Anfechtung

Spiritual trial - a marginalised classic or a classically marginal note? That remains largely unresolved. And yet something theologically decisive depends upon this very alternative. For spiritual trial denotes an attitude within faith towards faith for which that very faith has become deeply problematic. Accordingly, this highly metaphorical term is intrinsically bound to the concept of faith, while faith is not only thematised concerning its contents, but also its existential aspects. Are people therefore no longer having experiences of this kind and, this being the case, has 'spiritual trial' been turned into a mere relict? Or does contemporary theology no longer have any use for a notion it once considered indispensable? What do we lose when we leave it in this state of abandonment? And were we to renew our efforts to define this classic, what would we then be able to understand better and describe in more detail?