Christ in the University: Schlink’s Vision and the  Valpo Tradition

In the wake of the Nazi transformation of Heidelberg University in the 1930s and early 40s, several individuals who were called to Heidelberg after 1945 began to work toward that university’s renewal.  Among these professors was Edmund Schlink, one of the most important Lutheran theologians of the twentieth century. His 1947 professorial lecture set forth his understanding of the relationship between Christian theology and all other university disciplines. In this lecture he also called for fruitful dialogue between theology and the other university disciplines as a way of strengthening the university’s overall mission. What was this vision? How does it compare with the Valpo theological tradition that began to take shape in those same post-war years? How might Schlink’s understanding of “Christ in the university” inform our life and work together at Valparaiso University today?