FORUM FAITH & SOCIETY | 26.-28. JUNI 2025

Speakers

Many exciting and renowned personalities from theology and the church have confirmed their participation in the forum. Here you will find a list of all confirmed contributors.

Keynote Speakers

Bishop Prof. em. Dr. N. T. WRIGHT was the Bishop of Durham and Professor of New Testament at St. Andrews. He is one of the most renowned theologians worldwide and a prominent voice in both church and society. He succeeds in combining his groundbreaking research on Jesus and Paul with a comprehensive theological synthesis, making it accessible and practical. Currently, he is a Senior Research Fellow at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

FRÈRE MATTHEW is the Prior of the Communauté de Taizé. The ecumenical order attracts tens of thousands of young people from all over the world and from all denominations each year. With Frère Matthew and other brothers from Taizé, we have the opportunity to experience something of the unique atmosphere of this special place.

ESTHER MARIA MAGNIS is a trained journalist and now works as a writer. Her debut work, "Gott braucht Dich nicht" (God Doesn't Need You), gained widespread recognition. It was awarded the Golden Compass and translated into several languages. At the forum, she will present a new text titled "Von den Lebenden und den Toten" (Of the Living and the Dead).

Prof. em. Dr. ALISTER MCGRATH was the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford. McGrath is best known for his theological textbooks. Among his many works are both academic monographs and more popular writings. He is a globally sought-after speaker with a particular focus on the history of theology and the relationship between science and faith.

PATRICK ROTH is an award-winning writer, director, and storyteller of biblically-mythical themes, which he reinterprets and dramatizes in a cinematic and immersive form, as seen in his well-known novels Sunrise. Das Buch Joseph (2012) and the Christus Trilogie (1998/2017). For his work, he has received numerous honors, including poet-in-residence positions at the universities of Frankfurt, Heidelberg, and Hildesheim.

Prof. Dr. URSULA SCHUMACHER is a professor of dogmatics at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Lucerne. Her research focuses include the history and development of the doctrine of grace, theological anthropology, and pneumatology. Together with her husband, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schumacher, she will explore experience-based approaches to the resurrection of Christ.

Prof. Dr. JOACHIM NEGEL is a professor of fundamental theology, dean of the Faculty of Theology, and director of the Institute for Ecumenical Studies at the University of Fribourg. His research focuses on theological biography research, the relationship between faith and reason, religious criticism, soteriology, sacramental theology, and the hermeneutics of revelation.

Prof. Dr. BENJAMIN SCHLIESSER is a professor of literature and theology of the New Testament at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Bern. Together with Prof. Dr. Jan Rüggemeier, he leads the project "ECCLESIAE," which focuses on the spread of Christianity in antiquity. The belief in the resurrection is a fascinating and unique characteristic of the early Christian movement.

The Rt Revd Dr. GRAHAM TOMLIN is the founding director of the "Centre for Cultural Witness" at Lambeth Palace in London and the president of St Mellitus College in London. Previously, he taught Reformation as well as Mission and Culture in the Present at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford and served as the Bishop of Kensington.

MARKUS WEIMER is the dean of the Evangelical Church District of Konstanz (Germany) and a PhD candidate in Practical Theology at the University of Zurich. His research on the reform movement of the Church of England provides practical inspiration for the Protestant churches in Konstanz.

Dr. OLIVER DÜRR is the director of the Centre for Faith & Society and a habilitant at the University of Zurich's Center for Digital Religion(s). His research focuses on topics such as the bodily resurrection of Christ, anthropology in the digital transformation, as well as ecclesiology, spirituality, and faith in the secular age.

Prof. Dr. THOMAS SCHUMACHER is a professor of New Testament exegesis at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg. His research focuses on Pauline writings and the Lukan double work. Together with his wife, Prof. Dr. Ursula Schumacher, he will explore experience-based approaches to the resurrection of Christ.

Further Speakers

The list is being continuously updated.