Peter Zimmerling

Peter Zimmerling (right) laying the foundation stone for the Pauliner altar in the St. Pauli University Church in 2014

Peter Zimmerling (born October 18, 1958 in Nidda ) is a Protestant theologian who holds an adjunct professorship in practical theology at the theological faculty of the University of Leipzig . He was the first university preacher there and was appointed canon of Meissen . His focus is on the teaching of preaching , pastoral care - especially the rediscovery and revaluation of confession  -, evangelical spirituality and Christian mysticism . He has also researched and published about Martin Luther as a practical theologian, Pietism - especially about Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf - Dietrich Bonhoeffer , the charismatic movement and pious women pioneers.

Life

Zimmerling studied Protestant theology from 1977 to 1983 in Tübingen and Erlangen . He then completed his vicariate in the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau . In 1990 he did his doctorate with Jürgen Moltmann on the subject of Zinzendorf's doctrine of the Trinity . From 1989 to 1993 he was pastor of the Young Christians Offensive , an ecumenical community of the Protestant Church in Reichelsheim (Odenwald) . In the 1992/1993 winter semester he was a research assistant at Heidelberg University . From 1993 onwards he was a research assistant at the University of Mannheim and worked on his habilitation thesis .

In 1999 he completed his habilitation, accompanied by Christian Möller and Michael Welker, at the University of Heidelberg with a thesis on the charismatic movements of the present in German-speaking countries. Presentation and criticism with special consideration of pneumatological and ecclesiological aspects and a lecture on the topic “Pastoral care between human sciences and theology. Attempt to determine a new relationship ”and received the venia legendi for the subject practical theology.

After his habilitation, he worked as a private lecturer in practical theology. In 2002 he became senior assistant at the University of Mannheim, and in 2003 he was appointed university lecturer at the University of Mannheim. In February 2005 he was appointed adjunct professor by the University of Heidelberg.

In April 2005 he became an adjunct professor for practical theology at the University of Leipzig . In 2008 he became chairman of the Evangelical Study House in Leipzig. In 2009 he became second university preacher in Leipzig and dean of studies. He was appointed Canon of Meissen by the regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony . From 2012 to 2020 he was the first university preacher in Leipzig.

Zimmerling is also on the board of the Society of Friends of Christian Mysticism . V., the Leipzig Mission , in the board of trustees of the Ev. Akademie Meißen, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Promotion of Spiritual Life, Stadtlauringen and on the board of the International Bonhoeffer Society, Section Germany.

In 2016 Zimmerling was a speaker at the Worthaus event in Heidelberg , where he spoke about Luther's spirituality and pastoral care.

Honors

In 2014 Zimmerling received the award of the Evangelical Academy Baden in Bad Herrenalb for his contribution to the conference Listening to the Silence . Mysticism as a way of life . He dealt with the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) and his mystical spirituality under the title Keeping inner silence in the middle of the noise.

Publications

Sole author

• Mission pioneers in older pietism. Brunnen , Giessen 1985
• Confession - encouragement to start over. Brendow , Moers 1988 (new edition 1991. ISBN 978-3-870673291 )
• Learning to follow - Zinzendorf and the life of the Brethren. Brendow, Moers 1990. ISBN 978-3-870673840
• God in community, Zinzendorf's doctrine of the Trinity. Brunnen, Gießen 1991 (2nd edition, Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2002)
• Strong pious women. Encounters with Erdmuthe von Zinzendorf , Juliane von Krüdener , Anna Schlatter , Friederike Fliedner , Dora Rappard-Gobat , Eva von Tiele-Winckler , Ruth von Kleist-Retzow . Brunnen, Gießen / Basel 1996. ISBN 978-3-765510984 (4th edition 2010. ISBN 978-3-765540851 )
• Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf and the Moravian Brethren . History, theology and spirituality . Hänssler , Holzgerlingen 1999. ISBN 978-3-775133470
• Doing everything to love in freedom: Quotes from Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) . Reinhardt, Basel 2000. ISBN 978-3-724511083
• The charismatic movements. Theology, spirituality, impulses for discussion (church, denomination, religion, vol. 42) , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2001, 2nd edition 2002
• Evangelical spirituality. Roots and Approaches . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003. ISBN 978-3-525567005 (2nd edition 2010).
• Bonhoeffer as a practical theologian , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006. ISBN 978-3-525554517
• The call of the desert. Charles de Foucauld - a challenging life. Gießen: Brunnen, 2008. ISBN 978-3-765519833
• Charismatic movements , UTB 3199, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009, 2nd edition 2018. ISBN 978-3-825231996
• Study book Beichte , UTB 3230, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009. ISBN 978-3-825232306 (New edition: Beichte. God's forgotten offer. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2014. ISBN 978-3374037384 )
• My soul is still within me: The most beautiful texts for the time with God. SCM Collection, Witten 2009. ISBN 978-3-789393914
• A life for the church. Zinzendorf as a practical theologian , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010. ISBN 978-3-525570098
• The solutions : A success story through the centuries , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-525630532
• Evangelical Mystik , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2015, 2nd edition 2020. ISBN 978-3525570418

