wfn.org | Oscar Cullmann

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
21 January 1999

OSCAR CULLMANN (1902 - 1999)

The following tribute to Oscar Cullmann who has died, aged 96, has
been issued by  the World Council of Churches (WCC).   At the request
of WCC General Secretary, Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, the tribute was
written by Prof. Lukas Vischer, a former director of the WCC's unit on
Faith and Order, who knew Oscar Cullmann well.

Cullmann leaves an impressive body of theological work: studies on the
New Testament, on early church history and, running like a red thread
through all of this, his many writings on ecumenical subjects.  More
important still was his activity as a teacher of theology.  Though on first
sight he may have given the impression of being wholly preoccupied
with his own concerns, he was in fact extremely attentive to his
students.

'Adviser to three Popes'

Everything marked Cullmann out for ecumenical commitment; he came
from Strasbourg, the city of the Reformation figure Martin Bucer, he was
bilingual and he was passionate about the "essence" of the Christian
faith.  He became involved in interconfessional talks as early as the
1920s.  Without  repudiating his Lutheran background, he taught for
many years at the Reformed Faculty in Basle.  After the Second World
War his teaching activities extended to Paris and Rome.  The time spent
at the Waldensian Faculty in Rome gave him the opportunity to make
many Roman Catholic contacts.  His uncomplicated, salvation
history-oriented theology was also well-received in Rome.  His book
"Peter - Disciple, Apostle, Martyr" (1952) paved the way for an objective
discussion on a sensitive subject in relations between the confessions. 
At a time when contacts at the highest level were unusual, he was
received by the Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, and above all, Paul VI.   Karl
Barth used to say teasingly, "Oscar, on your gravestone it will say "Here
lies the adviser to three Popes'".  Tease he might, but years later, when
times had changed, Barth himself made a high-profile visit to Rome. 
Cullmann was personally invited as an observer to the Second Vatican
Council and his voice was heeded by many.  His conversations with Paul
VI gave rise to the plan for an ecumenical institute in Jerusalem.

Unity in Diversity

Cullmann always tried to place his New Testament scholarship at the
service of the ecumenical movement.  An important contribution to
greater mutual openness between the churches was his suggestion that
- following the example in Paul - the separated churches should take up
a collection for one another (1958) , a suggestion that has since been
adopted in many places, notably in connection with the Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity.  Increasingly, as he grew older, he focussed his
attention almost exclusively on the ecumenical movement. In his widely
acclaimed late work "Unity through Diversity " (1986) he developed his
vision of  "the unity we seek".  Starting from a biblical basis, he went on
to plead for a form of unity that would be structured enough to allow for
common witness, while leaving plenty of room for diversity.  At an age
when many people would have long since stopped writing, he continued
untiringly to work on this concept in contact with others.  These
reflections, together with his last work on prayer, are no doubt his true
legacy to the churches.

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 338, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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