Working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress

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Working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress
logo
legal form AG at the German Evangelical Church Congress
founding 1961
Seat Berlin
main emphasis Jewish-Christian dialogue
Chair Doron Kiesel (Chair), Christian Staffa (Chair), Dmitrij Belkin, Frederek Musall, Aline Seel

The working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress is a permanent working group at the German Protestant Church Congress . Since the beginning of the Judeo-Christian conversation after 1945, this working group has been an important opportunity for Jews and Christians to meet regularly in Germany. As a group made up of equal numbers of Jews and Christians, it provides important impulses in theology and society through its equal and socio-political discourse beyond the Kirchentag. Many of its members were and still are instrumental in renewing the relationship between Jews and Christians after the Shoah . At the church convention, she plays a key role in shaping the "Center for Jews and Christians" with a wide variety of events, lectures, panel discussions, readings and exhibitions.

profile

The working group takes a critical look at centuries-old questions of the Jewish-Christian relationship. Shaped by the shock that Christian theology and Christian churches were entangled in the genocide of European Jews, it fights church anti-Judaism , anti-Semitism and hostility towards Jews . From the beginning she worked on the one hand to come to terms with guilt and on the other hand on perspectives to sift through and overcome anti-Jewish elements within theology and the church.

Your concern to develop a theology that does not constitute Christianity at the expense of Jewish traditions, but instead fruitfully absorbs the differences of the other in the event of lasting differences, also shapes contemporary historical debates in church and theology and the awareness of the need for a positive image of Judaism to work in its pluralism. This also brings the similarities and differences between the two religions into view in order to better understand their own traditions in the past and present.

Since its foundation, the AG has been a platform with the special feature that Jews and Christians can meet there together. “It is one of the important experiences of the Judeo-Christian conversation in Germany,” said Doron Kiesel and Christian Wiese about the work of the working group, “that it is not a matter of purely internal Christian learning and communication processes, but of one between Jews and Christians Sustained engagement with history, as it has been doing for decades in the working group Jews and Christians at the Evangelical Church Congress and in other contexts. Without the challenge, the contradiction, the encouraging willingness to enter into dialogue and the patience of Jewish interlocutors, the discourse on the causes, forms and consequences of Christian anti-Semitism and the critical examination of anti-Jewish and anti-Jewish elements of Christian theology could not have assumed the dynamism and intensity that have developed since 1980s. ”These processes of coming to terms with and understanding, shaped by the horror of Christian guilt, are indeed shaped by asymmetries in the conversation, but over time within the working group“ became the motive for a conversation carried out in conversation about the human condition and about Religion and Ethics after Auschwitz. "

Thanks to the joint work of Jews and Christians within the AG, various change processes have been initiated in the Protestant churches, for example various declarations by synods and regional churches, which thereby acknowledge their Jewish roots.

After initial differences on this question, the working group clearly and unequivocally rejects the mission to the Jews from the Christian side. Other topics that are dealt with both at the church congresses and at the AG's annual meetings include: a. the hermeneutics of the Jewish and Christian Bibles, the anti-Jewish elements in particular of Martin Luther's theology, interweaving of the common history, different perspectives of a non-anti-Jewish Christology, as well as Israel. In general, the question of how religion can be conceived in the present in the course of increasing religious pluralization and what role religions can play in current socio-political debates also plays an increasing role.

history

Ev.  Kirchentag, working group "Jews and Christians", Berlin 1961
Ev. Kirchentag, working group "Jews and Christians", Berlin 1961

The Kirchentag in Berlin in 1961 was the hour of birth of the AG as a permanent IV. Working Group of the German Evangelical Kirchentag. Its founding is generally regarded as “the impetus for the beginning of a theological debate that went beyond the historical coming to terms with guilt. The in-depth theological debates at the church congresses are now also being taken up by the Evangelical Church in Germany. ”If one considers the tentative beginnings of the Judeo-Christian conversation after the Holocaust , the establishment of the working group is seen as an important milestone, with it the first After the Shoah, an encounter for which Jews and Christians are jointly responsible took place.

