Artikel (ENGLISCHSPRACHIGE Publikationen) - Articles (ENGLISH Publications) - Articoli (Pubblicazioni in INGLESE)
2026
Catholic Theology, Church, and Global Culture Today: Crises, Perspectives, Tasks
Kurt Appel / Jakob Deibl / Isabella Guanzini / Marcello Neri
in: John Anthony Berry / Kevin Schembri (Eds.), Beyond Certainty. Reimagining Faith in a Changing World. Volume 1
Malta University Press: Msida, Malta 2026, 41-62
This article is a modified version of a contribution featured in ET Studies 14/2 (2023), 223-240.
Beyond Certainty, Volume One examines how Christian theology and ecclesial life can respond to the profound cultural, social, and religious transformations of the contemporary world. In contexts increasingly marked by secularisation, fragmentation, and scepticism toward institutions, the volume proposes a theological imagination capable of engaging uncertainty while remaining rooted in faith. The contributions are organised around three themes: Reframing Theology, Becoming Church, and Journeying Together. The first section explores theology’s role in contemporary culture, offering renewed approaches to catechesis, religious education, mission, and evangelisation. The second reflects on ecclesial identity, ministry, leadership, pastoral conversion, and prophetic witness in a changing Church. The final section examines synodality as a path of listening, discernment, participation, and renewal. Together, the essays present faith not as a retreat into certainty, but as a creative, dynamic and hopeful engagement with contemporary realities.
The Qu'ran as a Gospel for Christians.
What Christians can Learn from the Qu'ran about Trinity, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit
Kurt Appel
Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (2026)
Brill Schöningh: Paderborn 2026, 1-28
doi:10.30965/23642807-bja10150
In the joint declaration of Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmad Mohammed Al-Tayyeb spoke together in the name of God. In view of the outstanding significance of the name of God and the permanent relevance that Islam has gained in human history, the article demonstrates that the Qu’ran also holds meaning in terms of salvation history for Christianity and can therefore be regarded as good news, i.e. gospel, for Christians. As a consequence, the dogmatic heritage of Christianity must be interpreted not only in light of the Torah and the Jewish tradition, but also in light of the Qur’an. This includes the Trinitarian confession of God as well as Christology and Pneumatology. Thereby it becomes apparent that while Christianity and Islam cannot be unified, they are mutually interdependent and that with the help of the other, one’s own heritage can be understood more profoundly.
2025
The Creed of Nicaea. The Divine Sacrifice of Jesus, the Confession of the God of Life and the Resistance against the Power of Death
Kurt Appel
Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (JRat) 2025
doi:10.30965/23642807-bja10148
This article examines the soteriological implications of the Nicene Creed, emphasizing its compatibility with biblical monotheism and its significance for interreligious dialogue. Through a detailed analysis of its biblical roots, the article elucidates how the Creed articulates consubstantiality of Jesus Christ with the Father by translating biblical motifs into theological language. It is argued that the Nicene formulation not only preserves the unity of the one God but also provides a framework for contemporary theological reflection, particularly in relation to the oneness of JHWH, the name of God and Jesus as its decisive verbalization. For a profound interpretation of consubstantiality, the article contrasts the Christian understanding of sacrifice, centered on the divine sacrifice of Jesus as gift of life and opposition to the annihilating power of death, with pagan sacrificial systems, that sacrifice man to serve death. This highlights the Bible’s rejection of imperial power and affirmation of life.
Adaptierte Version von
Kurt Appel, "Ascolta, Israele! YHWH è uno solo". Il sacrificio divino di Gesù, la confessione del Dio della vita e la resistenza contro il potere della morte, in: Piero Coda / Stefano Fenaroli (Hrsg.), Ripartire da Nicea. Per leggere la fede dentro nuovi orizzonti, Biblioteca di teologia contemporanea 225, Queriniana: Brescia 2025, 133-145
2024
A Call for Openness
Kurt Appel
in: William T. Cavanaugh / Carlos Mendoza-Álvarez / Ikenna Ugochukwu Okafor / Daniel Frankling E. Pilario (Eds.), Fratelli Tutti. A Global Commentary
Studies in World Catholicism, Volume 13: Oregon 2024, 111-119
Encounters with the Absolute - The Absolute as Encounter.
