Emil Brunner

Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology, University of Zurich

(1) Christianity and Civilization: Foundations (2) Christianity and Civilization: Specific Problems

In his first series of lectures, Brunner creates a Christian philosophy of civilization, beginning with the ‘problem of being’. Establishing God as creator and the world as a dependent being, he asserts that humankind becomes vacuous and destructive when divorced from a Christian foundation. In his second series, Brunner provides a Christian interpretation of civilized life, concluding that the essence of civilization has origins not only in biological necessity but also in spiritual impulses.

Biography

Emil Brunner was born on 23 December 1889 near Zurich, Switzerland. A Reformed theologian, he helped shape modern Protestant theology. Brunner served as Pastor in the village of Obstalden in 1916, and in 1919, enrolled at Union Theological Seminary in New York. After publishing his thesis, Experience, Knowledge and Faith, he was appointed Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at the University of Zurich in 1921. He held a visiting professorship at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1938 and the International Christian University in Tokyo in 1953, retiring in 1955.

A supporter of ecumenism, Brunner served as Delegate to the World Council of Churches in 1937. Closely linked to Karl Barth, Brunner’s assertion that humanity bore the ‘image of God’ since creation provoked disagreement. Notable works include Mysticism and the Word (1924), God and Man and The Divine Imperative (1932), The Mediator (1934), Man in Revolt and Truth as Encounter (1937), and his three-volume series, The Christian Doctrine of God, The Christian Doctrine of Creation and Redemption, and The Christian Doctrine of the Church Faith and Consummation (1950).

Published/Archival Resources

Published as Christianity and Civilization: Foundations.