Rolf Rendtorff , pioneer of the renewal of the relationship to Judaism, said in a review: “We are very grateful to be able to say that almost immediately after the end of the Nazi regime there were some Jews who were ready to start a Judeo-Christian dialogue . ”The“ committed participation of Jewish members of the group, especially that of Robert Raphael Geis and participants from Israel such as Ernst Simon and Schalom Ben-Chorin ”were the“ main reason for the fruitful development ”. From its Christian side, the working group understands its work from the start as a "humble dialogue aimed at conversion and self-criticism as part of a practice-relevant acknowledgment of guilt."

With the first public appearance, the AG passed the following programmatic resolution at the Berlin Kirchentag 1961:

"We reject the false doctrine, which has been spread in the church for centuries, that God has rejected the people of the Jews, and we are again on the basis of the apostolic word: God did not cast off his people whom he had previously foreseen (Romans 11, 2). A new encounter with the people chosen by God will confirm or awaken the insight that Jews and Christians live together from the faithfulness of God. "

Among the 35 founding members were Rabbis Robert Raphael Geis, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich , Eva Gabriele Reichmann , Schalom Ben-Chorin, Dietrich Goldschmidt , Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt , Martin Stöhr , Claus Westermann , Walther Zimmerli and Günther Harder ; Hans-Joachim Kraus was chairman .

In particular, the working group is working on creating a new, positive image of Judaism and Jews within Christian theology and churches after the Shoah, and on revising anti-Jewish elements and stereotypes about Judaism within theology. Programmatically, the first two volumes that appeared on the work of the AG are called The Unkindicated Bund (1962) and The Split People of God (1966).

In 1963/64, with the so-called Purim dispute of the AG, a controversy arose about the behavior towards the Jewish mission and its Christian supporters. The Jewish members of the AG were sobered when parts of the Christian members seriously wanted to deal with advocates of the mission to the Jews. At first there was no agreement.

At the Rheinische Synodalbeschluss "To renew the relationship between Christians and Jews" from 1980 members of the AG were significantly involved. This synodal declaration became a pioneer for declarations and resolutions by other regional churches. Under the motto “You do not carry the root, but the root carries you” (Romans 11: 18b), it was decided, among other things, to turn away from mission to the Jews.

In 1986 the AG received the Theodor Heuss Medal . The reason for this award states:

“As early as 1949, the Evangelical Church Congress decided in a declaration of principle to seek encounters with Jews in truth and love. Based on this commitment, the Working Group Jews and Christians was founded in 1961, which has since made its contribution to German-Jewish reconciliation in a fraternal spirit of encounter and reparation, respect and help. Your work is shaped by the idea of ​​togetherness through joint learning and action. During the Kirchentage, the working group endeavors in innumerable events, discussions and lecture series to face the peace mandate of the churches and to contribute to the reduction of mutual prejudices in the German-Jewish relationship. "

With the Second Gulf War in 1991 there was a stress test for Judeo-Christian cooperation: The Jewish members of the working group felt they had been let down by the Christian members and missed solidarity with Israel; There were different positions among the Christian members. The previous board members Edna Brocke , Martin Stöhr, Johann Schwarz, Albrecht Lohrbächer and Harald Uhl resigned as a group; Micha Brumlik , Eldad Horwitz, Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt, Klaus Wengst and Ute Deichmann were members of the new provisional board .

In 1995, the Kirchentag leadership approved a church group for the Kirchentag in Stuttgart , which promotes a mission to the Jews at least indirectly. After previous protests and talks, the Jewish Community of Stuttgart then terminated its participation in the Kirchentag, and the Jewish members of the working group thus declared their solidarity. Within the working group, a compromise was agreed to concentrate the major events of the working group on one day and on the topic “No to the Jewish mission”, but to leave the “Lehrhaus” in the Stuttgart program for all three days. In the resolution of the working group “Yes to partnership and inner-biblical dialogue. No to the mission to the Jews "it clearly states:

“[...] The mission to Jews endangers the dialogue between Jews and Christians and is perceived as a threat in the Jewish communities. Therefore any attempt to approach a Jew with missionary intent is forbidden for Christians [...]. "

In 2011 the AG celebrated its 50th anniversary with an anniversary celebration with the EKD Council Chairman Nikolaus Schneider and the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Dieter Graumann .

In 2017, the AG's internet platform went online, offering a variety of content related to Judeo-Christian conversations with articles, reports, basic texts and working materials.

