MEET Craig L. Nessan
Paul S. Chung’s Interview with Prof. Craig L. Nessan
Paul Chung takes the chance to interview Prof. Craig L. Nessan at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Our International Public Theology in Forum-Center (IPTFC) is a member of the Global Network for Public Theology, and we are excited to collaborate with Prof. Craig Nessan to promote the links between public theology, shalom Church, and authentic democracy by focusing on practices that foster civil society, interreligious engagement, and the integrity of our life-worlds.
I am thrilled to introduce Prof. Craig L. Nessan, the William D. Streng Professor of Church Education and Renewal at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. He also serves as Senior Advisor, International Public Theology at Forum-Center, Berkeley.
Craig L. Nessan: Public Theology and Shalom Church
My commitments as a public theologian are grounded in the praxis-oriented method of liberation theologies. This methodology includes mediation through the sciences and social sciences to analyze the conditions under which humanity and creation are suffering. Scripture and theology provide grounding to center theology in justification by grace through faith and liberate an ethical theology. The four central themes of a public theology undertaken as shalom church include peacemaking, social justice, ecojustice, and defending human dignity.
Clarification: Public Theology and Ethical Responsibility
You are an expert in Social Ethics and Contextual Theology, with a focus on ethical relationships with social institutions and the possibility of new social formations. Could you tell us more about the interdisciplinary nature of your public theology and its ethical orientation?
Answer
Responsible public theology requires middle axioms mediated through social institutions, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations in 1948. The commitment to and articulation of universal human rights provide resources for interpreting the significance of the prophetic biblical tradition and allow for coalition building toward peace and justice with people of other faiths and convictions based on these universal values.
Relevance: Public Theology and Natural Science.
Our Internal Public Theology at Forum-Center strives to advance public theology’s viewpoint on natural and life sciences, as well as its social and technical implications. While respecting natural theology, public theology of science employs a social scientific framework to critically examine sociobiology or a broadly deterministic perspective of human life. Public epistemology, with its critical emancipatory framework, critiques a biological attempt to legitimize racial injustice, misogyny, and social cultural inequality (Richard Dawkin's selfish genes and E. Wilson's Sociobiology). How do you engage with these problems in terms of public theology, ethical praxis, and science-religion dialogue?
Answer
Supported by grants from the Templeton Foundation, I undertook research on theological anthropology in dialogue with the sociobiology of Wilson and Dawkins. The introduction of the term “meme” in the argument of Dawkins discloses the fallacy of sociobiological determinism. The human capacity for critical self-consciousness and symbolic thought distinguishes human evolution and differentiates the human project from that of other creatures. Humans employ culture and language either to promote a life-giving future or to achieve domination and destruction. It is the responsibility of public theology to formulate and communicate a way of life in accord with the Christian Gospel that builds life-giving relationships among God, human beings, and all creation.
Interaction: Local and Global Context
How do you see the dialectical relationship between local or contextual obligations for public theology and contributing to the larger context of global political, economic, and communication forces? How would you, as an emancipatory public theologian, address local challenges while maintaining an ecumenical commitment?
Answer
Public theology incorporates three dimensions: the biography of the public theologian, rootedness in a local context, and location in the global web of political, economic, and communicative forces. My own genealogy in public theology originates in the method of liberation theologies. What I name as the praxis method incorporates five dimensions: attention of the reality of suffering, prophetic commitment, social analysis employing scientific and social scientific mediation, biblical/theological reflection, and engagement in advocacy. Those involved in local contexts need an ecumenical network of public theologians with whom to collaborate, critique, and call to action.
Faith as Praxis of Discipleship
How do you articulate the importance of faith as a praxis of discipleship for the public sphere in global settings (for example, the Ukraine war and crisis or the validity of late capitalism in a global economic system)? In the American context, I believe it is important to develop public theology in order to address racial concerns, neocolonialism, and recognition politics (Charles Taylor). How would you approach these issues from the perspective of Christian public theology.
Answer
For more than a decade I have been engaged in research related to what I name as two American genocides. The first is the genocide waged against the indigenous peoples and tribes in the Americas. The second is the genocide implemented against African American people under the regime and aftermath of enslavement in the United States. The historical experiences and trajectories of Indigenous and Black people make evident the five characteristics that define genocide in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (1948). In the United States, it is urgent to acknowledge, study, and work to overcome the legacy of these two genocides. It is imperative to develop truthful narratives about this history to counteract ongoing neocolonialism, structural racism, and identity politics.
Contribution
Our International Public Theology in Forum-Center (a member of the Global Network of Public Theology) is based on global exchange and ecumenical relations, promoting public theology and social scientific studies of civil democracy and comparative religions to engage in science-religion dialogue and ecological sustainability. Could you explain what kind of contributions you would foster in this regard as Senior Advisor at Forum-Center? How would you shape and reinforce the organization of the planned 2026 Seoul International Conference?
Answer
The role of the Senior Advisor at the Forum-Center is not only to make an original contribution to public theology but to consult with the Director in the establishment of policy, programs, and participation for the Forum-Center. This includes as one key focal point the 2026 Seoul International Conference to foster a global exchange and build ecumenical relationships in the practice of public theology. The scholars and organizations involved in this process will bring both social scientific and comparative theological expertise that promote civil democracy and ecological sustainability.
