Albert Always

Albert Always

Albert Heinrich Immer (born August 10, 1804 in Unterseen , † March 23, 1884 in Bern ) was a Reformed theologian.

An intensive search for religious knowledge along with a " revival ", which he himself expressly traced back to the work of the Holy Spirit , prompted him to resume his theology studies at the University of Bern , which he had interrupted in 1829 . Three years later he was ordained pastor, worked for a few years as an assistant preacher, visited Bonn and Berlin in 1840 and became pastor in Büren an der Aare in 1845 . From there he was appointed in 1850 as Associate Professor of New Testament exegesis and dogmatic theology to Bern and worked here from 1856 until his retirement in the spring of 1880 as a full professor .

He wanted to serve science and the church at the same time by guaranteeing his students full freedom of belief . While he thereby won their trust, he forfeited it with the circles for which piety absolutely required a profession of faith . He was attacked in several newspaper articles and in 1864 wrote the two writings “The theological faculty and its opponents” and “What we believe and teach, a safeguard against misunderstandings” to defend himself.

Two years later he opposed the demand of the so-called Reform Party that the results of scientific research should be proclaimed to the church people from the pulpit and in schools, and was therefore accused of betraying his own principles. However, his attitude can be explained by a fundamentally conservative attitude and his concept of God and revelation , which deviated from those of the reformers.

Works

• Hermeneutics of the New Testament , Wittenberg 1873
• New Testament theology , Bern 1877

literature

• Rudolf Dellsperger : Always, Albert Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Always, Albert Heinrich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1267-1268.