The relationship between Catholic theology and modernity has been controversial for the most part. Up to the 20th century, Catholic theology kept a distance to modern history of thought, as well as to different characteristics of Modernity regarding politics, society, economy, and science. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) is commonly seen as a turning point where the Catholic Church finally started a process of self-modernisation.

Nevertheless, Catholic theology today is bound by a permanent conflict on the question of how to interpret the texts of the Council. This conflict indicates that the controversial relationship between Catholic theology and Modernity has not come to an end. The ongoing, sometimes vigorous, discussions about the theological reading of characteristics of late modernity (secularisation, pluralisation, individualisation) or the theological implementation of modern philosophy and the methods of modern humanities and social sciences firmly support this impression.

Speaking in the categories of a sociology of knowledge, the ongoing debates of Catholic theology in dealing with Modernity can be conceived as identity conflicts. Adapting to challenges of Modernity implies in many cases, that traditional concepts or practices become fragile or even obsolete. The question if such processes essentially harm Catholic Christianity lies in the background of many conflicts in Catholic theology today. Catholic theology, therefore, must proof that processes of self-modernisation go hand in hand with a successful definition of her own identity.

The main resarch field „Discourses of Christian identity - a modern perspective“ meets this challenge with a double focus. On the one hand, conflicts of modernisation in Catholic theology are to be explained theoretically and historically. On the other hand specific determinations of Christian identity in Modernity are to be found regarding controversial questions in systematic theology and ethics.

The first focus lies on philosophical and sociological methods of describing and explaining modernity. A major question is if and how the ambiguity of modernity is conceived in different theoretical accounts. Besides, the question is highly relevant if and to what extent theories of modernity assign a place to religion. The decrease of theories that imply a total disappearance of religion in modernity provides a new chance for a self-reflection of theology in terms of philosophical and sociological theories of modernity. (section “Theory of Modernity”)

On this theoretical background, a historical and hermeneutical explanation of the controversial relationship of Christianity and Modernity becomes possible. This leads to the question if there is a specific Christian influence on the emergence of Modernity (i.e. Christianity and Enlightenment; Christianity and axial age), as well as to the question if and to what extent (Catholic) theology has taken up modern standards, or if not, why she did not do so. Of particular interest are the transitory processes in the first half of the 20th century (the modernist crisis, theological innovations in the interwar period and prior to Vatican II). Thus, a broad and still incomplete field of research is established that is highly relevant for contemporary Catholic theology and her struggles with Modernity. (section “History of Thought and Theology”)

The second focus lies on questions of systematic theology and ethics, which are crucial for viable determinations of Christian identity in Modernity. Among these are general questions regarding the epistemological foundation for the conception of a genuine Christian identity (theology of revelation, fundamental questions of Christian ethics). Furthermore, there are specific problems, which can only be solved if basic insights of modern thought such as the contingency of history or human autonomy are taken into account. In systematic theology, this concerns for example questions of religious freedom, the possibility of a critique of theological tradition, and the hierarchical structure of the Church. In Christian ethics, this leads to questions of the foundation of ethical norms as well as the meaning of authority and sensus fidelium. Like systematic theology in general, Christian ethics is facing the challenge to take up its secular, intercultural, interreligious context and to bring it into a critical dialogue with its own religious ethos. (section “Systematic theology and Ethics”).