Schriften zu Okumene und Bekenntnis. Band 5

Text in German. The fifth and final volume of the "Writings on Ecumenism and Confession" contains ten articles by Edmund Schlink on church struggle, fundamental theological questions and ecumenism. The first three texts apply to the years between 1934 and 1947. In "Duty and Temptation of Christian Confession" the urgency of confessing Christ in time (winter semester 1934/35) is emphasized. "Grace in God's judgment" sums up sermons from 1945. In "The Earnings of the Church Struggle" of 1947 there are suggestions for the structure of the future Evangelical Church in Germany, for reforming the worship service and for a uniform hymn book. Another four texts are devoted to basic theological questions. "The Scepter of Heidelberg University (Christ and the Faculties)", Schlink's inaugural lecture in Heidelberg in 1947, refers to the inner unity that arises when all faculties recognize Christ as a teacher. The treatise "On the Theological Problem of Music" from 1943 places music making in the context of law and gospel and names ways of associating word and music in worship. The question of the task of fundamental theology is discussed in "Theodicy as a fundamental theological problem," 1979, from an ecumenical perspective. Schlink gave the lecture "Combating and Necessity of Suffering" in 1967 for the 100th anniversary of Bethel. The last three essays on ecumenism deal with the mutual recognition of baptism in "God's Action through Baptism as an Ecumenical Problem", 1978 of the Lord's Supper in "The Problem of Communion between the Evangelical Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches", 1971 , and of the Office in "Basic Questions of a Discussion on the Office of Universal Church Unity", 1979.