The aim of this book is simple: to provide a reliable guide to Jüngel's work for English readers, and to offer some initial evaluation of its main features.

There can be little doubt that Jüngel's achievement to date has been remarkable. His professional advancement has been rapid even by German standards: after teaching in Berlin and Zürich, he succeeded to one of the most prestigious chairs of systematic theology in Germany, at the University of Tübingen, at the age of 36. Within a publishing career of just over two decades, he has produced major contributions on New Testament studies, classical philosophy, the work of Luther, the philosophy of religion and the theory of language, as well as a good number of more popular works. He is widely regarded as one of the most able living interpreters of Barth. And his prowess as preacher and lecturer has won him acclaim from audiences wider than those of specialist theologians.

Yet the impediments to the fruitful reception of such a startling achievement are considerable, and go some way towards explaining why his prominence in German theology has not been matched by thorough discussion of his work in English-speaking countries. Problems of cultural distance are immediately apparent to anyone beginning serious study of his work. Jüngel shows almost no awareness of English-language discussions of, for example, the nature of theological language or the philosophy of history, which might sharpen his own writing in these areas as well as provide helpful points of contact.