Potentials and Problems of a Theological Foundation of Tolerance

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Hartmut Rosenau; Kinga Zeller, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 493131063

Tolerance develops in the context and under the preconditions of certain religious, philosophical or ideological convictions. However, in concreto, these preconditions are often decisive reasons for rejecting those who think or believe differently. This is true for religious convictions insofar as their adherents claim absolute truth and thus reject the way of life and mindset of people of other faiths or non-beliefs. Religions, so the impression goes, tend to stand in the way of peaceful coexistence rather than being perceived as promoters of tolerance. That this does not have to be the case is to be worked out in this project with regard to the Protestant-Christian faith. The main goal is to develop a consistent and coherent theological theory of tolerance, which can be linked to a secular context. This shall be achieved in critical-constructive engagement with the Research Unit's guiding model. This guiding model supports the hypothesis that religious tolerance cannot only be achieved by pointing out an intersection of similar beliefs and / or ethical values, but that it is much more important to identify points of reference within the respective religion that relativize rejection and generate respect, so that tolerance can be described and shaped as "rejection tamed by respect" (B. Simon). Hence, it can be shown that the self-relativization necessary for tolerance must come from the self-understanding of believers in the context of their (here: Protestant-Christian) understanding of reality itself, so that corresponding motives must be sought there in order to develop a potential for tolerance through respect, which can "tame" rejection. For the Protestant-Christian faith, these motives include, in dogmatic terms, above all the perception of the unavailability of one's own faith and, in ethical terms, the central position of the commandment to love one's neighbor, stranger and enemy. Their performance is to be examined in connection with the Research Unit's guiding model. Specifically, Hartmut Rosenau pursues the dogmatic-epistemological guiding question of whether and to what extent potential for tolerance can be developed within the Protestant-Christian faith, how these would be determined, and also whether and to what extent limits to tolerance can be defined. Kinga Zeller examines the ethical guiding question of how the commandment of love in its various versions relates to the guiding model of the Research Unit and what gains as well as challenges result from corresponding attempts at mediation. The two PIs then classify the results of the dogmatic and epistemological as well as ethical investigations into tolerance in terms of their implications for a comprehensive model of Christian ethics on the one hand, and for material-dogmatic questions on the other.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 5472: The Difficulty and Possibility of Tolerance: The Multifaceted Challenges of the Concept and Practice of Tolerance
• International Connection: Netherlands