Editor and / or co-author

• with Joachim Cochlovius : Evangelical Scripture Interpretation: A source and work book for study and community. Brockhaus , Wuppertal 1987. ISBN 978-3-417293296
• Departure to the fathers. On the way to new fatherhood in family, church and culture. Brendow, Moers 1994. ISBN 978-3-870675424
• with Ruth von Wedemeyer : In the Devil's Guest House - A Prussian Family 1918–1945. Brendow, Moers 1995 (4th edition 2007. ISBN 978-3-865062024 )
• with Rainer Mayer : Dietrich Bonhoeffer today. The topicality of his life and work. Brunnen, Giessen 1999. ISBN 978-3-765524905
• with Rainer Mayer: Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Person behind walls. Theology and Spirituality in the Prison Years. Brunnen, Giessen 2001. 978-3765510212
• with Martin Forster, Hanspeter Jecker, Neal Blough, Bernhard Ott , Heinrich Christian Rust , Louis Schweitzer, Andrea Lange, Arnold Neufeldt-Fast, Claude Baecher, Michel Sommer, Pascal Keller, Lisa Stangl and Vincent Fernandez: Faszination Heiliger Geist. Challenges of charismatic piety. Neufeld , Schwarzenfeld 2005. ISBN 978-3-937896137
• (Ed.): Evangelical pastors. Biographical sketches, texts and programs , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005. ISBN 978-3-525623800
• with Rainer Mayer: Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Perfection in a fragment. Brunnen, Giessen, 2nd edition 2006. ISBN 978-3-765513701
• with Dietlind Langner , Marco A. Sorace : God's friendship. Christian mysticism in conversation, studies on Christian religious and cultural history , Volume 9, Academic Press, Friborg and Kohlhammer , Stuttgart 2008. ISBN 978-3-170205253
• with Klaus Engelhardt , Günther Gaßmann , Rolf Herrfahrdt , Michael Plathow , Ursula Schnell and Edmund Schlink : Writings on ecumenism and confession: The doctrine of baptism: Volume 3. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2nd edition 2007. ISBN 978-3- 525569351
• with Klaus Engelhardt, Günther Gaßmann, Rolf Herrfahrdt, Ursula Schnell and Edmund Schlink: Writings on ecumenism and confession: Writings on ecumenism and confession 4: Theology of the Lutheran confessional writings: Volume 4 , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 4th edition 2008. ISBN 978 -3-525567166
• with Marco A. Sorace: God's Silence in the World: Mysticism in the 20th Century. Traugott Bautz 2007. ISBN 978-3-883094090
• with Marco A. Sorace: The love of God of the Sufis: Islamic and Christian mysticism in dialogue. Traugott Bautz 2010. ISBN 978-3-883095264
• with Rüdiger Lux : I have to rumble: 600 years of Leipzig University - sermons and speeches. Kirchhof & Franke, Leipzig 2010. ISBN 978-3-933816443
• with Klaus Engelhardt, Günther Gaßmann, Rolf Herrfahrdt and Ursula Schnell: Writings on ecumenism and confession. Volume 5: Selected Articles. Church struggle - Basic theological questions - Ecumenism. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010. ISBN 978-3-525567180
• with Erich Beyreuther and Matthias Meyer: NL von Zinzendorf: Supplementary volumes to the main fonts. Supplementary volume XVI: Excerpts from the Blessed Ordinarii of the Evangelical Brethren Church, both unprinted and a register of all three volumes. Repringt: Olms, Hildesheim 2010. ISBN 978-3-487142296
• with Erich Beyreuther and Matthias Meyer: NL von Zinzendorf: Supplementary volumes to the main fonts. Supplementary Volume XVI: Speeches on the Five Books of Moses. First volume on the first book of Moses. Barby 1763. Reprint: Hildesheim 2010. ISBN 978-3-487142302
• with Erich Beyreuther and Matthias Meyer: NL von Zinzendorf: Supplementary volumes to the main fonts. Supplementary Volume XVI: Speeches on the Five Books of Moses. Second volume on the second and third books of Moses. Barby 1764. Reprint: Olms, Hildesheim 2010. ISBN 978-3-487142319
• with Ulrich Köpf : Martin Luther: How to pray: For Master Peter the Barber. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011. ISBN 978-3-525560099 .
• with Rainer Mayer: Dietrich Bonhoeffer currently. Biography. Theology. Spirituality. Brunnen, Giessen, 2nd edition 2013. ISBN 978-3-765512391
• with Arno Zahlauer , Wolfgang Max, Ralf Stieber, Andreas Schönfeld, Ursula Teresa Buske, Adelheid von Hauff and Annette Traber: Mastering Life: Inspirational Models of Christian Spirituality. Evangelical Academy Baden, Bad Herrenalb 2014. ISBN 978-3-896745767
• (Ed.): University Church of St. Pauli. Past present Future. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2017, ISBN 978-3-374-04034-6 .
• (Ed.): Dietrich Bonhoeffer: But with you there is light. Prayers, poems and thoughts from prison , Brunnen Verlag Gießen 2018, ISBN 978-3-7655-0693-2 .
• (Ed.): Handbook of Evangelical Spirituality , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen:
  • Volume 1: History , 2017, ISBN 978-3-525-56719-7 .
  • Volume 2: Theology , 2018, ISBN 978-3-525-56720-3 .
  • Volume 3: Praxis , 2020, ISBN 978-3-525-56460-8 .

