Gottesvergessenheit

This essay analyses and interprets the concept of God-forgetting (Gottesvergessenheit), which is characteristic of the theology of Wolf Krötke. The pointed theological term is profiled in contrast to atheism, irreligiousness or a merely rudimentary religious feeling (F. Schleiermacher). The article locates Krötke's plea for a church commitment that corresponds to a God who reaches out to people, in contrast to alternative approaches - and thus also at a cautiously critical distance from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth's suggestions. The author recommends church music as a specific way of working on the forgetfulness of God, alongside the cultivation of exemplary spaces for speaking of God. Music enables people to borrow and test the mode of speaking of God in an 'as if' way, without making any commitments, but with strong feelings and for a limited time.