Mark 16:1-8 and John 20:11-18
Kurt Appel
in: Kurt Appel / Esther Heinrich-Ramharter (Ed.s), Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (JRaT), Special Issue: Philosophy and Bible, Band 10, Ausgabe 2 (2024)
Brill Schöningh: Paderborn 2024, 1-19 [peer reviewed]
This article explores the contingency of the encounter between Jesus of Nazareth as representative of YHWH and Mary Magdalene that occurs at Jesus’s tomb. It interprets two important passages from the Gospel of Mark (Mk 16:1–8) and the Gospel of John (Jn 20:11–18) in order to reflect upon the Absolute which arises from this encounter. In Mark’s Gospel, the result of the encounter is the reference to a never-derivable and unrepresentable beginning, on which the text of Mark is built. The Gospel of John, which refers to Mark, concretizes this as the beginning of love and the covenant partnership between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. It is a contingent encounter because there is no external necessity for it. The crucial point is that the event of God only manifests itself in unforeseen encounters. Therefore the experience of an encounter which sets a new beginning in motion and the existence of God are inextricably linked.
Adaptierte Version von:
Kurt Appel, Die Kontingenz der Begegnung. Maria von Magdala und die Begegnung des Absoluten, in: Massimo Recalcati / Cristina Guarnieri / Giuseppe Armogida, La contingenza dell'incontro. Pensare l'evento tra filosofia e psicoanalisi, paradosso (2023/1), Il Poligrafo: Padova 2024, 61-78
Hegel's Concept of the Cosmic Body and the Absolute Reflections on the Written and Unwritten Body Based on the Science of Logic
Kurt Appel
in: Rebekka A. Klein / Calvin D. Ullrich (Eds.), The Unthinkable Body. Challenges of Embodiment in Religion, Politics, and Ethics.
Religion in Philosophy and Theology 130
Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen 2024, 195-220
Recognition, Irony, and Faith
Kurt Appel
in: Pavol Bargár / Peter Jonkers (Eds.), The Faith and Beliefs of "Nonbelievers"
Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series VIII, Christian Philosophical Studies, Volume 24
The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy: Washington 2024, 151-162
Among others with contributions from Charles Taylor, Grace Davie, José Casanova u.a.
The Eighth Day. Biblical Time as Openness of Chronological Times
Kurt Appel
in: Ines Testoni / Fabio Scardigli / Andrea Tolino / Gabriele Gionti (Eds.), Eternity Between Space and Time. From Consciousness to the Cosmos
Mit Beiträgen u.a. von Roger Penrose, Gerard 't Hooft und Massimo Cacciari
DeGruyter: Berlin/Boston 2024, 163-172 [peer reviewed]
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111313610-014
2023
Catholic Theology, Church and Global Culture Today
Crises, Perspectives, Tasks
Kurt Appel / Jakob Deibl / Isabella Guanzini / Marcello Neri
in: ET-Studies 14/2 (2023), 223-240, peer reviewed
DOI: 10.2143/ETS.14.2.3292208
Divine Providence, Theodicy, Freedom and the Essence of Time
Kurt Appel
in: Concilium 2023/3, International Journal of Theology: London 2023, 32-40
2022
Christianity and a New Humanism: Historical-Theoretical and Theological Reflections on the Bible, Hegel, and Musil
in: K. Appel (Ed.), In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism. Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke
Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society - Supplement, Volume 1
Brill Schöningh: Paderborn 2022, 1-33
The Price of Prayer
in: K. Appel (Ed.), In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism. Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke
Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society - Supplement, Volume 1
Brill Schöningh: Paderborn 2022, 141-173
The Self-Evidence of Illusion. Alternative Truth by Schelling and the Gospel of Mark 16:1-8
Kurt Appel / Helmut Jakob Deibl (Eds.)
