Pathetic Theology

In his recently translated book on theology in a “Lutheran way,” Oswald Bayer emphasizes the element of pathos in theology: “The element of pathos in theology emphasizes that, in the presence of God ( coram Deo ), it is God himself who is active and that we are the passive recipients who ‘suffer’ God’s work, in the sense that we passively undergo it.” Coupled with his emphasis on “the affects,” the pathetic nature of theology “shatters the twofold scheme of theory and practice that has dominated theology since the Enlightenment due to its influence in the philosophy of science. Its place is taken by a threefold scheme in which theory and practice, knowledge and action, are grounded in a third dimension, pathos , which puts the emphasis on human receptivity and therefore has fundamental significance for theology.” This pathos has a determinate source and content: It is “determined by the word, by God’s word,” and this word comes to us in a variety of modes (law and gospel are Bayer’s summary of these modes) .