Theology
Schwager’s thinking was above all inspired by three sources: First, his deep Christian faith and spirituality in the tradition of St. Ignatius and nourished by the biblical writings; second: a mode of arguing he called “dramatic”, a term he took from Hans Urs von Balthasar but to which he gave new meaning in his theology; third: mimetic theory and the friendship he sustained with its author, René Girard.
In theology Schwager took up controversial questions like sacrifice and substitution and relentlessly worked to clarify the way we are to conceive of God. By tackling questions that others tried to avoid, Schwager advanced theological thinking and facilitated solutions that previously had not been thought of. He reached these goals via his hallmark “Dramatic Theology”: The history of revelation, as it has been recorded in the biblical writings, is not linear. Divine revelation therefore is not like a theoretical treatise. History is made up of a web of different interdependent actions – initiatives and responses – by different agents – human and divine. Thus we have to read the Bible like a drama that captures this dramatic back and forth, and each act in the drama of salvation gives new meaning to every cue-line and to the whole play. Only retrospectively can we infer what it is all about and come to a theory, yet a theory that remains always dependent on the whole drama and its acts; separated from it, it petrifies and loses validity.
Also inter-religious dialogue and symbolic actions for peace by world religious leaders ranked high on Schwager’s list of important events. He especially valued Pope John Paul II's activities in this respect: his travels and encounters with other religious leaders, his prayer meetings in Assisi and his confession of guilt for the church on the First Sunday of Lent in 2000. Acknowledging the shortcomings of oneself and one’s own community without scapegoating others or the past of one’s own community is a prerequisite for true and lasting peace, Raymund Schwager was convinced.
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