Raymund Schwager: Dramatic Theology

Raymund Schwager, dogmatic theologian in Innsbruck until his sudden death in 2004, has initiated an innovative theological approach which places theology in the context of questions about violence and peace. The central notion of this approach is that divine revelation must be construed as an interdependent historical web of action and reaction between God and humankind and that, as a consequence, the Biblical writings, which give witness of this process of revelation, have to be interpreted like a drama. "Drama" is taken to denote that literary form which depicts interactive webs of agency by different interdependent agents and their - often surprising - turns in the best possible way. Schwager developed his ideas in exchange with the cultural anthropologist and literary scholar René Girard and his mimetic theory. It seems most likely that Schwager`s dramatic theology and Girard`s mimetic theory influenced and enriched each other greatly. Both concur that religions are means to deal with violence that would otherwise spread uncontrollably and would endanger the very existence of human society; however different religions do so in very different ways. The Judeo-Christian tradition plays a special role in this context. According to these hypotheses religion gains an immediate relevance for the order of human society. Schwager can be described as one of the first theologians who considered the problem of violence as central for his theological hermeneutics. He conducted his theology in dialogue with social and political sciences. To initiate an annotated complete edition of Schwager`s academic estate two volumes are to be published and annotated from genetic, systematic-theological, methodological and socio-political aspects: 1) Schwager`s correspondence with René Girard from 1973-1991, which documents and discusses the development process of both thinkers` work. 2) Schwager`s final, unfinished monograph, entitled Dogma und dramatische Geschichte. Christologie im Kontext von Judentum, Islam und moderner Marktkultur, which is the keystone of his theology and displays it in full development.

Innsbruck Dramatic Theology refers to a theological approach developed by the Innsbruck Dogmatic theologian Raymund Schwager (1935-2004). Schwager laid the groundwork for a new methodical approach to theology by engaging it in an intensive dialogue with cultural and social, and also natural sciences, and putting it in the context of urgent problems of todays society. The most important socio-political themes that Schwager placed at the center of his thinking were the problems of violence, social ostracism, and sacrifice. Encountering the French-American literary scholar and anthropologist René Girard (* 1923) inspired Schwager and enabled him to conduct a profounder dialogue between theology on the one hand and the human and social sciences on the other hand. In the project parts of Schwagers academic estate were critically edited and commented on and published in two volumes.One volume contains Schwagers correspondence with Girard, which had been mostly handwritten and formulated in French. It was transcribed, translated into German and edited. The other volume is a book for which Schwager left only an unfinished manuscript at the time of his sudden death, entitled Dogma und dramatische Geschichte [Dogma and Dramatic History]. Schwagers academic estate contains elaborated fragments, notes, and sketches. The main task of the project was to critically reconstruct the main text of this work but also to secure its variants. About the texts of the two volumes a conference was held to comment and discuss them; the result was published in a third book. The critical edition of the correspondence between Schwager and Girard led to the correction of two widely held opinions in the scientific community (in theology as well as in research about mimetic theory). The first is about the development of mimetic theory and the influence that Schwager exerted on Girard. The common expectation that the influence occurred only in one direction, namely from Girard towards Schwager, has to be corrected in favor of a more balanced view. Schwagers influence on the later phase of the development of mimetic theory was considerable. This fact alone opens up new insights into the relationship between theology and the human and social sciences. Then there is the problem of sacrifice. The correspondence shows the profundity of the discussion between the two thinkers about the social indispensability of sacrifice and brings to the fore how important the theological contribution was for gaining a perspective that was able to break out of sacrificial mechanisms. The critical edition of Dogma und dramatische Geschichte [Dogma and Dramatic History] makes known to the public a truly revolutionary approach to the relationship of dogmatic truth with social ostracizing mechanisms. Schwager attends to the question by looking at the example of the excommunication of a 5th century bishop of Constantinople, called Nestorius (ca. 381-451), who belonged to the Antioch school of theology. The fact that the dispute in question was solved by ostracizing a scapegoat (Nestorius) had tremendous consequences for subsequent history. Nestoriuss followers went to the far East, the Nestorian church spread even into China. What would the worlds religious map look like today, if Nestorians had not been pushed to the fringe back then? A new, dramatic, understanding of dogma proposed by Schwager promises new perspectives for dealing with conflicts and clashes; it points to a way for reconciliation. We can only speak of dogmatic truth if and when the legitimate concern of our opponent has been integrated in the formulation of our truth. We hope that in the medium term the current discussion about dogma and fanaticism is led onto new paths by this seminal work.Publications (mentioned above)Raymund Schwager, Briefwechsel mit René Girard. Hg. von Nikolaus Wandinger und Karin Peter. Freiburg im Breisgau 2014.Raymund Schwager, Dogma und dramatische Geschichte . Christologie im Kontext von Judentum, Islam und moderner Marktkultur. Hg. von Jozef Niewiadomski und Mathias Moosbrugger. Freiburg im Breisgau 2014.Mathias Moosbrugger, Jozef Niewiadomski (Hg.), Auf dem Weg zur Neubewertung der Tradition. Die Theologie von Raymund Schwager und sein neuerschlossener Nachlass. Freiburg im Breisgau 2015.