Alois Emanuel Biedermann

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Alois Emanuel Biedermann

Alois Emanuel Biedermann (born March 2, 1819 in Bendlikon ( Kilchberg parish ), † January 25, 1885 in Zurich ) was a Reformed theologian from Switzerland .

biography

Biedermann was the son of the Zurich city councilor Emanuel Biedermann and his wife Verena Kern. The banker Jacques Biedermann and the painter Johann Jakob Biedermann were related to him. From 1826 to 1830 Biedermann was a student at the Trogen Cantonal School . In 1831, Biedermann's father was transferred to Winterthur and settled there with his family. After Biedermann had completed the city school, he moved in 1834 to the Pädagogium to Basel .

In 1837 Biedermann began studying Protestant theology at the University of Basel . In that year he made friends with Jacob Burckhardt and tried his hand at being a poet. He was u. a. Student of Wilhelm Wackernagel , Friedrich Fischer and Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette . As a writer, he was more inspired by David Friedrich Strauss . In 1839 Biedermann switched to Wilhelm Vatke at the university in Berlin for two years . Through intensive study of the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher , Biedermann found his own theological point of view in Berlin.

After an excellent graduation, Biedermann was ordained pastor in Basel in 1842 . He tried to do his doctorate at the University of Tübingen , but this was prevented by the prevailing anti-Hegelianism there . In 1843 he was elected pastor in Münchenstein near Basel. In 1850 he was appointed associate professor at the theological faculty of the University of Zurich. In 1864 he was finally promoted to full professor of theology.

In Zurich, Biedermann wrote numerous articles for the two liberal Swiss theology magazines Die Kirche der Gegenwart (1845–50) and Zeitstimmen (1859–1871). For the former, he was also responsible as editor together with David Fries . In addition to several theological publications, he became known across the borders of Switzerland with his main work, Christian Dogmatics . Biedermann compared historical belief and logic in an equal way. He shared Hegel's point of view, but took him far beyond all conservative tendencies and thus entered a new, speculative direction within the Reformed theology of the 19th century . He combined the ideas of Hegel and Strauss into a strongly rational Christianity. The Greifswald philosopher Johannes Rehmke can be counted among Biedermann's important students .

Biedermann was a regular participant in the Wednesday Society of Alfred Escher and committed member of the Swiss Association Zofinger . From 1871 he was active as a liberal-conservative cantonal council. He died at the age of nearly 66.

He found his final resting place in the Sihlfeld cemetery in Zurich .

Works

  • Christian dogmatics , Orell & Füssli, Zurich, 1869, Berlin 1884.
  • Free theology , 1844.
  • Heinrich Lang , 1876.
  • Guide to Religious Education in Higher Schools , 1859.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Biedermann, Alois Emanuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss reformed theologian
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Kilchberg
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 1885
Place of death Zurich