Narratives Concerning the Cross and Resurrection in Christian Theology and Ecumenical Spirituality

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Cornelia Richter
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 348851031

The project addresses the relevance of religion and spirituality for resilience in investigating the Christian core notions of cross and resurrection in the New Testament and three prominent examples of its interpretation, transformation and functional context which until today coin the discoursive praxis within the Christian tradition (Luther, Taizé, Tillich). The project starts with the hypothesis that Christianity's central theological metaphors - cross and resurrection - can be understood as "resilience-narratives" in a heuristic sense, and that their semantics, performative power and structural dynamics are of direct or indirect relevance for the current practice in medicine, therapy, pastoral care and spiritual care. Reason for that is (1) the crucial difference whether the narrative is understood as a single narrative ("cross and resurrection"), or as two different narratives ("cross" and "resurrection"), or as reduced to one part of the narrative ("cross" or "resurrection"); (2) the question which semantics are in play in the modern transformations of the narrative, f. ex. oriented towards transcendence ("new being") or towards anthropology ("frailty and hope"). The answers to these questions vary in history and are thus likely to represent the question of resilience in a nutshell: Does a person who is experiencing severe, existential crisis remain focussed on sorrow and death, or is she able to anticipate life anew from within sorrow and death? Like in all other projects the task of TP 2 is carried out by (A) the analysis of our discoursive praxis, (B) the analysis of the textual basis, and (C) the systematic interpretation of the research results for our common research goals and the development of possible applications. The output will be presented in 3 papers in high-ranking journals, 3 additional presentations to the broader public, and a monograph in systematic theology.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 2686: Resilience in Religion and Spirituality. Endurance and the Formation of Powerlessness, Fear and Anxiety
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Simon Peng-Keller