Zeit

The narrative of creation, with which the biblical tradition begins, regards time as God’s first work of creation. It is a gift of creation and a gift for people. People are therefore required to organize their time responsibly. In biblical tradition there is always the contrast between the eternal time of God and the finite time of his creatures in the background of the perception of life in faith. From a biblical perspective, people always experience the time given to them as qualified time: as good times and bad times, as times of the decision to repent. The person has to recognize the special character of the respective time and to take the time situation into account in his actions. The articles in this volume ask what answers are given in the Bible and in the history of Christian theology when people reflect on the demands that arise from the encounter with the time God has given them. In this context, the interdisciplinary discussion between the theological disciplines and the dialogue with other sciences are particularly important. With contributions by Balbina Babler, Christfried Boettrich, Rainer Enskat, Joerg Frey, Karen Gloy, Bernd Janowski, Martin Karrer, Judith Koenemann, Thomas Kruger, Paul Metzger, Volker Rabens, Joern Rusen, Hans-Joachim Sander, Dorothea Sattler, Ludger Schwienhorst- Schoenberger and Alexander Zerfass.