Click on the title of the respective research project to access a project description.
The project, currently in its conceptual phase, is being developed in preparation for a Heisenberg or research grant application to the DFG. It is based on several theses regarding the structure, function, and political momentum of purity figures. Initially, it appears that there are at least two distinguishable figures of purity: firstly, the absence of unhygienic elements, dirt, etc., and secondly, the absence of the mixing of different things, factors, or even thoughts. This suggests that these figures are characterized by absence, thus defined exclusively in negative terms. Thirdly, the political relevance is evident in the fundamental figures: the first type of purity conceptions in the context of pandemics and associated hygiene regulations, and the second type in various discourses on migration, nationality, culture, etc. Fourthly, an interference or convergence of both fundamental figures can be observed, which can be summarized as ›mixing pollutes.‹ The project aims to investigate the theological and philosophical foundations and consequences of this type of thinking and argumentation, particularly through historical evidence of these and other figures of purity. This closely ties to the existing results of my research, as it can be shown that ›purity‹ relies on figures of origin, originality, and even naturalness. Lastly, the figure often accounts for a reality before or beyond the perceivable. The assumption of a counterfactually achievable purity can harbor the most dangerous political potential of this thought figure. To address this danger, a fundamental examination of the prerequisites of this thinking is necessary.
While the habilitation thesis primarily focused on the aforementioned reality of God in its conceptual formation, and also considered the reality of humanity as a concept and moment of distinction, demarcation, or interference, a significant aspect remained outside the chosen focus, which is also connected to the question of eschaton and eschatology. Therefore, in continuation of the completed project, the question of the reality of the Kingdom of God as the place where the reality of humanity is exposed to the reality of God, and especially the action-guiding function and implications of such a ›reality structure,‹ will now be addressed. As the ›place‹ of this structure, the non-place, the utopia of classical literary utopias as a withdrawn yet highly demanding place of human coexistence, is sought. Thus, an action-guiding conception of the ›Kingdom of God‹ is to be developed outside the dichotomy of (mere) otherworldly consolation (which is never far from its use as a legitimizing figure of existing conditions) and fantasies of feasibility (whose potential for violence should not be underestimated). For this project, as well as for the project above, I am happy to provide more detailed outlines upon request.
Another continuation of the thematic complex of the habilitation project will be undertaken, particularly with regard to its critical potential. This is primarily connected to the aspect of the mythical ›origin‹ and its claim to normativity, an aspect that is also significant for critically examining remythologizations. Not only does every origin narrative produce a corresponding normativity, but every norm also continually retells its own origin story. Both mutually condition and reformulate each other. This extends beyond the figure of myth as a justification for a primordial foundation (Eliade) and must, beyond such a ›one-way street,‹ also include the reception process of myths (Blumenberg). The structures to be demonstrated can be illustrated not only through classical and modern political myths (cf. Blumenberg, Cassirer, Hübner) but also, for example, through evolutionary biological explanations of human behavior and socialization. These three perspectives will address the following question: regarding the structures of the normativity of origins in general, the political utilization of such origin narratives, and finally, the specific argumentation with various narratives about the phylogenesis of humanity.
The network »Utopia,« founded in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Ebert (Heidelberg), Dörthe Mohme (Marburg/New York), Dra. Cornelia Mügge (Münster), and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Christian Schlenker (Geneva), aims to connect and facilitate exchange among theologians who en-gage with ›utopia‹ from various perspectives. So far, this cooperation has resulted in an inaugural workshop in Münster in March 2023 and a joint panel led by Cornelia Mügge and Christian Schlenker at the European Academy of Religion Conference 2024 in Palermo. Both formats are also the main elements of further collaboration, including a panel at the next EuARe 2025 in Vienna.
