"The overall goal of state and churches - to work together to ensure access to religious education..."

Abstract

The interview with Dr. Dierken starts with constitutional foundations of the phenomenon of theological departments in German universities. He draws a Protestant perspective on the status of theology as a science, the interaction of Church and State bodies, and the relationship between the statuses of theology professor and pastor. Dr. Dierken also deals with the distinction between theology and religious studies. He then tells about his participation in interdisciplinary commissions dealing with cases at the intersection of medicine, ethics, and law. Speaking about the similarity of theology and other university disciplines, Dr. Dierken draws upon his experience as a Dean of the Department of Humanities at the University of Hamburg, in 2005-2008.