André Birmelé

André Birmelé, 2014.

André Birmelé (born March 14, 1949 in Ingwiller , Alsace ) is a French Lutheran theologian.

Life

Birmelé, a son of pastor Christophe Birmelé, worked after studying mathematics and Protestant theology in Strasbourg , Tübingen and Basel 1972-1983 as pastor of the Église de la Confession d'Augsbourg d'Alsace et de Lorraine in Roppenheim , Forstfeld and Kauffenheim . In 1974 he became a part-time research assistant at the Ecumenical Institute of the Lutheran World Federation in Strasbourg and thus began his scientific and practical work in the ecumenical movement . He is still an associate professor at this institute.

In 1976 he received his doctorate in religious studies with a thesis on Werner Elert , and in 1986 with a thesis on the understanding of salvation in the ecumenical dialogues for Dr. theol. In 1983 he became an assistant at the University of Strasbourg , and in 1989 he was appointed professor of systematic theology there. 2001-2005 he served his faculty as dean. As a lecturer and visiting professor, he has worked in Jerusalem, Madras, Heidelberg, Leipzig and Neuchâtel, among others. In 2014 he retired.

Honors and memberships

Birmelé is considered one of the leading evangelical ecumenists . Since 1983 he has been a member of the Faith and Order Commission (since 1998 as a member of the Standing Commission) and was a member of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches from 1991–1998 . In the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (formerly Leuenberg Church Fellowship ) he was a member of the coordination committee from 1976 to 1981 and in the ecumenical group from 2009 to 2018. In France he worked in the Comité mixte catholique-protestant . In many interdenominational dialogues he belonged to the Lutheran or the Evangelical delegation.

In 1996 he was admitted to the Académie internationale des sciences religieuses , Brussels, and in 2000 to the Finnish Academy of Sciences .

Bibliography (selection)

(ed.): Agreement and ecclesiastical fellowship of Reformation churches in contemporary Europe. Texts from the conference in Driebergen / Netherlands (February 18–24, 1981) . Lembeck, Frankfurt am Main 1982.
(ed.): Ecumenism on site. Unity efforts in the church . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1983.
Le salut en Jésus-Christ dans les dialogues œcuméniques . Ed. Cerf, Paris / Labor et Fides, Genève, 1986.
(with Thomas Ruster): Do we need the unity of the church? (= Ecumenical Workbook 1). Echter Verlag, Würzburg / Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986.
(with Thomas Ruster): Are we the blacksmith of our salvation? (= Ecumenical Workbook 2). Echter Verlag, Würzburg / Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987.
(with Thomas Ruster): United in faith - separated at the Lord's table? (= Ecumenical Workbook 3). Echter Verlag, Würzburg / Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987.
(with Thomas Ruster): Solitary recovery? The subject of the church in conversation among the churches (= Ecumenical Workbook 4). Echter Verlag, Würzburg / Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1988.
(ed.): Agreement and Ecumenism. The Leuenberg Church Fellowship in the Current Ecumenical Situation . Lembeck, Frankfurt am Main 1988.
(Ed. with Marc Lienhard ): La foi des Églises Luthériennes. Confessions de foi et catéchismes . Ed. Cerf, Paris / Labor et Fides, Genève 1991.
(Ed. with Harding Meyer ): Basic consensus - basic difference. Study by the Strasbourg Institute for Ecumenical Research; Results and documents . Lembeck, Frankfurt am Main 1992.
(Ed. with Jacques Terme): Accords et dialogues œcuméniques . Paris 1995.
La communion ecclésiale. Progrès œcuméniques et enjeux méthodologiques . Ed. Cerf, Paris / Labor et Fides: Genève, 2000. (German: Kirchengemeinschaft. Ecumenical progress and methodological consequences . Lit, Münster 2003).
Eglise . Entrance Libre 52nd Ed. Cerf: Paris / Labor et Fides: Genève, 2001.
(Ed. with Pierre Bühler , Jean-Daniel Causse, Lucie Kaennel): Introduction à la théologie systématique . Genève, Labor et Fides 2008.
Prières de tous les temps. La tradition luthérienne . Editions IAFA, Lubumbashi, Congo RDC, 2010.
L'horizon de la grace. La foi chrétienne . Ed. Cerf, Paris 2013 ISBN 978-2-204-09961-5 .

literature

Matthieu Arnold : Birmelé, André. In: Nouveau dictionnaire de biographie alsacienne Vol. 48, 2007, p. 5063 ( Internet resource )
Michel Deneken , Elisabeth Parmentier (ed.): La passion de la grâce. Mélanges offerts à André Birmelé. Labor et Fides, Genève, 2014, ISBN 978-2-8309-1550-1 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Birmelé, André
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French Lutheran theologian
DATE OF BIRTH	March 14, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ingwiller , Alsace