‘Doctor of the Church’: Gerhard Ebeling

Tanya Van Wyk,Andries Van Aarde

doi:10.4102/hts.v72i1.3353

Abstract

This article’s point of departure is the camaraderie of two eminent Protestant theologians ,Gerhard Ebeling and Ernst Fuchs. From the perspective of Eberhard Jüngel, Ebeling is described as a ‘doctor of the church’. Focusing on Ebeling’s autobiographical notes, the article describes his upbringing in a solid church going family, the effect of critical theological training in Marburg and the influence of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Rudolf Bultmann on his theological convictions. It points out Ebeling’s interest in the Reformer Martin Luther. The article follows Ebeling’s career in Zürich and Tübingen, and the way in which his visits to the US positively influenced his life and thinking.

Highlights

Description: This research forms part of two different research projects
From the perspective of Eberhard Jüngel, Ebeling is described as a ‘doctor of the church’
This article is dedicated to Professor Dr Graham Duncan, a church historian who has introduced to his Pretoria colleagues the truism that reformation means transformation, and that transformation is conversion’s other side of the coin

Summary

Introduction

Description: This research forms part of two different research projects. It is part of the research project, ‘The legacy of the 16th Century Reformation and the South-African Democratic Ideal (Dr T. van Wyk) and ‘Hermeneutics and Biblical Theology The article follows Ebeling’s career in Zürich and Tübingen, and the way in which his visits to the US positively influenced his life and thinking.

Results

Conclusion