Appreciation
Prof. Dr. Craig L. Nessan is a leading public theologian who can discuss European political theology, liberation theology in Latin America, and public theology in the United States. As Co-Editor of Currents in Theology and Mission, he is concerned with establishing the importance of public shalom church, civil society, and interreligious engagement in democratic pluralistic environments, highlighting the Body of Christ’s integrity in shared responsibility, leadership, global solidarity, and emancipation. Craig Nessan, with attention to the Confessing Church in Germany, is concerned with actualizing Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prophetic legacy and new interpretation of Luther’s teaching of two kingdoms (strategies) in opposition to the global phenomena of fascism. One of his theological concerns is the German church struggle in the case of 1934, which he addresses in historical, ethical, and political domains.
Nessan’s Christian public theology includes acute awareness of the dynamic interplay between contextual thinking and intercontextual constellations in light of the universal horizons of justification, reconciliation, and justice. He is capable of developing the multilingual nature of public theology within a social scientific and ethical framework, reviving a public theology of shalom through the lens of the gospel and discipleship.
PUBLICATIONS (recent select)
Books
Year Title, Publisher
2025 Here We Stand: A Lutheran Response to Child Abuse. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. Craig L. Nessan and Victor I. Vieth, Editors. Forthcoming.
2024 Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America. Oxford: Regnum Books. Craig L. Nessan and Darryl W. Stephens, Editors.
2024 Craig L. Nessan and Carsten Linden. Paul Leo: Pastor with Jewish Roots in Flight from Nazism. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
2022 Free in Deed: The Heart of Lutheran Ethics. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2022.
2020 Wilhelm Loehe and North America: Historical Perspective and Living Legacy. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock.
2019 Paul Leo: Lutherischer Pastor mit jűdischen Wurzeln (1893-1958). Nordhausen: Verlag Traugott Bautz. Carsten Linden and Craig L. Nessan.
2016 Radicalizing Reformation: North American Perspectives. Zűrich: Lit Verlag. Edited with Karen L. Bloomquist and Hans Ulrich.
Chapters in Books
2025 “The Transfer of Diakonia from Germany to North America: The Diaconate and Lutheran Social Services in the United States.” In Johannes Eurich, Beate Hofmann, and Thorsten Moos, Editors. Contextualization of Diaconia. Oxford: Regnum Books, 2025. Forthcoming.
2023 “Child Liberation Theology.” Chapter 30. In Alister Au, Editor. To See a Theological World in a Grain of Sand: Festschrift for PIlgrim W.K. Lo on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Hong Kong: Gratia Christian College, 2023. Pages 511-532.
2021 “Attending to the Cries of Children in Liberation Theologies.” In Marcia J. Bunge, Editor. Child Theology: Diverse Methods and Global Perspectives. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. Pages 1-20
2021 “Practicing Jesus Christ in Public, Embodying Resistance.” In Christine Helmer, Editor. Truth-Telling and Other Ecclesial Practices of Resistance. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, pp. 127-142.
2021 “A Lutheran Theology for Diakonia in North American Contexts.” In Godwin Ampony, Martin Bűscher, Beate Hofmann, Félicité Ngnintedem, Dennis Solon, and Dietrich Werner, Editors. International Handbook on Ecumenical Diakonia. Oxford: Regnum Books, pp. 279-288.
2021 “Liberation Theology and Diaconia: Methods of Learning.” In Godwin Ampony, Martin Bűscher, Beate Hofmann, Félicité Ngnintedem, Dennis Solon, and Dietrich Werner, Editors. International Handbook on Ecumenical Diakonia. Oxford: Regnum Books, pp. 591-596.
2020 “The Relation of Justification and Sanctification in the Lutheran Tradition.” In Al Truesdale, Editor. All Things Needed for Godliness: A Portrait of Holiness among Christian Traditions. Kansas City: The Foundry Publishing, pp. 81-94.
2018 “Learning from the Barmen Declaration of 1934: Theological-Ethical-Political Commentary.” In Matthias Heesch, Russell Kleckley, and Hans Schwarz, Editors. Flight, Migration, and Integration: A Question for Christian Theology and Social Engagement. Berlin: Peter Lang, pp. 277-283.
2018 “Universal Priesthood of All Believers: Unfulfilled Promise of the Reformation.” In Claudia Jahnel, Editor. Reflecting Reformation and the Call for Renewal in a Globalized and Post-Colonial World. Erlangen: Erlanger Verlag fűr Mission und Őkumene, pp. 69-84.
2018 “Foreword.” In Hermann Vorländer. Church in Motion: The History of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Bavaria. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, pp. xi-xii.
2018 “Luther’s Two Strategies and Political Advocacy: Law, Righteousness, Reason, Will, and Works in Their Civil Use.” In Marie A. Failinger and Ronald W. Duty, Editors. Lutheran Theology and Secular Law: The Work of the Modern State. New York: Routledge, pp. 63-74.
2018 “Prophetic Utterance: Behold, I Tell You a Mystery,” Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 based on Handel’s Messiah. In Karl Friedrich Ulrichs, Editor. Predigten zu Händels Oratorium Messiah. Berlin: EB-Verlag, pp. 178-183.
2017 “Liberation Theologies in America.” Oxford Research Encyclopedias:
https://oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-493