“existentialism,” and existentialism can refer to a very broad philosophical movement, but here I want to use it in a very specific and precise sense to refer to Ritschl’s understanding of the final human dilemma, the problem that God is trying to deliver us from. This is a very important question when you want to understand any theologian: What’s the problem that the gospel is trying to solve? For Ritschl, the problem that the gospel is trying to solve is just this: that we are humans with a sense