Schüz, Peter

For centuries, theology has been part of the canon of university education. Its aim has always been to make the traditional symbols and concepts of Christianity relevant to the present day. My theological work follows this tradition whilst also drawing on philosophical, aesthetic and psychological influences that have shaped modern (particularly Reformed) Protestantism.

In my research and teaching, therefore, alongside art and aesthetics, I also address the spiritual inner worlds and modes of expression of the present day, which unfold beyond the institutional forms of Christianity. At the same time, the focus is ultimately on the foundations of modern Europe: its values, conceptions of humanity and mentalities, its cultural history shaped by religion(s), and, in particular, the ultimate questions regarding the sacred and the fundamental meaning of life—questions entrusted to the individual conscience and embedded in personal biography within free and open societies.

• Transformations in Dogmatics and Ethics in the Modern and Contemporary Eras
• Aesthetics of Religion and Psychology of Religion
• History of Theology in the 19th and 20th Centuries
• Dimensions of Religion in Art, Architecture and Literature
• Theory of Piety/Spirituality and Interdisciplinary Religious Studies
• Ecumenism (particularly ecumenism of confessional mentalities)

• 2002–2009 Studied Protestant Theology in Mainz, Münster, Rome (Pontifical Gregorian University) and Marburg
• 2009–2015 Research assistant in Practical Theology at the EKD Institute for Church Architecture and Contemporary Ecclesiastical Art at Philipps University of Marburg; from 2011 onwards, in the Department of Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion at the same institution
• 2014 PhD on the relationship between fear and religion following on from Rudolf Otto
• 2015–2024 Academic Councillor and, since 2021, private lecturer at the Chair of Dogmatics, Philosophy of Religion and Ecumenism at the Faculty of Protestant Theology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
• 2021 Habilitation at LMU Munich on the interpretation of the Cross and the Passion in the modern era
• 2021–2026 Acting chair positions in Neuendettelsau (2021), Lüneburg (2024–25) and Saarbrücken (2025–26)
• since June 2026 Professor of Systematic Theology (Reformed Theology/Helvetic Confession) at the Institute for Systematic Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Vienna