Restless church of unchanged Augsburg denomination in Hesse

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The unruly church unaltered Augsburg Confession in Hesse ( renitent : unruly), colloquially Althessische Church , became independent in 1873/74, under the leadership of some pastor of the former Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau , from portions of the recently by the Prussian invaders organizational Uniate Kurhessian Regional church .

Sacrament controversy

The Evangelical Church of Hesse was based on the Lutheran and not the Calvinist creeds. In order to overcome the differences of opinion that arose early between the Lutherans and Calvinists, Landgrave Philip I of Hesse already organized the Marburg Religious Discussion , during which there was an extensive rapprochement between the denominational leaders. The differences of opinion on the Lord's Supper remained and ultimately prevented a unification of the two Protestant denominations.

Continuation of the Lutheran Confession

Landgrave Moritz , grandson of Landgrave Philip, who was inclined to the Calvinist creed, introduced Calvinist rules in the Lutheran regional church in his function as sovereign and church head of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel , but without attacking the Lutheran confession (Augsburg confession) of the regional church itself. This resulted in disputes, some of which lasted for centuries, between the local parishes and patron saints and the state church leadership in Kassel.

Independence

In 1866 the Electorate of Hesse was occupied by Prussia , annexed and ruled from then on as the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau. In 1873/74, the Prussian occupation united the Electoral Hesse regional church, which represented a serious attack on the Lutheran Confession. Open resistance against it arose in the communities. Most of the communities affected belonged to the former consistorial district of Kassel (until 1866 the Electorate of Hesse or Hesse-Kassel). The renitenten pastors and parishes protested against the uniate consistory in Kassel and saw in it the dissolution of the previous regional church. For this reason, the name Althessische Kirche is also common.

43 pastors, supporters of the Marburg theology professor August Vilmar and his brother Wilhelm Vilmar , were removed from office. In the years that followed, they looked after the “unruly communities” in Balhorn , Dreihausen , Sand , Melsungen and Schemmern, among others .

Most of the unruly congregations joined the (Old) Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany in 1950 , which in turn became part of today's Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) based in Hanover in 1972 . Within the SELK, the former unruly congregations, together with a few others, form the parish of Hessen-Nord in Sprengel Süd.

literature

  • Rudolf Schlunck: The 43 unruly pastors. Periods of life of the Hessian pastors who were horrified in 1873/74 for their loyalty to the office. Along with a historical introduction and an appendix , Marburg 1923.
  • Karl Wicke: About the freedom of the church. A report from the history of the Hessian renitenz , ed. v. Loshauser district, Marburg 1931.
  • Church and world: parish journal for d. Hessian renitenz