HANS PETER GROSSHANS

Hans-Peter Grosshans (born May 3, 1958) is a German theologian and philosopher of religion, with a special focus on questions and problems of hermeneutics, methodology and philosophy of science. After studying theology and philosophy at the universities of Tübingen (Germany) and Oxford (England) he did his doctorate under the supervision of Eberhard Jüngel at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Tübingen (Germany) with a thesis on the question of “theological realism” („Theologischer Realismus. Ein sprachphilosophischer Beitrag zu einer theologischen Sprachlehre”, Tübingen [Mohr Siebeck] 1996), in which he applied the philosophical discussion about realism and antirealism on ontological, epistemological and semantic problems of religious language. His second doctoral thesis („Habilitation”) was on the social form of Christian religion, the church, and the methodological and hermeneutical problems involved in its formation („Die Kirche - irdischer Raum der Wahrheit des Evangeliums”, Leipzig [Evangelische Verlagsanstalt] 2003).

From 1990 to 2002 he was teaching at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Tübingen. He then held teaching positions at the theological faculties of the universities of Hamburg (Germany), Munich (Germany) and Zürich (Switzerland) before in 2008 he took over his present position as professor (chair) for Systematic Theology and director of the Institute for Ecumenical Theology at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Münster, Germany. From 2016 – 2020 he was dean of his faculty. At the University of Münster Hans-Peter Grosshans is member of the Centre for the Theory of Science and of the interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence on “Religion and Politics”. 

Hans-Peter Grosshans is a permanent honorary guest professor at Zhejiang university in Hangzhou in China and has been lecturing at universities in various countries.

Hans-Peter Grosshans is since many years in the Board of the European Society for the Philosophy of Religion and has been president and vice-president of this society.

In 2020-21 he was president of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe).

He is the present president of the German Society for Philosophy of Religion.

He is member of the Executive Board of RESILIENCE: an European Research Infrastructure for Religious Studies.

He is speaker and initiator of the TheoReS: a German research data infrastructure for theologies and research on religion within the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) of Germany.

He is main editor of the journal “Theologische Rundschau” (Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen) and editor (with Chr. Danz, J. Dierken and F. Nüssel) of the book series “Dogmatik in der Moderne“ (Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen).

Hans-Peter Grosshans is member in various ecumenical church bodies and dialogue commissions.

 

Selected publications:

Theologischer Realismus. Ein sprachphilosophischer Beitrag zu einer theologischen Sprachlehre, HUTh 34, Tübingen (Mohr-Siebeck) 1996.

Luther, London (HarperCollins) 1997.

Die Kirche - irdischer Raum der Wahrheit des Evangeliums, Leipzig (Evangelische Verlagsanstalt) 2003.

Rainer Eckel / Hans-Peter Großhans, Gegner oder Geschwister? Glaube und Wissenschaft, Leipzig (Evangelische Verlagsanstalt) 2015.

Buddhist and Christian Attitudes to Religious Diversity, ed. by Hans-Peter Grosshans, Samuel Ngun Ling and Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Yangon (Ling‘s Family Publication) 2017.

Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Myanmar. Contested Identities, ed. by Hans-Peter Grosshans, Madlen Krüger and Perry Schmidt-Leukel, London/New York (Bloomsbury) 2022.

Wahrheit als Perspektive?, in: Wahrheit in Perspektiven. Probleme einer offenen Konstellation, hg. von I.U. Dalferth und Ph. Stoellger, Tübingen (Mohr-Siebeck), 2004, 253 - 269.

Die Wirklichkeit Gottes in der Debatte zwischen Realismus und Anti-Realismus, in: Metaphysik und Religion. Die Wiederentdeckung eines Zusammenhanges, hg. von H. Deuser, Gütersloh 2007, 102 - 118.

"And the Truth Will Make You Free". On the Relationship between Religion, Truth and Power, in: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue (SID), Vol. 17, Louvain 2007, 185 - 204.

Luther on Faith and Reason. The Light of Reason at the Twilight of the World, in:  The Global Luther. A Theologian for Modern Times, ed. by Chr. Helmer, Minneapolis (Fortress Press) 2009, 173 - 185.