Projects

Center for Jews and Christians

Panel event of the Center for Jews and Christians, Kirchentag 2017, Berlin
Panel event of the Center for Jews and Christians, Kirchentag 2017, Berlin

At the respective church days, the working group organizes the center for Jews and Christians . Dialogue Bible studies have been in existence since 1973 that are jointly designed by a Jew and a Christian. The Judaist Edna Brocke was the first woman in the history of the Kirchentag to hold such a Bible study in the same year. In 1978 the format of the Lehrhaus was introduced for the Center for Jews and Christians , in which since then workshops, lectures and readings have taken place in addition to the major podium events at all church days.

At the Kirchentag in May 2017 in Berlin , the AG was responsible for four podiums, 28 events in the teaching house, six film and music performances, five synagogue services, three guided tours and two exhibitions.

»Reform of the Reformation«: Project to analyze the curricula for studying Protestant theology

The project to analyze the curricula of the study of Protestant theology for pastorate and teaching in relation to Jewish and / or Judeo-Christian teaching content started in 2016 and is carried out in cooperation with the working group and the University of Göttingen . The subject of the study is the question of whether, and if so, to what extent and with what content both Judaism and the Jewish-Christian relationship should be systematically included in the study of Protestant theology . The authors summarize the aim and the result of the study:

“In this way, we want to initiate joint reflection in the year of the Reformation anniversary, which should bear fruit. The first thing to do was to get a closer look at the situation and the perceived situation was confirmed quite clearly. There are almost no compulsory teaching units on the subject of Judaism or the theory and history of Judeo-Christian conversation and few optional ones. "

The praeses of the Synod of the EKD , Irmgard Schwaetzer, wrote in their preface to the study of the surprise “that it is possible in Germany in many regional churches to complete a degree in theology without having dealt with the Christian-Jewish relationship in one semester with Jewish theology. We say very clearly that we do not consider this to be acceptable [...] We consider this to be a central issue. "

In addition, the working group developed suggestions as to how Jewish and / or Judeo-Christian teaching content could be more effectively anchored in the curricula or module catalogs in the interest of a renewal of the Christian-Jewish relationship .

Interview project

In order to document their own history, central people in the history of the working group are asked in an interview project in cooperation with the Kirchentag . So far, interviews with Edna Brocke, Martin Stöhr, Konrad von Bonin and Peter von der Osten-Sacken have appeared.

Board and members (selection)

The executive board of the AG currently consists of Doron Kiesel (chair; education department of the Central Council of Jews in Germany) , Christian Staffa (chair; Evangelical Academy in Berlin), Dmitrij Belkin ( Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk ), Frederek Musall ( Heidelberg University for Jewish Studies ) and Vicar Aline Seel ( Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia ).

Well-known active members of the AG are u. a. Micha Brumlik, Frank Crüsemann , Marlene Crüsemann , Alexander Deeg , Jürgen Ebach , Gerhard Marcel Martin , Martin Stöhr, Klaus Wengst and Christian Wiese ; former members include a. many protagonists of the beginnings of the Judeo-Christian conversation in Germany since 1945, B. Schalom Ben-Chorin, Edna Brocke, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich, Rabbi Albert Friedlander, Robert Raphael Geis, Pinchas Lapide , Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt, Peter von der Osten-Sacken, Rolf Rendtorff and Wolfgang Stegemann .

literature

  • Gabriele Kammerer: In your hair, in your arms. 40 years of the “Jews and Christians” working group at the German Evangelical Church Congress (Gütersloh: Chr. Kaiser, 2001).
  • Martin Stöhr: "The Working Group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress", in: epd documentation 9/10: Balance and Perspectives of the Christian-Jewish Dialogue, 29–45.

