Berlin confessional dispute

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The Berlin confessional dispute describes a dispute within Lutheranism in Berlin about the abolition of individual confessions .

In 1697, the pietist -minded pastor at the St. Nicholas Church in Berlin, Johann Kaspar Schade, stopped hearing individual confessions. Theological concerns about confession prompted him to do so : If the person making confession did not intend to change their way of life after absolution , confession would be void. The confessing person would thereby only increase their guilt before God. At the same time, the pastor hearing the confession would also be guilty before God. To avoid this problem, Schade introduced the General Admission of Guilt into the liturgy . Since he was calling into question the prevailing view of the Lutheran Church, according to which individual confession was the prerequisite for admission to the celebration of the Lord's Supper , he was reported to the city's magistrate.

This resulted in a public discussion about the individual confessions, the symbol of which was the confessional . Philipp Jakob Spener , who as provost Schade was superior and at the same time a decisive promoter of Pietism, stood up for Schade at the magistrate. A lawsuit was brought against Schade because he hit two girls on the bare skin with his rod. This was interpreted as sexual assault and he was asked to voluntarily resign from office, which he followed. His supporters, in turn, organized a protest meeting on May 17, 1697 in the responsible investigative committee, which led to a tumult. The committee wanted the matter to the Elector Friedrich III. submit for decision. Meanwhile, the followers of Schade voted with their feet and took part in the sacrament without preparation for confession.

On June 3, 1698, the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich III. What a shame to Derenburg . On June 13, he lifted the obligation to make individual confessions. The possibility of individual confession should continue to exist. Confession for all was introduced in a general confession of guilt with general absolution between the sermon and the Lord's Supper. However, in the future, the participants had to register in advance for the Lord's Supper. At the same time, the salary of the preachers was increased by 200 thalers , as the decision deprived them of the confessional money for their livelihood.

On November 16, 1698, the edict of Frederick III. published, but should be limited in its sphere of activity to Berlin and Cölln . In the rest of Brandenburg the individual confession was still valid. Nevertheless, there were further disputes when Pastor Andreas Rittner at the Marienkirche refused the Lord's Supper to two craftsmen who refused to make individual confessions on December 7, 1698, the 2nd Advent. The case was heard before the Elector and ended with Rittner's submission.

With the edict of the elector, individual confessions did not disappear from the Lutheran Church in Berlin. Many people held onto it. Only later generations accepted the rejection of individual confessions. In 1739 the edict of 1698 was republished. In 1781, under Frederick II, the general confession became binding and the individual confession was effectively abolished in all of Prussia apart from remains.

literature

  • Ernst Bezzel: Free to admit. History and practice of individual evangelical confession. (= Calwer theological monographs, series C, 10). Calwer Stuttgart 1982.
  • Claudia Drese: The Berlin confessional dispute or Philipp Jakob Spener between all stools? In: Pietismus und Neuzeit 31/2005, pp. 60–97.
  • Helmut Obst : The Berlin confessional dispute. Pietism's criticism of the practice of confession in Lutheran orthodoxy (= work on the history of Pietism 11). Luther, Witten 1972.
  • Helmut Schatz: Abolition of Protestant private confession. The Berlin confessional dispute . In: Homiletic-liturgical correspondence sheet 24/2007, pp. 320–331 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Schatz: Abolition of the Protestant private confession. The Berlin confessional dispute. Retrieved April 27, 2019 (In: Homiletic-liturgisches Korrespondenzblatt 24/2007, pp. 320–331).