The Freedom of a Christian According to Evangelical Lutheran Theology, in: Freedom and Responsibility. Christian and Muslim Explorations, ed. by Simone Sinn and Martin L. Sinaga, Minneapolis 2010, 61 - 80.

Vere tu es Deus absconditus. The Contemplation of Religious Mysteries in the Philosophy of Religion, in: The Contemplative Spirit. D.Z. Phillips on Religion and the Limits of Philosophy, ed. by I. U. Dalferth and H. von Sass, Tübingen 2010, 203 - 218.

Paul’s Anthropology and Its Contribution to the Formation of Humanity in the Perspective of Reformation Theology, in: The Quest for a Common Humanity. Human Dignity and Otherness in the Religious Traditions of the Mediterranean, ed. by K. Berthelot and M. Morgenstern, Leiden/Boston (Brill) 2011, 83 – 99.

Lutheran Hermeneutics: An Outline, in: “You have the Words of Eternal Life” - Transformative Readings of the Gospel of John from a Lutheran Perspective, ed. by K. Mtata, Minneapolis 2012, 23 - 46.

Internal Realism and the Reality of God, in: European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 6, 2014, 61 - 77.

Contingency - Religion - God. A paradigmatic reflection on the relation of science, metaphysics and religion, in: Science, Metaphysics, Religion, ed. by Evandro Agazzi, Milano (FrancoAngeli) 2014, 143 - 153.

The Liberating Word of God. Reflections on the Lutheran Understanding of Holy Scripture, in: Liberated by God’s Grace, ed. by Anne Burghardt, Leipzig (EVA) 2015, 41 - 56.

Europa und die Theologie - der besondere europäische Umgang mit Religion, in: Europa? Zur Kulturgeschichte einer Idee, hg. von Tomislav Zelić, Zaneta Sambunjak und Anita Pavić Pintarić, Würzburg (Königshausen & Neumann) 2015, 121 - 136.

Core Values. An European Perspective, in: International Journal of Sino-Western Studies, 2015, Vol 9, 9 - 20.

Vom Fortschrittsoptimismus zur Kulturkritik. Zur Verarbeitung des Ersten Weltkriegs im deutschsprachigen Protestantismus, in: “The Long Shots of Sarajevo” 1914. Ereignis - Narrativ - Gedächtnis, hg. von Vahidin Preljević und Clemens Ruther, Tübingen (Narr Francke Attempto) 2016, 241 – 252.

Reason and Philosophy in Martin Luther‘s Though, In: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Martin Luther, edited by Derek Nelson and Paul Hinlicky, [insert page numbers]. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Schuld und Vergebung in Martin Luthers Auslegung der Bergpredigt, in: Schuld und Vergebung, hg. von Hans-Peter Grosshans, Herman J. Selderhuis, Alexander Dölecke und Matthias Schleiff, Tübingen (Mohr Siebeck) 2017, 109 - 129.

 

Religionsphilosophie in der Moderne - in christlich-evangelischer Perspektive, in: falsafa. Jahrbuch für islamische Religionsphilosophie, Bd. 1: Religion und Philosophie, hg. von Ahmad Milad Karimi, Freiburg/München (Verlag Karl Alber) 2018, 104 - 121.

The Divine Mystery Becoming Visible in Human Communities, in: In-Visibility. Reflections upon Visibility and Transcendence in Theology, Philosophy and the Arts, ed. by Anna Vind, Iben Damgaard, Kirsten Busch Nielsen and Sven Rune Havsteen, Göttingen (Vandenhoek & Ruprecht) 2020, 445 - 458.

Ethnic and Religious Diversity, in: Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Myanmar. Contested Identities, ed. by Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Hans-Peter Grosshans und Madlen Krüger, London u.a.  (Bloomsbury Academic) 2022, 257 - 271.

Leben in der Hoffnung in Zeiten einer Pandemie und anderer Katastrophen. Über Gott und menschliche Freiheit, in: Theologische Rundschau (ThR) 86, 2021, 382 - 399.

 

For many more publications see:

https://www.uni-muenster.de/EvTheol/en/personen/grosshans.shtml