Carl E. Braaten is an American Lutheran theologian.

Biography

Carl Braaten has been one of the leading theologians and teachers in the Lutheran church for the past 50 years. He has authored and edited numerous books and theological papers, including Principles of Lutheran Theology (Fortress Press, 1983), Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism (Fortress Press, 1998) and In One Body Through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003). Along with Robert Jenson

Robert Jenson

Robert W. Jenson is a leading American Lutheran and ecumenical theologian.-Student years:Jenson studied classics and philosophy at Luther College in the late 1940s, before beginning theological studies at Luther Seminary in 1951. Due to a car accident he missed most of his first-year seminary...

, he has been an influential figure in developing and restoring the catholic roots of Lutheranism at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Braaten was born on January 3, 1929. His parents were Norwegian-American pietists, who served as missionaries in Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, and he received his early spiritual formation in that context. After finishing high school at Augustana Academy

Augustana Academy

Augustana Academy was an educational institution in Canton, South Dakota.The Norwegian Augustana Synod was established in 1870. In that year, the Synod began an academy called the Marshall Academy in Marshall, Wisconsin. In 1881, the academy was moved to Beloit, Iowa. In 1884 Augustana College...

, a Lutheran boarding school in Canton, South Dakota

Canton, South Dakota

Canton is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, South Dakota, United States. The city was named by Norwegian settler and former legislator James M. Wahl...

, he attended St. Olaf College

St. Olaf College

St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after Olaf II of Norway,...

, Luther Seminary

Luther Seminary

Luther Seminary is the largest seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America . Located in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of St...

, Heidelberg University and Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...

 where he studied under Paul Tillich

Paul Tillich

Paul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...

 and earned his doctoral degree. He was ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church

Evangelical Lutheran Church (United States)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church or ELC was formed in 1917 as the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America .-Background:The Norwegian Lutheran Church of America was formed by merger of the Hauge Synod , the Norwegian Synod , and the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America...

 in 1958.

At that time, he began serving a parish in Minneapolis and teaching at Luther Seminary. In 1961 Braaten, together with Robert Jenson, Roy Harrisville

Roy Harrisville

Roy A. Harrisville II has been a key figure in the evolution of the Historical Critical Method of Biblical Criticism since the mid-20th century....

, Kent Knutson, James Burtness and others, founded the journal Dialog, which he continued to serve as editor until resigning in 1991. In 1962, Dr. Braaten accepted a position at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its degree programs include Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Philosophy. It offers concentrations in urban ministry, Bible, environment,...

  where he taught as Professor of Systematic Theology until 1991 and where he is still recognized as Professor Emeritus. In 1991, Braaten and Jenson founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and established a new theological journal, Pro Ecclesia.

Author

• History and Hermeneutics Westminster Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1966.
• The Future of God: The Revolutionary Dynamics of Hope Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1969.
• Christ and Counter-Christ: Apocalyptic Themes in Theology and Culture Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1972.
• The Whole Counsel of God Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1974.
• Eschatology and Ethics: Essays on the Theology and Ethics of the Kingdom of God Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1974.
• (With wife, LaVonne Braaten) The Living Temple: A Practical Theology of the Body and the Foods of the Earth Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1976.
• The Flaming Center: A Theology of the Christian Mission Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1977.
• Principles of Lutheran Theology Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1983.
• Stewards of the Mysteries: Sermons for Festivals and Special Occasions Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1983.
• The Apostolic Imperative: Nature and Aim of the Church's Mission and Ministry Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1985.
• Justification: The Article by Which the Church Stands or Falls Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1990.
• No Other Gospel!: Christianity among the World's Religions Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1992.
• Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

Editor

• (And translator, with Roy A. Harrisville) Kerygma and History: A Symposium on the Theology of Rudolf Bultmann, Abingdon Press (New York, NY), 1962.
• (And translator, with Roy A. Harrisville) The Historical Jesus and the Kerygmatic Christ: Essays on the New Quest of the Historical Jesus, Abingdon Press (New York, NY), 1964.
• (And translator) Martin Kähler, The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1964, reprinted, 1988.
• Paul Tillich, Perspectives on Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Protestant Theology, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1967.
• Paul Tillich, A History of Christian Thought, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1968, published as A History of Christian Thought, from Its Judaic and Hellenistic Origins to Existentialism, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1972.
• (With Avery Dulles) Wolfhart Pannenberg, Spirit, Faith, and Church, Westminster Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1970.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) The Futurist Option, Newman Press (New York, NY), 1970.
• The New Church Debate: Issues Facing American Lutheranism, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1983.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Christian Dogmatics (two volumes), Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1984.
• (With Philip Clayton) The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg: Twelve American Critiques, with an Autobiographical Essay and Response, Augsburg Publishing House (Minneapolis, MN), 1988.
• Our Naming of God: Problems and Prospects of God-Talk Today, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Reclaiming the Bible for the Church, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) A Map of Twentieth-Century Theology: Readings from Karl Barth to Radical Pluralism, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 1995.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Either/Or: The Gospel or Neopaganism, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) The Catholicity of the Reformation, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1996.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) The Two Cities of God: The Church's Responsibility for the Earthly City, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1998.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Marks of the Body of Christ, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Sin, Death, and the Devil, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2000.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Church Unity and the Papal Office: An Ecumenical Dialogue on John Paul II's Encyclical "Ut unum sint" ("That All May Be One"), W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) The Last Things: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Eschatology, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) The Strange New World of the Gospel: Re-evangelizing in the Postmodern World, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Jews and Christians: People of God, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.
• (With Robert W. Jenson) Ecumenical Future: Background Papers for "In One Body through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity," W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.