Maarten Wisse, born in Middelburg, the Netherlands, in 1973. Ph.D. from Utrecht University. Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Fellow (1 February 2009 – 30 June 2009)
PROGRESSIVE OR CONSERVATIVE? AUGUSTINE IN COCCEIUS AND RATZINGER
During this research fellowship, which was carried out as part of the theme group on the reception of Augustine, I investigated the reception of Augustine in 20th century theology. The results of the research were synthesised and will become a chapter in the introductory part of the “Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine” (OGHRA). More specifically, I paid attention to the reception of Augustine in the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, presently Pope Benedict XVI, and Wolfhart Pannenberg, one of the leading Protestant theologians of the 20th century in Germany. In both, it turned out that the reception of Augustine as such was strongly influenced by 20th century interests, so that even if theological views are explicitly defended by an appeal to Augustine, the scholarly study of Augustine’s reception needs to be conscious of the bi-directional process that characterises reception.