Living with Risk and Danger

The contemporary world is marked by a sense of vulnerability not seen since the end of the Cold War. Climate change, migration, and political instability make people feel the inherent vulnerability of human life. Concepts of 'risk' and 'danger' are as relevant now as ever before for illuminating contemporary life. Yet, what changes in human lives if one interprets existence with 'risk' and 'danger' from the perspective of Christian faith? Does the Christian symbol system offer orientation for human lives in a time of crisis? Exploring the work of leading contemporary thinkers, Danish theologian Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen develops a rich and varied account of Christian doctrine that enables human beings to live with risk and danger, in all vulnerability, with gratitude, courage and care for others. Christoffersen develops an interdisciplinary approach that allows him to draw upon sociological and anthropological reflections on life lived whilst facing risks and dangers. He brings these findings into conversation with Scandinavian, Anglo-American, and German theologians of risk. The result of his endeavor is a Trinitarian theology of risk that explores the extent to which one can consider the cross of Christ a risk of the incarnation rather than its very purpose. Focusing on vital existential questions makes Christoffersen's considerations vibrant and relevant to scholars and lay-people with an open-minded, intellectual interest in contemporary Christian theology.

Mikkel Gabriel Christoffersen is Pastor of Our Saviour's Church in Copenhagen and Visiting Researcher of Contemporary Theology at the University of Copenhagen.