Theology

Social interaction is shaped by both positive and negative emotions. The norm of μακροθυμία (long-suffering), which constitutes and defines interpersonal interaction, intervenes precisely in this complex of emotionality and relationships. Kerstin Reussner investigates what characterizes μακροθυμία, what it means in ancient texts, in which contexts it is relevant and how it is theologically substantiated.

Christian Steiner develops a systematic theological reconstruction of Thomas Aquinas' doctrine of reconciliation under the guiding concept of amicitia Dei. He shows that Thomas understands reconciliation not as a legal settlement or purely ethical model, but as a Trinitarian-based friendship between God and man.

Christian Blumenthal interprets the Epistle of Jude and the Second Epistle of Peter in their cultural contexts, elaborates on their strategic theological ambiguities, and inquires into their pragmatic potential against the backdrop of the expansive polemical black-and-white contrasts in both epistles.

The volume investigates how human existence is shaped by the tensions between activity and passivity, autonomy and dependence, immanence and transcendence. The central theme is the problematic nature of subjectivity - not as a stable foundation, but as a dynamic, self-relating process marked by vulnerability, temporality, and relationality.