Paul S. Chung’s Interview with Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Meet Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
In this publication, Paul Chung interviews Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Bishop Bedford-Strohm is now serving as the moderator of the World Council of Churches. We at Forum-Center’s International Public Theology are excited to collaborate with Dr. Bedford-Strohm to advance public theology, civil society, eco-justice, and human rights for a more just democratic society.
This collaboration has become urgent because of the current crisis. The Ukraine War coupled with the pathology of late capitalism in the neoliberal economic system, as well as the Israel-Hamas war and the State of Israel’s anti-Arabic policies in Palestine, have brought us to a critical point. To be more specific, in the shadow war among Jews, Muslims, and Christians, Abrahamic dialogue has become the most significant agenda for peace, love, and mutual recognition.
Bedford-Strohm attended the universities of Erlangen, Heidelberg, and Berkeley to study political science, religion, law and history. He tenured on the faculty at the University of Bamberg from 2004 until 2011. During this period he served as the head of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Research Center for Public Theology. In 2011, he became Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, and he also served as Chairperson of the Council of Protestant Churches in Germany from 2014-2021.
He is an honorary professor for systematic theology and contemporary theological issues at the University of Bamberg and also an honorary professor at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. His ecumenical research project is featured for its cross-disciplinary nature and its robust engagement across a diverse spectrum of issues punctuated by his keen interest in life-sciences and biotechnology.
Dr. Bedford-Strohm incorporates sociology and other human sciences, emphasizes ethical responsibility, and renews social structure in line with the biblical prophetic tradition of Christian faith even as he addresses the difficulties and challenges of today’s global situations. These emphases suggest that Christianity should offer ethical guidance to social and political problems of the present such as immigration, refugee asylum, including trustful ecological orientation to the climate change in the era of Antropocene.
Because Racial hierarchy within social stratification and cultural pluralism—as evidenced by the present Immigration policies in the USA and Europe—are characteristics of Western culture, the work of Bedford-Strohm has become even more significant. Indeed, the sociobiological resurgence of old social Darwinism which finds its thrust in Richard Dawkin’s selfish gene and Edward Wilson’s genetic determinism has created fertile ground for the resurgence of the Far Right. This ideology is permeating East Asian culture, instigating collective behavior of racial nationalism and endangering both the civil society and democracy.
Public theology must urgently consider an alternate form of social integration of late modern society. We must turn toward inclusive democracy, politics of recognition, and ecological sustainability to address these contemporary circumstances. Its stance must take into account the meaning of the world and existence in light of the biblical testimony and Christian heritage, amplifying its capacity for social formation, advocacy for the poor, emancipation for a democratic society, and ecological integrity.
Appreciation
Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm is committed to actualizing ecumenical public theology of liberation for a democratic society through interdisciplinary dialogue with humanities, social sciences and scientific technological achievements.
His areas of interest include distributive justice, reclaim prophetic thought, and provide the foundation for ethically responsible direction for the policy-making process, while reinforcing compassionate ethics for the underprivileged in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
In his prophetic portrait of public theology of bilingualism in connection to political ethics and theology of hope, Bedford-Strohm draws on the political ethical tradition that extends from Luther to Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
He elaborates on the multilingual nature of public theology, the Church’s prophetic diakonia for civil society, democracy, and the integrity of the common life of the world. His contribution resides in a public theology of liberation for democratic society.
In recent works, Bedford-Strohm is the most prolific academic who acknowledges the
legacy of Wolfgang Huber and critical public
theology. He revitalizes Dietrich Bonhoeffer for African Christian theologies by furthering
critical public theology through the influence of the Reformation. His theological perspective
aligns with Reconciliation and Just Peace, highlighting Bonhoeffer's profound insights
relevant to the European and African contexts.
Publications (recent works select)
Kritische Öffentliche Theologie. Wolfgang Huber zum 80. Geburtstag, Leipzig 2022 (hg. zus. mit Peter Bubmann, Hans-Ulrich Dallmann und Torsten Meireis)
Liberation Theology for a Democratic Society: Essays in Public Theology, ed. Michael Mädler and Andrea Wagner-Pinggera. Zürich: LIT Verlag, 2018.
African Christian Theologies and the Impact of the Reformation. Symposium PIASS Rwanda February 18-23, 2016, Wien/Zürich 2017 (hg. zus. mit Tharcisse Gatwa, Traugott Jähnichen und Elisée Musemakweli)
Reconciliation and Just Peace. Impulses of the Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer for the European and African Context, Wien/Zürich 2016 (hg. zus. mit Pascal Bataringaya und Traugott Jähnichen).
Alles ändert sich. Die Welt im Licht von Weihnachten. Patmos, Ostfildern, 2016.
Lebendűrfen—Leben műssen. Argumente gegen die Sterbehilfe. Munich, 2015.
Position beziehen. Perspektiven einer ȍffentlichen Theologie. Munich, 2012.
Gemeinschaft aus kommunikativer Freiheit. Sozialer Zusamenhalt in der modernen Gesellschaft. Ein theologischer Beitrag. Gűtersloher Verlags-Haus, Gűtersloh, 1999.
Vorrang fűr die Armen. Auf dem Weg zu einer theologischen Theorie der Gerechtigkeit. Gűtersloher Verlags-Haus, Gűtersloh, 1992.