Wolfhart Pannenberg (b 1928) is one of the most influential theologians and philosophers of our time. He studied under Karl Barth and became Professor of Systematic Theology at Mainz and Munich, where he still lives.

In this Guide for the Perplexed, Tim Bradshaw explains Pannenberg’s thought, in which theology is not separable from a ‘secular’ philosophy, along the grain of his development. Key texts are used for this, and difficult perplexing ideas, such as his notion of ‘retroactivity’ from the future back through the past and present, are addressed in the context of Pannenberg’s overarching view of things. His doctrine of the Trinity, his view of simultaneity and human development, as well as his engagement with the natural sciences are major areas of perplexity given attention. How the ideal is instantiated in the real, or how the real is the rational, is argued as a clue to his system.

The Revd. Timothy Bradshaw, M.A., Ph.D., is Senior Tutor and Tutor in Christian Doctrine at Regent's Park College, Oxford, UK