Oscar Cullmann facts for kids

Oscar Cullmann (born February 25, 1902, in Strasbourg – died January 16, 1999, in Chamonix) was an important French Lutheran thinker. He was well-known for his work in the ecumenical movement. This movement tries to bring different Christian churches closer together.

Cullmann helped start talks between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches. Because he worked so hard for unity, a friend once joked that his tombstone would say "advisor to three popes."

Life Story

Oscar Cullmann was born in Strasbourg, which was part of Germany at the time. He studied classical philology (the study of language in historical texts) and theology (the study of religious faith) at a special school called a seminary there.

In 1926, he became an assistant professor. This was the same job that Albert Schweitzer, a famous theologian and doctor, had held before him.

Teaching Career

In 1930, Oscar Cullmann became a full professor of the New Testament, which is part of the Christian Bible. From 1936, he also taught about the history of the early Christian church.

In 1938, he started teaching both subjects at the Basel Reformed Seminary. Later, in 1948, Cullmann also began teaching theology in Paris at the Sorbonne. He continued to teach at both Basel and the Sorbonne until he retired in 1972.

Important Recognition

In 1960, he was chosen as a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. This is a big honor for scholars.

He was also invited to be an observer at the Second Vatican Council. This was a very important meeting of the Roman Catholic Church from 1962 to 1965. Being an observer meant he could attend and listen to the discussions, even though he was not Catholic.

When he passed away at 96 years old, the World Council of Churches honored him. They gave a special tribute to recognize all his hard work in bringing Christian churches together.

His Ideas

Cullmann studied Christian eschatology (ideas about the end times) and Christology (ideas about Jesus Christ). He came up with a new way of thinking called "redemptive history" or "inaugurated eschatology".

He believed that Jesus Christ was the most important point in sacred history. This sacred history, he said, influences all of general history. It moves in a straight line from when the world was created to its final completion.

Understanding History

Cullmann emphasized that sacred history is a real, objective event. He disagreed with another German theologian, Rudolf Bultmann, who thought these events were more about personal experience.

To help explain his ideas, Cullmann used an analogy from World War II. He compared Jesus' death and resurrection to D-Day. D-Day was the turning point in the war, but the war wasn't over yet. He compared Jesus' parousia (return) to VE-Day. VE-Day was when the war officially ended. This analogy shows that Jesus' work started a new era, but its full effects are still to come.

See also

In Spanish: Oscar Cullmann para niños