Philosophy as a necessary mediation for the mission of the church: a basic intuition of the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg

Abstract

In this article, we analyze in what way philosophy, according to Pannenberg's proposition, has a mediating character for theology which, albeit provisional and incomplete, becomes necessary for the mission of the Church: to announce the God of Jesus Christ and of the Spirit, as the Creator of all things, as one who "determines everything". Thusly, if philosophy wonders about the sense of it all, it will be an ally of theology, which claims to interpret the world, the cosmos, history and humanity as dimensions determined by God. It is, to be sure, a provisional task, because only upon God's self-revelation, according to this author, does an "erradication" of philosophical structures take place, with a view towards its full and ultimate meaning.