“A New Side of One and the Same Lord”: Helmut Thielicke’s Theological Anthropology as an Evangelical Response to Contemporary Humanity’s Existential Anfechtung
Keywords:
Evangelism, Theology, Helmut Thielicke, Existential Anxiety, Theological AnthropologyAbstract
For the theologian Helmut Thielicke (1908-1986) theology must engage the concerns of contemporary culture and respond by imparting a particular aspect of the eternal Gospel pertinent to the temporal query. Thielicke understood that while the Good News contains a diversity of divine truths, specific facets of grace must be emphasized to meet current challenges. Thielicke’s Christologically-normed theological anthropology and his teaching on human identity are a reflection of this evangelical approach. His proclamation that human personhood and Imago Dei are relationally-constituted was a response to the ontological questions and existential anxieties that he observed in mid-20th century Germany. This anxiety stemmed from the worldly relations that humans use to define themselves. However, Thielicke contended that such non-personal phenomena do not define personhood. Rather it is humanity’s relation to the triune God that constitutes true being and identity. Similar existential challenges remain today, and thus too the relevance of Thielicke’s response.
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