Gerhard Von Rad
Gerhard Von Rad
Gerhard Von Rad
A. JOSEF GREIG
Andrews University
1. Backgrounds to Heilsgeschichte
If we go back to the beginnings of the ideal of Heils-
geschichte2, a central concept in von Rad's theology, several
formative factors appear that were instrumental in the formulation
of this idea and that have persisted to the present time. These
factors are the aims of rationalism and Pietism, and the results
of historical criticism based on the dogmatic presuppositions of
rationalism.
Rationalism denied any kind of certainty based on history.
The greater the distance between the present time and the his-
torical event, the greater became one's uncertainty about the
event. Certainty, it was thought, could be attained through
reason. Because of this assumption, rationalism stimulated a
search for a theology of immediacy and inwardness.
Pietism was basically reactionary, standing between the con-
troversies of Orthodoxy and the more innovative approaches to
theology. The basic concern of the Pietists was religious ex-
perience-thus the common ground of immediacy between the
rationalists and the Pietists, although achieved on different bases,
is obvious. Johann Bengel, the Pietist, attempted to demonstrate
that in Scripture there was revealed a divine economy from the
beginning to the end of all things. As the Christian viewed this
economy he was permitted to see the universal aims of God,
4. Conclusion
We have seen in this study the factors at work which stimu-
lated a search for a theology of immediacy. Some of these forces
did not have the same goal in mind, but in combination they
moved the search for certainty inward. E.g., the effect of rational-
ism, which was anti-historical and prompted a search for a
theology of immediacy, combined with the results of historical
criticism to move the quest for the grounds for faith inward.
These factors are responsible for the subjective or existential
character of Heilsgeschichte.
Heilsgeschichte, in attempting to keep the historical basis for
faith, yet recognizing that the philosophical presuppositions with-
in rationalism and historical criticism did not recognize any
divine activity in history, became an inner history, a history of
@See Philosophy, pp. 65-72, for further information on the nature of the
historical agent.
GERHARD VON RAD'S IDEA O F HISTORY 331