in: Cornelia Richter (Ed.), Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society (JRaT)
Special Issue: The Illusion of the Obvious, On Truth and Reliability in Times of Crisis
Band 8, Ausgabe 1 (Juli 2022)
Brill Schöningh: Paderborn 2022, 108-132
2021
Introduction
in: Kurt Appel (Ed.), In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism. Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke, Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, Issue 20.2 (Spring 2021), Whitestone Publishing: Stonewood 2021, 184-186 (peer reviewed)
Christianity and a New Humanism: Historical-Theoretical and Theological Reflection on the Bible, Hegel, and Musil
in: Kurt Appel (Ed.), In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism. Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke, Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, Issue 20.2 (Spring 2021), Whitestone Publishing: Stonewood 2021, 187-207 (peer reviewed)
The Price of Prayer
in: Kurt Appel (Ed.), In Praise of Mortality. Christianity as a New Humanism. Translated by Alex Skinner, Natalie Eder, Rachel Thomas and Carl Raschke, Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, Issue 20.2 (Spring 2021), Whitestone Publishing: Stonewood 2021, 281-301 (peer reviewed)
2020
Reform and Renewal in Local Churches: Lessons from Rosmini and Pope Francis
Kurt Appel
in: S. Chu Ilo / N. Nonterah / I. Otu (Ed.), Faith in Action. Volume 1: Reform, Mission and Pastoral Renewal in African Catholicism Since Vatican II. With a foreword by Sithembele Sipuka
Pickwick Publications: Oregon 2020, 75-95 (peer reviewed)
ISBN: 9781725293930
2019
Biblical Traces of the Guest
Kurt Appel
in: Brigitte Buchhammer (Hg.), Re-Learning to be Human in Global Times. Challenges and Opportunities from the Perspective of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series VI, Western European Philosophical Studies Volume 12
Washington 2019, 5-16
Revised Version of "Biblische Spuren des Gastes", in: B. Liebsch, M. Staudigl (Hg.), Umrisse eines Ethos europäischer Gastlichkeit, Velbrück, Weilerswist 2016, 411-422
The Border of Borders. Christianity and the Rethinking of Public Space
Kurt Appel
in: Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation 5 (2019)
Ferdinand Schöningh: Göttingen 2019, 514-528 (peer reviewed)
German revised Version: "Die Grenze der Grenzen. Christentum, Abrahamitische Religionen, Zivilgesellschaft und die Neubestimmung des öffentlichen Raums in Europa", in: I. Klissenbauer / F. Gassner / P. Steinmair-Pösel / P.G. Kirchschläger (Hg.); Menschenrechte und Gerechtigkeit als bleibende Aufgaben. Beiträge aus Religion, Theologie, Ethik, Recht und Wirtschaft. V&R unipress: Göttingen 2020, 107-121
The Testament of Time - The Apocalypse of John and the recapitulatio of Time according to Giorgio Agamben
Kurt Appel
in: V. Wieser (Hg.), Empire, Death and Afterlife in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism
De Gruyter: Berlin 2019, 293-318
Revised Version of "Die Wahrnehmung des Freundes in der Messianität des Homo sacer"; translated by Brita Pohl and Christian Pössel, revised by Kurt Appel and Veronika Wieser
2018
Critiques of Master-Representations: The Political Dimension of the Canon between the Bible and the Qur'an
Kurt Appel
in: Kurt Appel / Carl Raschke (Hg.), The Crisis of Representation. Interdisciplinary Journal for Religin and Transformation in Contemporary Society 7
V&R unipress: Göttingen 2018, 14-39 (peer reviewed)
Translated by Patrick Eldridge, revised by Daniel Minch Jr. and Kurt Appel
Desacralisation as the Sanctification of the Church. Rosmini's Diagnosis of the Plagues of the Church and their Topicality
in: Fabrizio Meroi et al. (Hg.)
Rosmini Studies 5 (2018), 49-61 (peer reviewed)
Translation of "Entsakralisierung als Heiligung der Kirche", translated by Philipp Schlögl, Natalie Eder and Kurt Appel
2017
About the possibility that Pope Francis Really Exists
Kurt Appel
in: Forum: Do the Media Make the Magisterium
Louvain Studies 40 (2017), 197-200
2016
The Essence of Europe Consists in Pointing Beyond Itself
Kurt Appel
in: International Journal of Philosophy and Theologiy (RJPT) 2016