Author Description

To mark the occasion of Hans Kung's sixty-fifth birthday, this volume was prepared by various writers, thinkers, and religious leaders to celebrate Kung's life and his theology. The contributors themselves illustrate the extent of Kung's influence, as they come not only from Switzerland and Germany, but from Britain and Ireland, the United States, Latin America, Saudi Arabia, and Russia; and represent not only Christianity, but Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. Together, these contributors reflect on the many circles of thought that have made up Kung's remarkable intellectual career: ecclesiology, christology, theology, and ecumenicism, first within Christianity and then to the entire world in the form of a global ethic. In spite of Kung's continued expansion into wider horizons of faith and thought, his basic theological insights have remained remarkably constant throughout his long career. He has been less influenced by fashion than many other theologians, demonstrating a constancy of conviction and coherence of theological method. Kung has, however, set the fashion for others, as he has brought and continues to bring attention to highly topical and critical issues of the current day. This volume is a fascinating critical survey of a remarkable theologian's life and thought. It provides a real understanding of Kung's theology, its strengths and weaknesses, its limitations and its riches. Finally, it aims toward rehabilitating Hans Kung as a Catholic theologian. As Heinrich Fries, one of the great figures of Roman Catholic ecumenical theology recently asked: "Is the Catholic church so narrow that it cannot tolerate a man like Kung? Or is it so rich that it can dispense with him?"