Web links

  • www.ag-juden-christen.de . Official website of the working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Central Council of Jews in Germany Kdö.R .: Objection: Reconciled Diversity | Jewish general. Accessed June 2, 2017 .
  2. ^ A b Christian Wiese, Doron Kiesel: On the political dimension of the theological: Continuity and discontinuity of Christian anti-Judaism and political anti-Semitism . In: Doron Kiesel, Ronald Lutz (Ed.): Religion and Politics: Analyzes, Controversies, Questions . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / New York 2015, ISBN 978-3-593-50319-6 , pp. 208 .
  3. a b c d e f g Kammerer Gabriele: In the hair, in the arms: 40 years working group "Jews and Christians" at the German Evangelical Church Congress . Kaiser, Gütersloher Verl.-Haus, 2001.
  4. a b Martin Stöhr: "The Working Group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress" . In: epd documentation: Balance sheet and perspectives of the Christian-Jewish dialogue . tape 9/10 , 2017, pp. 29-45 .
  5. ^ Martin Stöhr, Rolf Rendtorff: Working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress . In: Church and Israel . tape 2 , 1987, pp. 183-185 .
  6. Gerhard Gronauer: The State of Israel in West German Protestantism: Perceptions in Church and Journalism from 1948 to 1972 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013, p. 171 .
  7. For the prehistory cf. especially Siegfried Hermle: Evangelical Church and Judaism - Stations after 1945. Göttingen 1990, pp. 251–261.
  8. Hans Erler, Ansgar Koschel (ed.): The dialogue between Jews and Christians: Attempts at the conversation after Auschwitz . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, p. 147 .
  9. ^ Arnulf H. Baumann: Christian-Jewish Conversations since 1938 . In: Folker Siegert (Hrsg.): Israel as a counterpart: From the ancient Orient to the present. 25 studies on the history of an eventful coexistence . Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, Göttingen 2000, p. 489-504 .
  10. Jean-Bertrand Madragule Badi: incarnation in the perspective of Jewish-Christian dialogue . Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn / Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2006, p. 37 .
  11. Hans-Joachim Barkenings: The one people of God. From substitution theory to ecumenism with Israel . In: Berthold Klappert, Helmut Starck (ed.): Reversal and renewal. Explanations of the Synodal Resolution of the Rhenish Regional Church . Neukirchener Verlagsgesellschaft, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1980.
  12. a b Wolfgang Stegemann: From the 'rejection' of Israel to the 'permanent election' . In: Church and Israel . tape 1 , no. 11 , 2011.
  13. ^ Christian Staffa: The "Action atonement". A Protestant initiative for a special kind of reparation . In: Hans Günter Hockerts, Christiane Kuller (Ed.): After the persecution: reparation for National Socialist injustice in Germany . Wallstein, Göttingen 2003, p. 143 .
  14. ^ Dietrich Goldschmidt, Hans-Joachim Kraus: The non-denounced covenant. New meeting of Jews and Christian community . Ed .: AG Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress. Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgatz 1962.
  15. Ursula Bohn, Helmut Gollwitzer: The split God's people . Ed .: AG Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress. Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgart 1966.
  16. ^ Synodal resolution to renew the relationship between Christians and Jews. Retrieved May 30, 2017 .
  17. Sigfried Hermle: The Evangelical Church and Judaism after 1945. A relationship determination based on three examples: Help for Jewish Christians, theological analysis, official pronouncements . In: Rainer Bergmann (ed.): Anti-Semitism in political culture after 1945 . Springer Verlag, Berlin 2013, p. 209 .
  18. See also the article on Churches and Judaism after 1945 .
  19. ^ Theodor Heuss Foundation / 1986. Retrieved May 29, 2017 .
  20. 1949–2016 German Evangelical Church Congress: aga_AG Jews and Christians turns 50 | German Evangelical Church Congress. Retrieved May 29, 2017 .
  21. ^ Working group Jews and Christians at the German Evangelical Church Congress. Retrieved May 29, 2017 .
  22. Kirchentag Berlin-Wittenberg 2017 | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . May 2017 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed on May 29, 2017]).
  23. Results of the study | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . 2016 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed May 30, 2017]).
  24. ^ Reform of the Reformation. On the status and importance of Judeo-Christian teaching content in theological training . In: EPD documentation . tape 21 , 2019, p. 2 .
  25. Irmgard Schwaetzer: Foreword . In: EPD Documentation 21: Reform of the Reformation. On the status and importance of Judeo-Christian teaching content in theological training . 2019, p. 4 .
  26. ^ Reform of the Reformation | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . 2017 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed on May 29, 2017]).
  27. Interview project | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . 2018 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed on May 29, 2017]).
  28. Board of Directors | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . 2020 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed on January 11, 2020]).
  29. ^ Members of the working group Jews and Christians | Working group Jews and Christians . In: AG Jews and Christians . 2020 ( ag-juden-christen.de [accessed on January 11, 2020]).
  30. The not terminated covenant. Retrieved May 29, 2017 .