pietists
, who served as missionaries in
Madagascar
, and he received his early spiritual formation in that context. After finishing high school at
Augustana Academy
, a Lutheran boarding school in
Canton
,
South Dakota
, he attended
St. Olaf College
,
Luther Seminary
,
Heidelberg University
and
Harvard Divinity School
where he studied under
Paul Tillich
and earned his doctoral degree.
[
citation needed
]
His doctoral dissertation was titled
Christ, Faith and History: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Martin Kahler's Distinction Between the Historical Jesus and the Biblical Christ Developed in the Past and Present Context
.
[2]
He was ordained by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in 1958.
At that time, he began serving a parish in
Minneapolis
and teaching at Luther Seminary. In 1961 Braaten, together with Robert Jenson,
Roy Harrisville
, Kent Knutson, James Burtness and others, founded the journal
Dialog
, which he continued to serve as editor until resigning in 1991. In 1962, Braaten accepted a position at the
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
where he taught as Professor of Systematic Theology until 1991. The same year, Braaten and Jenson founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and established a new theological journal,
Pro Ecclesia
.
Braaten died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 94.
[3]
Works
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]
Author
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]
- History and Hermeneutics
Westminster Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1966.
- The Future of God: The Revolutionary Dynamics of Hope
Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1969.
- Christ and Counter-Christ: Apocalyptic Themes in Theology and Culture
Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1972.
- The Whole Counsel of God
Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1974.
- Eschatology and Ethics: Essays on the Theology and Ethics of the Kingdom of God
Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1974.
- (With wife, LaVonne Braaten)
The Living Temple: A Practical Theology of the Body and the Foods of the Earth
Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1976.
- The Flaming Center: A Theology of the Christian Mission
Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1977.
- Principles of Lutheran Theology
Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1983.
- Stewards of the Mysteries: Sermons for Festivals and Special Occasions
Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1983.
- The Apostolic Imperative: Nature and Aim of the Church's Mission and Ministry
Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1985.
- Justification: The Article by Which the Church Stands or Falls
Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1990.
- No Other Gospel!: Christianity among the World's Religions
Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.
- Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism
Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.
- That All May Believe: A Theology of the Gospel and the Mission of the Church
. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
- Who Is Jesus? Disputed Questions and Answers
. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.
Editor
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- (And translator, with Roy A. Harrisville) Kerygma and History: A Symposium on the Theology of Rudolf Bultmann, Abingdon Press (New York, NY), 1962.
- (And translator, with Roy A. Harrisville) The Historical Jesus and the Kerygmatic Christ: Essays on the New Quest of the Historical Jesus, Abingdon Press (New York, NY), 1964.
- (And translator) Martin Kahler, The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1964, reprinted, 1988.
- Paul Tillich, Perspectives on Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Protestant Theology, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1967.
- Paul Tillich, A History of Christian Thought, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1968, published as A History of Christian Thought, from Its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1972.
- (With
Avery Dulles
) Wolfhart Pannenberg, Spirit, Faith, and Church, Westminster Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1970.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) The Futurist Option, Newman Press (New York, NY), 1970.
- The New Church Debate: Issues Facing American Lutheranism, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1983.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Christian Dogmatics (two volumes), Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1984.
- (With Philip Clayton) The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg: Twelve American Critiques, with an Autobiographical Essay and Response, Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1988.
- Our Naming of God: Problems and Prospects of God-Talk Today, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Reclaiming the Bible for the Church, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) A Map of Twentieth-Century Theology: Readings from Karl Barth to Radical Pluralism, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Either/Or: The Gospel or Neopaganism, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) The Catholicity of the Reformation, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1996.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) The Two Cities of God: The Church's Responsibility for the Earthly City, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1998.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Marks of the Body of Christ, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Sin, Death, and the Devil, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2000.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Church Unity and the Papal Office: An Ecumenical Dialogue on John Paul II's Encyclical "Ut unum sint" ("That All May Be One"), W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) The Last Things: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Eschatology, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) The Strange New World of the Gospel: Re-evangelizing in the Postmodern World, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Jews and Christians: People of God, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.
- (With Robert W. Jenson) Ecumenical Future: Background Papers for "In One Body through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity," W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Garcia, Alberto L. (2012). "Braaten, Carl E. (b. 1929)". In Kurian, George Thomas (ed.).
The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization
. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell.
doi
:
10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0184
.
ISBN
978-0-470-67060-6
.
- ^
Braaten, Carl E. (1959).
Christ, Faith and History: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Martin Kahler's Distinction Between the Historical Jesus and the Biblical Christ Developed in the Past and Present Context
(doctoral thesis). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University.
OCLC
612726594
.
- ^
"In Memoriam: Rev. Dr. Carl Braaten"
.
Grand Canyon Synod
. 9 November 2023
. Retrieved
17 November
2023
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004.
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