Lectures

• Luther's spirituality as a challenge for today , Wordhouse 6.4.2, Heidelberg, May 16, 2016.
• Luther's pastoral care , Worthaus 6.4.3, Heidelberg, May 16, 2016.

Web links

• Literature by and about Peter Zimmerling in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Peter Zimmerling  in the German Digital Library
• Peter Zimmerling in the German biography
• apl. Prof. Dr. Peter Zimmerling: CV . Institute for Practical Theology at the University of Leipzig, accessed on February 10, 2018.
• Peter Zimmerling: Evangelical Mysticism: Roots and Approaches. (doc; 55 kB) Community Evang. Cistercian heirs in Germany, April 21, 2012, archived from the original on January 3, 2015 ; accessed on February 10, 2018 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sabine Kuschel: The Confession - Hygiene for the Soul . Interview in Glaube und Heimat , December 15, 2009, accessed on February 10, 2018.
   Confession: God's forgotten offer. Peter Zimmerling . Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Leipzig, accessed on February 10, 2018.
   Katrin Henneberg: Theologian Peter Zimmerling is promoting a forgotten offer from God: confession . Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw), May 23, 2014, accessed on February 10, 2018.
2. ↑ About us. Society of Friends of Christian Mysticism, archived from the original on October 29, 2010 ; accessed on February 10, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Peter Zimmerling: Luther's Spirituality as a Challenge for Today . Worthaus, May 16, 2016, accessed on February 10, 2018 ( video Vimeo; mp4; 8 GB ; Worthaus podcast; mp3; 44 MB ; 1:16 hours).
   Peter Zimmerling: Luther's pastoral care . Worthaus, May 16, 2016, accessed on February 10, 2018 ( video Vimeo; mp4; 8 GB ; Worthaus podcast; mp3; 44 MB ; 1:17 hours).
4. ↑ Ralf Stieber: Academy Award 2014 . Evangelical Academy Baden, July 10, 2014, accessed on February 10, 2018.
   Bernd Helbig: Bad Herrenalb: Evangelical mysticism does exist . Schwarzwälder Bote , October 26, 2014, accessed on February 10, 2018.
   Academy Award for Leipzig theologian Peter Zimmerling . evangelisch.de , July 10, 2014, accessed on February 10, 2018.