Abstract:
The role of prophetic witness of the churches in the public discourse of modern civil societies
is analysed on the basis of three public memorandums of the German Protestant churches on
economic questions and their impact on the public. Among the ten systematic conclusions
which are drawn from this case study is the importance of the specific context for the role of
prophetic statements. The article tries to show how prophetic witness is a necessary element of
a public theology, which is not based on fundamental criticism, but develops both critical and
constructive perspectives for politics and society. If such public theology is liberation theology
for a democratic society it is the task of the church to get involved in the public debate in a
‘bilingual’ way, that is, on the basis of its biblical-theological sources but at the same time with
the ability to engage in the secular language of pluralistic societies.