The collaborative project with Ass.-Prof. Dr. Christian Schlenker (Geneva) begins with the perceived departure from a world where all important things were eternal and unchangeable. So unchangeable, in fact, that the question of how things could move (and thus change) had to be intensely debated. For a long time, the Christian God and humanity coram Deo were understood using the same terms. God was considered eternal, immutable, apathetic, omnipresent, omnipotent… The human soul was deemed immortal and was to be eternalized after death. The substance of every kind remained the same, regardless of contingencies and time. With one crucial difference: everything except God Himself has a beginning, is created. But everything created remains the same from its creation onwards. Nowadays, most of us seem to live in a post-postmodern world that is fragmented, where things are fleeting and can only be grasped in retrospect. Philosophy has reached a similar understanding, particularly historicism and phenomenology. Theology has also adapted, turning towards the historical, the processual, and the contextual. This turn is appreciated by many, viewed with concern by some. But there seems to be a renewed awareness of the significance of phenomena that endure and persist: God, the Crucified and/or the Resurrected, the identity and restoration of the human person beyond death, a history of humans on this planet, however it may be conceived. Hence, there is also an awareness that undesirable phenomena persist, such as vulnerability or exposure. How, then, can we speak of the persistence of God, humanity, history – but also of evil and suffering? Do we need to return to classical metaphysics, or are there new ways to think about these phenomena and about duration, change, and persistence as phenomena themselves? The project approaches this question initially from the preliminary work of the participants, focusing on ›memoria‹ (Stoppel) and ›fidelity‹ (Schlenker) as phenomena and possible guarantors of persistence. An initial result of the project will be an open panel at the EuARe 2025 in Vienna.
Together with PD Dr. Andreas Gehrlach, a cultural scientist and Program Director of the International Research Center for Cultural Studies at the University of Art and Design Linz in Vienna, the edition and publication of the contemporary German translation of the utopian novel »Les Avantures de Jacques Sadeur« by Gabriel de Foigny is planned. This translation, which appeared in 1704 under the title »Sehr curiöse Reise-Beschreibung durch das neu-entdeckte Südland«, currently has no complete edition (nor a complete new translation) available. As part of the publication, a comprehensive introduction by the editors is also planned. The novel deserves to be counted among the classic utopias and is particularly relevant to contemporary discourses due to its thematization of the overcoming of gender boundaries. Initial negotiations with an interested publisher are currently underway.
A project envisioned in collaboration with PD Dr. Magnus Schlette and Dr. Rasmus Nagel from the department of »Theology & Natural Sciences« at FEST Heidelberg explores the question of extraterrestrial existences, which seems to directly refer to the realm of (science fiction) literature, where they would be examined de dicto as a trope. However, from a scientific perspective, the discovery of microbiological life forms outside of Earth is widely anticipated in the near future, which would then be discussed de re. As a subject of serious investigation at the intersection of theology and natural sciences, extraterrestrial existences are to be considered from both perspectives, in at least three dimensions: 1) the existence of the universe for humanity; 2) the existence of humans outside their own planet; 3) the existence of life not based on Earth. All three dimensions have, de dicto as well as de re (and already as a future probability), consequences for the human relationship with the world and self. From a theological perspective, questions of creation doctrine, soteriology, and ethics are particularly pertinent. A detailed outline of the thematic complex is available upon request.
What is reality and what is fantasy? Most people would spontaneously claim to know the difference and be able to distinguish between the two. This claim also holds for those who identify with the Christian faith, gaining very concrete significance, especially when they – to use a formulation adapted from Ingolf U. Dalferth – ›want to believe in something and not in nothing, and not just in something imagined, fictional, or possible.‹ The focus of this investigation is on theologians who, firstly, attempt to conceive a reality of God, and secondly, understand this reality as distinct from ›worldly‹ reality, not subsumed by it and not reducible to it. Further, all selected concepts share a common engagement with myth in some form. The course of the investigation shows that the assessments of the latter problematics are as varied as those concerning the reality of God and its relationship to other ›realities.‹ To seriously place them in a fruitful relation to each other, a ›thinking pattern‹ is needed that allows for dealing with plural concepts of reality, their diachronic and synchronic relations to each other, and not least the question of how something can be proven as ›reality.‹ This work has found its ›thinking pattern‹ in the philosophy of Hans Blumenberg, who has addressed these very questions and explicitly connected them with the question of myth. Based on this pattern, the myth and reality conceptions of David F. Strauss, Rudolf Bultmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Ingolf U. Dalferth are examined. The conclusion is the recognition of the impossibility of speaking about God other than in human concepts of reality and in engagement with other such concepts. This indicates the necessity of distance or the absolute impossibility of non-distance and immediacy. Where this distance is avoided, where myth and concept are brought to an end and left behind, only silence remains.
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Last update: May 05, 2026
